[2024.04.28] SPECIAL TRAINING MAKES RAYMOND LAM SICK

Even though he is injured all over, Raymond Lam still wants an encore of another action film

German Cheung, Raymond Lam, Terrance Lau and Tony Wu on the last day of the shoot work on their brotherhood scene and are reluctant to part
courtesy of on.cc

courtesy of singtao.com

TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN would open on May 1st
courtesy of mingpao.com

Raymond Lam Fung, Terrance Lau Chun Him, Tony Wu Tsz Tung and German Cheung Man Kit in their new film TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN (GAU LUNG SING JAI JI WAI SING) played Walled City brothers who were swept up into a storm of troubles and took their fights to the air. Lam Fung said that the story was based on a comic book, so the visual would be a little superficial while the action tried to be realistic with variety. In order to achieve action director Kenji Tanigaki's unique style and fight scenes that hit the flesh with every punch, "4 brothers" earlier accepted a month of special training. Lam Fung revealed that on the first day he already went mad from the training. "Running, jumping, rolling on the ground for a hour before practicing the designed action. The longest the production went was for 20 some hours of fighting. The big scene at the ending took a dozen or more days! On the first day I trained until I got sick, I really threw up!" Fighting from the beginning to the end, he joked that he took the most beating. For the chase scene on Nathan Road he even ran until he threw up. "I was hit by different characters and even had to run like mad. On Nathan Road I ran for real with all my might, like I kept crossing the 100 meter line. Even the stunt team ran until they threw up, almost dead for running two or three times."

Former athlete Wu Tsz Tung had good physical abilities but still needed training. He might be in the best physical condition out of the 4 but he said that the skills for an action film and sports were two different matters. "Throwing a punch in front of the camera seems to be very simple, but for the resulting feel has to have power you need training. This time is real hardcore, and I also have to use a katana so I have to spend time to study how to make it look convincing." He also had an accident when Philip Ng Won Lung kicked his chin. He went to the hospital for 15 stitches. "We were shooting the ending, the adrenaline was very high so I didn't feel the pain from getting hurt. As soon as the cameras stopped everyone rushed over to check one me, then sent me to the hospital. After the release I immediately went back to the set. The director gave me half a day off to rest, which was already great because everyone was rushing in the production."

For his first action film production Lau Chun Him started to learn from zero. "The action is fake, making it real requires a lot of training. After physical abilities I train in punches and kicks; then butterfly knives, which I practice during my break. I didn't even get to rest at all! In the end I injured my legs, as I got burnt by the motorcycle exhaust pipe." Cheung Man Kit said that when the stunt team saw that they have achieved their goals they would add more moves, like they were testing everyone's limits. With his kung fu background Cheung Man Kit was bruised all over from the fight scenes and joked that Kenji was uncovering his potential. "I shot a video and practiced almost 40 moves."

Working on an action film injuries have become frequent, the most severely injured were Lam Fung and Wu Tsz Tung; one internal and the other superficial. Wu Tsz Tung's chin had over a dozen stitches, while Lam Fung's anterior cruciate ligament was torn in half. Speaking of becoming action film successors, Cheung Man Kit had confidence that everyone would be able to do it. Lau Chun Him felt that he would be another new generation of action actors. "It's not that I want to take the baton from Big Brother (Hung Kam Bo). The succession concept has a lot of pressure, and I won't get to repeat it." Wu Tsz Tung believed that the new film would be able to make even more people believe Hong Kong action films could be extended. Lam Fung joked that he has become addicted to the production, and able to throw up for another month for an action film!

"Big Brother Big" Sammo Hung Kam Bo pointed out that action film successors were hard to find. Were they confident about taking over? Cheung Man Kit said yes, feeling that as long as he was willing to give. Not to be afraid of not seeing the future, he would continue to work and believe that one day he would succeed. "In the film I was fortunate enough to have fought Hung Kam Bo. I too a few punches from him with ample results, realistic but I didn't feel the pain. Instead the toughest was carrying Lam Fung and running, he is very heavy!" Lau Chun Him supported Cheung Man Kit, "This concept of succession is very stressful, in the past no matter how well Big Brother Big the credit belonged to himself. We couldn't succeed that, nor could we repeat it; but I believed that German's focus on martial art action would achieve something."

Wu Tsz Tung was happy that the film after preview screenings had decent reaction and brought hope to action films. "Making even more people that action films are still viable."

Would Lam Fung and Lau Chun Him take the action actor route? They both said that would depend on the need. This time they would have to thank director Cheang Pou Soi for giving them the chance to break through themselves. In the future they would still be glad to give it a try. Lam Fung said, "Great, working on Cheang Pou Soi's movie is addictive!"

Wu Tsz Tung revealed that the director has already plotted that next time he would ask them to make a dramatic film. Although making an action film was tough, the 4 agreed that they rather enjoyed it. They felt that both the action and the dramatic scenes were very intricately written. When the production ended they were very reluctant to part. Wu Tsz Tung said, "In one scene the 4 brothers ran into each other by a fishery, it was very touching." Lam Fung also pointed out that the 4 brothers and "Tornado" Koo Tin Lok had another strong brotherhood, the performance of which was also exhausting. "It killed many brain cells!"