Donnie Yen announces last act in action films
Many fans of Chinese martial arts films have become sentimental after learning that Donnie Yen — one of the best action stars of his era — will no longer do action roles.
During a promotional event for his upcoming film, Ip Man 4: The Finale, in Beijing on Nov 27, the 56-year-old revealed this will be his last time showcasing his dazzling punches and kicks on the silver screen.
“As an actor and a filmmaker, I have made so many movies — some that people love watching and some that people don’t. I think that’s enough for me,” says Yen.
Yen was born in Guangdong province in 1963 and moved to Hong Kong with his parents when he was 2 years old. His family relocated to the United States when he was 11. Later the young Yen showed strong interest in kung fu under the influence of his mother, a martial arts teacher, and was sent to Beijing to learn it.
He landed his first starring role in the 1984 film Drunken Tai Chi. Yen has accumulated recognition for many action movies, including the Oscar-nominated Hero, but it was the 2008 film Ip Man — the first in the biographical series — that propelled him to stardom.
The previous Ip Man films respectively earned 82.8 million yuan ($11.8 million) in 2008, 231 million yuan in 2010 and 769 million yuan in 2016, making the films about the titular Wing Chun grandmaster one of the highest-grossing kung fu franchises in China.
“I have been part of the Ip Man franchise for 11 years. I appreciate fans who have always been with us,” says Yen.
“The four Ip Man films have written a valuable chapter in the history of Chinese cinema. And after the fourth film, I will continue to explore my growth as an actor but will draw a full stop on action movies,” says Yen.
The latest installment, which will open across Chinese mainland theaters on Dec 20, follows Ip Man’s first overseas journey to San Francisco in 1964. While seeking a school to broaden his son’s horizons, the martial arts grandmaster is pulled into a conflict between US military forces and local Chinese martial artists, forcing Yen to step out to fight in favor of his ethnic dignity.
Again under the helm of Wilson Yip, the Hong Kong director who directed the previous three Ip Man films, the latest flick sees Yen reprise his role as Ip Man and join hands with action stars Wu Yue,
Danny Chan Kwok-kwan and Chris Collins.
In the popular 2008 TV series, The Legend of Bruce Lee, Chan plays the kung fu legend and most renowned apprentice of Ip Man, who used his impact to change Western bias against Asians in the 1960s and ’70s.
Yip says Yen has a natural temperament to make all crew members at the filming set believe that he is the very incarnation of Ip
Man when he puts on the robe.
Yen says he feels uncomfortable about the controversial depiction of Lee — Yen’s idol for years — in Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. In the movie, Lee is depicted as an arrogant person, who is defeated by a stuntman, played by Brad Pitt, in one round of a three-round challenge. The stuntman knocks Lee onto a car at the filming set of a TV series in the late 1960s. The scenes have caused a controversy, angering those who adore the kung fu icon, including Lee’s daughter, Shannon Lee, and former basketball star Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
“I don’t want to judge Tarantino, but I disagree with such a depiction,” says Yen, adding that the film is “disrespectful” to the late martial arts icon.
Yen says the fourth Ip Man movie will “correctly show the global audience the authentic aspect of Lee”, and Yen has also explored an in-depth way to display the aging Ip Man.
“Sometimes, it’s not bad to grow old. As time passes, you better understand life and get more wisdom, too,” says Yen before lowering his voice to murmur, “Goodbye”.