TIFF 2023 - 100 YARDS reviewed

100 YARDS

TIFF 2023

With Actor/Producer, Jacky Heung and director: Junfeng Xu

By Emmanuel Itier

‘100 Yards’ the new movie from legendary director, Junfeng Xu (‘The Grandmaster’, ‘The Hidden Sword’), follows two bitter rivals, one of them played by the iconic kung fu fighter/actor Jacky Heung, for stewardship of a Wushu (a form of Kung Fu) academy. Presented at TIFF, this is a impactful, adrenaline driven film that will keep alive and kicking. The film is beautifully shot and it is a beautiful celebration of the art of Kung Fu. Jacky Heung under the direction of Hoefeng Xu has never been that more “bigger than life” with such a charismatic and memorable performance. ‘100 Yards’ is a must see, whether you’re a Bruce Lee fan or not, as it is such an homage to all kung fu legends of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Jacky Heung and Haofeng Xu took were kind enough to seat down with us and introduce their passion project: ‘100 Yards’.

Q: Where did this come about? What were your trying to do with this film?

Jacky: I always search for a director that knows kung fu and Junfeng was the perfect director for this movie. He also has a very stylish way of filming. This time I also became a producer therefore the choice of the right director was crucial. Our mutual goal was to put back on the screen the “organic” way of fighting, like Bruce Lee was doing, 50 years ago. We didn’t want any animated and speed up sequences with wires that look so fake. Here what you see is the real thing. No stunt men. It’s all of us doing is by ourselves. It was possible with lots of rehearsals. I think people are tired of watching action movies pretending to be action movies, when, really, it’s so fake with loads of wires and CGI shots. We went back to the root. A little bit like Christopher Nolan did with ‘The Dark Knight’. It was imperfect and it worked; it became a classic. Kevin Lee and I are both real martial art fighters and we wanted to show what we could really do, and it involved lots of injuries.

Q: What challenges did you face making this movie?

Junfeng: The main challenge was to how present Chinese Kung fu without any animation or any wire! It required us to be very planful and have lots of training with all the actors involved with the various fights, so we don’t end up having too many injuries. Ultimately, I think we achieved the best kung fu movie we could envision.

Jacky: After 2 to 3 weeks, we had gained a certain level of trust working with each other. So, the main challenger became how to be “fresh” and motivated every day to keep doing our best. We are trying to be conscious of what we do, like Bruce Lee was saying, it is to be conscious we are “water”.  The trick is to know where the light is, where is the camera, where is everyone when you are in the middle of a fight, and you are trying to get the best coverage possible of that fight. You need that consciousness and that confidence to film any intense martial art sequences we have in our movie. I’m 40 and it is getting harder and harder to do this kind of movie. I hope I can do it again a few times and then pass along the legacy of what I was trying to achieve.

Q: What is the movie truly about? Any important themes, messages?

Junfeng: Great question! There is a hidden message we want to deliver though this film. And sure, the action, the martial art sequences are amazing. But we also want to tell everyone that we all must be very sincere and very honest and that is the only way you can cary on the heritage of Kung Fu.

Jacky: For me the movie is all about the notion of Love. My character is trying to get back to his wife. It’s all about love. We want to spread love with this film…

Q: How is it important to be at TIIF?

Jacky: It is truly my honor to be here! It’s very exciting to have the premiere of my movie here. Tiff will bring me luck and hopefully we will get a US release. I hope people enjoy our film and realized we did it the “Bruce Lee” way by doing our own stunts!