Jet Li: Interview 3 - Kiss of the Dragon (About.com - 2001)

Jet Li's Kiss of the Dragon opens Friday, July 6, offering an adult action alternative for the Independence Day weekend. Written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen from a story idea by Li, the film is directed by newcomer Chris Nahon. Li stars in the conspiracy thriller without his usual wirework styles. The action is hard-core fighting and is more violent than most of Li's films, subjects about which Li spoke in the following interview: 

Why did you want to use less wirework in this film? I think after Romeo Must Die, a lot of hard-core Jet Li fans through my website e-mailed to me they don't like the action sequences in Romeo Must Die. They thought it was too choppy. The action sequences in that weren't clear, not as good as my older films. So, I saw The Matrix and I knew we had exactly the same way 10 years ago, Hong Kong Movie industry, after I did one movie [where I] fly around, suddenly you saw a hundred movies [where] everybody flies around. I knew in the States it would do the same thing. First you find some beautiful girl fly around, then you see little kids, now you see a cartoon even. They do the martial arts. So, I thought it was the right time for me to do some hard-core fighting, strong character and close to a real person in an action movie.

Did the writers and director get your vision across in the final film? Yes. We discussed, we created from the beginning and worked out everyday and I think three weeks later we had the script. Six weeks later we were shooting in Paris already. I think Hong Kong makes a lot of good action movies but their production quality is not as good as American movies. American movies have a lot of special, talented and creative people. They know the quality so well. Then they put an Asian martial art in it and make American action films. But when you know the market has a lot of that kind of film, now the thought is maybe it's time to do something different. I think it's just like Luc Besson. He's quite a creative director and a producer. His angle sees things differently. I think also the Wachowski brothers are amazing and talented. They see [their film] as a Hong Kong action movie but use another angle to see it, to tell it. We know the movement is the same thing, but it sees things differently. Then the result is different. So, that's why we wanted to do something different.

How did you do the pool ball kick? Oh, that's very easy to do. More hard is fighting with the other fighters. It was Luc Besson's idea. After the first 30 minutes of fighting from the whole hotel, destroying the whole hotel, they wanted to make one signature stop. Stop there, for the audience breathing. So then they make this. I just did a simple move and they put a ball in digitally.

Did any of the other fighters use wires? No.

Even the blonde twins at the end? Once in a while, but they found actors that really could know how to fight. They're trained in different kind of movements.

How did you coordinate all those styles? We found around 100 fighters from all of Europe, Germany, London, all of Europe. We flew them in, we saw their physical ability and then we said, "This guy knows how to do this." And then we'd use this part for that scene. We really took their physical abilities to decide how to use them in the film.

Is there a real Kiss of the Dragon in acupuncture? No, I don't think so. For an action movie, most important is the story and the character. I talked to Luc saying maybe I want to use acupuncture if I don't want to fight with someone and waste my time with him, I just stop him. The writer came up with the name Kiss of the Dragon. When I worked two months later in the middle of shooting, I just think about [the phrase] "Kiss of the Dragon," maybe a good idea is use your mouth to use the needle.

Why is this film so violent? I think it's more real. In Hong Kong, we make a lot of action movies, usually we saw that this character is a hero. He comes out, he's a hero. He fights and from the beginning to the end, he's the hero. He never loses. That's why I think Luc Besson is so unique. He created this character in the beginning, saying, "We don't want to make a superhero save the day, like you'll know he'll already beat everybody up." We wanted to do something where this man is not perfect. He's a little bit selfish, he doesn't know how to deal with girls, he just wants to do a simple job. The situation changed, he's scared, he feels it. He runs away. He tried to prove himself [innocent] and figure out what's going on so you can see the movement from the beginning he's very confident in the fight in the hotel. But after a while, he's afraid. Everybody's the enemy. He's nervous. That's closer to a real person. Then, at the ending he finds that a man's promise is very important. He needs to keep his promise. 

Why did you take the step to put a message on your website warning of the film's violence? I like to talk to the audience through my website, because I want to know their feeling about a movie. They give me good suggestions and I like it. I will go back to China for six months, so ten days ago I started returning questions. I have thousands every month so I need to pick 40 or 50 questions to answer. I saw one question from a mother saying, "My little boy is three years old and really excited to watch Kiss of the Dragon." I suddenly feel - - I'm a parent, I have a daughter of 14 months. So, I thought maybe I need to take some responsibility to answer that and remind you this is an R-rated movie for adults. You need to take responsibility and decide what you're going to do. Maybe you'll watch it yourself to see the movie first. If it's too violent or too hard-core, too strong, don't take your children. If you think it's okay, then take them. Every parent needs to take responsibility also.

How did you choose Bridget Fonda for your costar? She's a wonderful actress and I think Luc Besson decided to use her in this film. Usually, for an action movie, the actress is like a beautiful flower while we fight. In this film, Bridget is the key between the good guy and the bad guy. She's in the middle. That makes the whole situation change and not just focus on fighting. Also, my character learns a lot of things from her, because I'm only work, work, work, never care about another person, how they think, their emotions. I'm selfish, doing my job. Finally, the thought is you need to appreciate and take responsibility for the other person. So the character grew up and becomes a nice person.

Do you think you could ever make a movie with Jackie Chan? We talked about it seven years ago when we were in Hong Kong but no studio supported us. No studio supported us to make that film. I think last year we had dinner, we still talked about it. When is the right time to make that film? My fans say Jet Li can beat Jackie Chan. Jackie Chan's fans say, "Oh, Jackie will beat Jet Li." Jackie is a friend of mine. We just do our job. He does his, I do mine. I think an audience knows what's Jet Li's style for the action sequences and what is Jackie Chan's style. In Asia, it's crystal clear. This is a Jet Li film, this is a Jackie Chan film where it's comedy action.

Will you ever direct again? No, because I thought I'm not a good director. I produce many movies in Hong Kong, so I like to produce movies or come up with some story and find a good writer to write the story.