Even before almost drowning in the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami that devastated South Asia, Jet Li insists that he was planning on making his latest film, "Fearless," his final martial-arts movie.
The 43-year-old, action-movie actor had arrived with his family in the Maldives the night before for a vacation and was heading to the hotel pool with his two youngest daughters and a baby-sitter when they all saw the wave of water hurtling toward them.
Chin-deep in seawater within seconds, Li battled to keep his 4-year-old daughter, Jane, above the wave as he struggled toward higher ground inside the hotel, where his other daughter had already reached safety. Li, a devout Buddhist, said the disaster re- inforced his need to make a film that would pack an emotional punch, as well as a physical one.
"After that terrible thing, the whole night I couldn't sleep," added Li. "I just meditated about life, what I need, what I want, what I could do."
People are also reading…
"Fearless" is Li's self-proclaimed "most-personal film" and incorporates many of the martial-arts superstar's spiritual philosophies. Directed by Hong Kong martial-arts expert Ronny Yu, the film, which opened nationwide last Friday, is loosely based on the real-life story of Huo Yuanjia, a fighter who inspired the Chinese at the turn of the 20th century.
So pleased is Li with the film that he has vowed it will be his last foray into the genre that made him famous, although he did add that he will continue to make the occasional action film, such as "Rogue," co-starring Jason Statham and coming in 2007, and a long-anticipated project with fellow martial-arts legend Jackie Chan that's scheduled to start filming in April.
Still, Li's decision is big news in Hong Kong cinema. That's because the martial-arts period epic is as important in Chinese culture as the Western is to the United States. And with movies like "Once Upon a Time in China," "Fist of Legend" and "Hero" under his black belt, Li — a five-time martial-arts champion of all of China during his teenage years — is considered the true successor to the late Bruce Lee.
As for "Fearless," the new movie is packed with the sort of bone-crushing, high-flying fisticuffs that fans expect from Li.
