FORBIDDEN KINGDOM: Monkey King Meets the Wizard of Oz

by Dr. Craig Reid

Finally, after 10 years of rumors and screenwriters boasting they were writing the script that would put the ultimate Chinese dream team duo of J and J together in the same film, along comes the humble John Fusco. A man of deep spiritual consciousness and a profound respect for tradition, Fusco championed his screenplay for THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM as a vehicle for the 2nd and 3rd most famous martial arts film stars in cinema history. The result delivers on expectation. Shaw Brothers film buffs and Hong Kong fant-asia movie fans will first revel in the images of classic kung fu cinema yore, where something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue (sad) makes FORBIDDEN KINGDOM the perfect marriage for Chan and Li. This film is as electrifying as a toaster in a bathtub and Fusco was the one who supplied the power.

"I was immediately impressed by the extensive knowledge of various ancient Chinese legends," Li says of Fusco and his screenplay. "Legends like the Monkey King, which FORBIDDEN KINGDOM is based on, are completely unknown to most Western audiences. But the script got so many details right, and it created this great fusion of Eastern and Western sensibilities. It seemed like the perfect way to bring this character to an international audience."

Fusco's storied path in martial arts is eloquently revealed in the May/June 2008 issue of Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine, yet his martial knowledge and abilities were something he never thought he would bring to Hollywood. "It was something I never saw myself exploring in film other than when I was 10 years old and doing my rip-off Bruce Lee movies," Fusco recounts. "The martial arts was more a part of my spiritual and philosophical life, the stuff that kept me sane. Then I had a son.

"By the time he was 11, his childhood began to parallel mine as he developed an interest in Chinese martial arts, and would watch 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN the way others kids watched HARRY POTTER. As I exposed him to Chinese literature by reading him wu xia novels like JOURNEY TO THE WEST and OUTLAWS OF THE MARSH (aka THE WATER MARGIN), a lot was over his head and so I made up a bedtime story for him where a young man like him, through a dream state or altered reality, travels back to ancient China and finds himself in the Jiang Hu world of these stories, being mentored by martial arts heroes, and pursued by demons and villains from that world. Along the way he discovers the warrior code of conduct and the deeper principles of the martial arts."

When Fusco shared his improvised story with producer Casey Silver on the Moroccan desert set of their film, HIDALGO (2004), Silver responded immediately and had Fusco write a script. The saga evolved into a tale about a teen, Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angaran), who, while hunting down bootleg kung fu DVDs in a Chinatown pawnshop, makes an extraordinary discovery that sends him hurtling back in time to ancient China. Upon landing, Jason is charged with a monumental task: he must free the fabled warrior the Monkey King (Li), who has been imprisoned by the powerful Jade War Lord (Collin Chou ? the Oracle's protector in the last two MATRIX films). Joining Jason on his quest is an inebriated kung fu master Lu Yan (Chan), the stolid Silent Monk (Li again) and the fledgling Golden Sparrow (Liu Yi-fei). But only by learning the true precepts of kung fu can Jason hope to succeed in his mission and ? in a very WIZARD OF OZ-like motif ? find a way back home.

When I ask Fusco if the "dreamscape" device for telling the story was influenced by his Native American bonds (he has a strong kinship and spiritual ties to the Lakota Native Americans), he relates, "I think so. I find there are so many connections between Native Americans and eastern philosophy, the dreams within the dreams are the answers to your quandaries, and the whole vision quest and dream time of Native America. I'm sure that somewhere under that, that is driving it. Plus, the whole idea and the dream within the dreams and the Zen gate of no gate? Was I a butterfly training to be a man, or a man training to be a butterfly?

"The martial arts heroes are really Jason's talismans," Fusco continues. "As I developed the screenplay, I made the kid older and the story edgier and darker, adding basic things my son was going through with his fears of the dark, bullies and his heroes being Jackie and Jet, as mine was Bruce Lee. I thought if this kid were going through dream experiences to subconsciously resolve his dilemmas, who would he want as his mentors, who would show up in his dream world? Jet and Jackie."

Li, who has two young daughters, sees the wide appeal of the film as an advantage. "Having made so many violent movies in my career to date, I thought it was about time I made a film that families with children will be able to enjoy together. This is the film that I am making for my two girls."

Fusco tapped into Li's creativity and utilized his cultural and martial arts insights as the two ? both ultimately doing the film for their children ? naturally hit it off. "Jet was involved with sharing ideas about the story for three years before we started filming," Fusco recalls. "Yet with Jackie's character, there was not a whole lot to be done, because the character was already so much Jackie Chan. He is actually portraying Lu Dong Bin, one of the Eight Immortals and allegorical founder of drunken kung fu. Due to Chan's history doing a drunken master, some may say that we got Jackie and added in drunken kung fu; but it was really a key component of the character right at the beginning. 'Is he or isn't he really an immortal?' is one of the questions hanging over the story."

Lu Dong-bin is the "leader" of the Eight Immortals (Chinese mythological gods, or fairies, each able to transfer their power into a tool that can give life or destroy evil). He bears a sword behind his back, which he uses to ward off evil. He's also famous for his "Dream of the Yellow Millet." The other seven Immortals are: Chuan Zhong-li, who carries a fan; Cao Guo-ji, the newest of the Immortals known for his jade tablet; Iron-Crutch Li, who, after being reincarnated into a crippled beggar, became known for fighting with a limp; Lan Cai-he, maybe a boy or a girl but always depicted as wearing one shoe; Han Xiang-zi, known for holding a flute; Elder Zhang Guo, the only Immortal considered to be a qigong master; and He Xiang-gu, the only true female Immortal, who carries a lotus flower. She is the Immortal whose style Chan's character in DRUNKEN MASTER (directed by Yuen Woo-ping) never practiced seriously.

FORBIDDEN KINGDOM also reunites Yuen with Chan for the first time since 1978 (though Woo-ping is credited as one of seven fight directors on TWIN DRAGONS, he never worked with Jackie on it). It has been reported that Fusco thoroughly described each fight in the script, so I was curious to find out how detailed his descriptions were, and how Woo-ping reacted to them ? since fights are normally indicated in scripts with a simple "fight here."

"Very detailed," Fusco said. "Mainly for the metrical effect and pacing of the read, so one could get a sense of timing. But also because when I write, I have to live and see it, and so I tried to capture, in the prose, the verisimilitude of classical kung fu combat. I would write that a certain character would 'sink into a Seven Star Praying Mantis stance and intercept a Phoenix Eye Fist with a mantis trap, then catch a free ride with his opponent before cross-stancing into an elbow break.'

"During the first fight choreography meeting, the translator read these narratives to Woo-ping. I acknowledged he'd normally see the words 'and now they fight' on such pages and added that the details were nothing more than a jumping-off point and mostly hoped that they informed the character. I was asked which weapons did I see individual characters use. I was ready to share that because I had researched this pretty carefully.

"I also practiced with the stunt guys at Woo-ping's training center at our main base and the Master seemed interested that the American screenwriter practiced Northern Shaolin. I think he liked that I valued the martial arts and wasn't merely exploiting it in a movie. So although in pre-production he would break my scenes apart and do his own thing ? which is amazing ? he always kept the narrative nucleus intact and reinforced those ideas through his choreographed combat. In some cases he'd take a fight scene that I wrote as serious drama and he'd put a HALF A LOAF OF KUNG FU spin on it. There were a few times where I wasn't sure if this would work, but then, months later, looking at the finished cut, I would just sit back and say, 'Woo-ping is a genius.' He never choreographs a sequence in a vacuum and it never felt like a gratuitous 'now it's time for some action' scene. His fight scenes always feel organic and deepen the story itself."

The bottom line is that, after all our years of yearning to see Jackie and Jet in the same film, in the same scene, fighting each other with all-out nei gong, wu gong, wai chuan, fa jin, qi gong, pure pugilistic magic and sheer magnificent martial artistry, this film delivers on all facets. What is impressive is that although the cast is basically Chinese and most of the story evolves around Chinese culture and the martial arts, I did not get the sense that this is a Chinese martial arts film. A great deal of credit must go to Fusco's savvy screenwriting and to director Robert Minkoff (STUART LITTLE films), who directed the film and not the genre.

As previously mentioned, one can't help but to see the WIZARD OF OZ influences, right down to the first part of the film being dark, bleak, almost black and white; then when Jason is whisked away to this land of ancient China, when he opens his eyes like the proverbial door that Dorothy opens, we are beset by a land of wondrous color. One major difference is that, in this land, the monkey is good. Jackie's English is the best I've ever heard (thanks to intense coaching for the film) and what was really a smart move was not having outtakes at the end of film, because that has a tendency to take the audience out of the world we just saw and remind us that it never existed in the first place. Furthermore, Fusco was able to weave Eastern and Western threads into a magical rug using a loom that palatably incorporated solid martial arts philosophy.

As Fusco explains it, "Jason wants to learn kung fu for all the wrong reasons. He wants to be mysterious, beat up the bullies, get the girls, and win respect. Yet through this journey he learns about the true meaning of kung fu and goes through this experience of training and learning the deeper precepts, the scholar-warrior code, and he comes away with a deeper philosophical understanding of martial arts. Kung fu isn't just self-defense or flying through the air on screen. There's a deeper principle and a real art form underneath ? an art form that goes by a code of humility, perseverance, honesty, kindness, that all of these things contribute to a warrior code of conduct. That's what I wanted to get across to my son when I decided to make up my own tale for him.

"Right now, in this country and around the globe, enrollment in martial arts schools is way down because parents perceive martial arts to be mixed martial arts (MMA); they see it as cage fighting. Cage fighting or mixed martial arts has become so popular that this is what parents see when their kids say, 'I want to take martial arts.' But the truth that's in danger of being lost is that martial arts is great training for young people. It teaches a code of ethics, respect and humility, self confidence and that it's a beautiful art form with a beautiful history. I don't think our society has ever needed it more. I hope this film might open up that world again, inspire young people to practice martial arts, to not only practice martial arts, but to study the beauty of Asian culture and all it has to offer."

Like any true martial artist, Fusco has ventured beyond the pure physicality of kung fu and into its spiritual aspects, fighting for causes he so eloquently advocates. "I'm passionate about the rights of indigenous people and freedom of spiritual beliefs. I was able to put this into my film THUNDERHEART, which stirred up some healthy trouble and eventually helped pass legislation to protect sacred Native American sites.

"I'm also a wildlife conservationist and own 200 acres of land that has been designated for wildlife management. I also run a conservancy for endangered Native American horses on my farm in Vermont. Some of the tribal strains are nearly extinct and I'm working with a professor at Virginia Tech to help preserve these strains ? with the ultimate goal being to return these horses to the tribes and start Tribal Horse Youth programs, promoting the values of the original Horse Culture as an alternative to drugs and gangs on the reservations."

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Written by Dr. Craig Reid for KUNGFUMAGAZINE.COM

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