David on Formosa

The Drummer is a new movie set for release in September 2007. It is a Taiwan-Hong Kong co-production directed by Kenneth Bi, the director of Rice Rhapsody (海南雞飯). The movie stars Tony Leung Ka Fai (梁家輝), Angelica Lee (李心潔), Jaycee Chan (房祖名) and Taiwan's U-Theatre (優人神鼓) Zen drumming group.

Kenneth Bi was inspired to make the film after seeing U-Theatre perform in Hong Kong in 2000. He writes on his blog:

It was their commitment and concentration that affected us in the audience. I soon learned that their pure, unadorned performance was the result of years of training on a mountaintop, in the discipline of drumming, meditation and martial arts.

A week later, I found myself visiting the drummers of U Theatre on their mountain on the outskirts of Taipei. They didn’t know who I was or what I wanted but were kind enough to meet with me. It was cold and misty when I arrived on the mountain. They were practicing Tai chi in Chinese monkish outfits. The sight was amazing. It was like visiting the Shaolin Temple or stepping into ancient China.

U-Theater is a group that I have yet to see perform but is on my ever lengthening list-of-things-to-do. I am sure this film will raise their profile quite a lot.

The plot of the movie follows Sid (Jaycee Chan), who escapes from his father Kwan (Tony Leung Ka Fai), a Triad boss in Hong Kong. He is then taken in by the U-Theater drumming group in Taiwan. The part of the film set in Taiwan was shot on a mountain top location in Taidong County.  

This film looks very interesting and I look forward to seeing it when it is released. There are links to the trailer below. Kenneth Bi's production blog has some interesting information about working with the actors, finding the location and the cinematographic techniques. 

Links

• The Drummer – Internet Movie Database
• Kenneth Bi's production blog 
• trailer (hi-res and lo-res)

* photos from http://www.kenbiroli.com/blog

** thanks to Jia at Chelsea Communications in Hong Kong for sending me information about this film