CINEMA FEATURE
Dying To Be a Good Guy
Actor/stuntman Ian Powers gets paid to be psychotic by Rian Dundon
O ARTS & CULTURE
ver the past decade, Ian Powers has found success as an actor, stuntman, choreographer, and director in the Chinese film industry. This month you can see him face off against Andy Lau in the sci-fi epic Future X-Cops, where Powers plays an evil assassin with the arms of a praying mantis. We asked him what it’s like to risk life and limb for laughs.
the Beijinger : What was your craziest stunt? Ian Powers: A Ford commercial filming in Taiwan. I had to jump from the 11th story roof of one building to a ledge about half a floor down on another building. If I’d made a mistake I would have fallen to my death. There was no net. If you choose this profession you have to be of a certain kind of character. That character is what most people call psychotic.
“Dying would look pretty bad on my resume” tbj : Was there ever been a stunt that was too dangerous? IP: One time they told me to jump a car across a ravine. I had to ask the producer if he was smoking crack. Yes, it would look really cool in the film to have a car fly through the air and blow up with me in it. But no, because dying would look pretty bad on my resume.
a young man who is sentenced to death for stealing two cars. A change in the law creates an opportunity for him to avoid the death penalty, but he finds that the people who are interested in him as an organ donor won’t give up easily. See photo, p83. Director Liu Jie will be on hand for a Q&A at the April 11 screening. In Chinese with English subtitles. Details at www.bc-cinema.cn. RMB 30. BC MOMA (8438 8258) Apr 13 Koryo Films Presents Football Films A double bill of football films from behind the veil of North Korea. Centre Forward focuses on a footballer placed under extreme pressure to succeed. The Game of Their Lives is based on the 1966 North Korean team, which made it to the quarterfinals of the World Cup. See photo, below. RMB 20. 7.30pm. The Bookworm (6586 9507) Apr 15 Documentary: Earth Keepers This documentary by Sylvie Van Brabant introduces Mikael Rioux, the young Québécois activist who founded Échofête, Quebec’s first environmental festival, as well as his son, who plans to carry on Rioux’s mission. In English with Chinese subtitles. Free. 7pm. Channel Zero Salon (8855 0623) Apr 16 The Goodbye Kiss After fleeing to Central America, the terrorist and former left-wing activist Giorgio Pellegrini has lived there for 15 years. With the hope of becoming a “respectable” citizen, he returns to his country, but the way back home is more difficult than he can imagine. In Italian with English subtitles. Free. 7pm. Italian Embassy Cultural Office (6532 5015) Apr 18, 24, 28 Bliss A typical Chinese-style family drama reveals the different values regarding love and life across three generations and their intricate relationships. Director Sheng Zhimin will be on hand for a Q&A at the April 18 screening. In Chinese with English subtitles. Details at www.bc-cinema.cn. RMB 30. BC MOMA (8438 8258) Apr 22 Documentary: Invisible City Turning his camera on the often-ignored inner city, Oscarnominated director Hubert Davis depicts the disconnection of urban
poverty and race from the mainstream through the story of Regent Park, a housing project in Toronto. In English with Chinese subtitles. Free. 7pm. Channel Zero Salon (8855 0623) Apr 29 Documentary: The Strangest Dream The story of Joseph Rotblat and the efforts of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, which he co-founded to halt nuclear proliferation. The film takes us from New Mexico, the site of the first nuclear test, to Cairo, where Pugwash scientists meet under the cloud of nuclear proliferation, and finally to Hiroshima, where we meet survivors of the first atomic attack. In English with Chinese subtitles. Free. 7pm. Channel Zero Salon (8855 0623) Apr 30 PA-RA-DA This is the true story of FrenchAlgerian clown Miloud Oukili, who created a company in Bucharest to help street children escape a life of petty theft, begging and prostitution. In Italian with English subtitles. Free. 7pm. Italian Embassy Cultural Office (6532 5015)
AT CINEMAS ACROSS TOWN All Month Future X-Cops To save a important scientist from murder, the government sends a super cop who can transcend time and space. Starring Andy Lau and Fan Bingbing. See Feature, left. Apr 2 Crossing Hennessy A sweet love story about a stubborn girl and a straightforward young boss from an electrical appliance shop. Starring Tang Wei and Jacky Cheung. Apr 8 Clash of the Titans This fantasy depicts the mortal son of Zeus as he starts his journey to fight evil and rescue other gods. Stars Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes. Apr 16 Echoes of the Rainbow Based on director Alex Law’s childhood memories, this film depicts the joys and struggle of a workingclass family in 1960s Hong Kong. It won a Crystal Bear award at the 2010 Berlin Film Festival. Starring Simon Yam and Sandra Ng.
tbj : How has stunt work changed over the years? IP: It’s come a long way from the old days, when you used your body like a sandbag. They’d throw a guy off a building and it would look great on film but then he’d be in the hospital for three months.
tbj : Worst injury as a stuntman? IP: I pulled my shoulder doing Lucha Libre wrestling for a TV show. I couldn’t raise my right arm for a year after that. tbj : What was it like to spar with Andy Lau? IP: I was really shocked and surprised. You don’t imagine that he’s an amazing screen fighter. Fighting him was like dancing with a trained partner. Then he squishes me like a bug. Future X-Cops will be playing in cinemas around town starting Mar 30.
84 that’smags the 2005 Beijinger April 2010 Sept. www./ thatsbj.com
www.thebeijinger.com
Apr 13: Centre Forward The DPRK’s net-busting front line. See listing, this page.
PHOTOS: RIAN DUNDON AND COURTESY OF KORYO TOURS
tbj : Who is the most intense fighter you’ve worked with? IP: It was a Japanese wrestler I worked with on a cult film named Ah! My Zombie Mermaid Girlfriend’s House of Pro Wrestling Has Collapsed, or something like that. Unfortunately he had a heart attack and passed away a few years later.