Mulan movie remake faces epic new battle ahead of debut
It is one of the most highly-anticipated movies of the year but can the Disney remake of the previously animated film Mulan survive the unprecedented challenge of the global coronavirus crisis?
Movies
Don't miss out on the headlines from Movies. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Mandy Walker vividly remembers watching Disney’s animated 1998 hit Mulan with her daughter — so when the chance came to film its live action remake, she jumped at it.
“I knew it really well, so I was very excited,” says the acclaimed Australian cinematographer.
Together with director Niki Caro and first assistant director Liz Tan, it meant the three top crew members were women.
It was certainly apt for a movie based on an old Chinese legend about a young woman who is forced to impersonate a man to prevent her sick father from being called up to fight a barbarian invasion and discovers in the course of her subsequent trials that she is a brilliant warrior.
“This was the first time on a movie of this size,” Walker says.
“We knew everyone was going to be watching … so we were very organised.
“It was quite a calm and organised set. We had a lot of men on set and they all said it was the first time for them (to have three women running the set).
“It does have a different vibe I suppose … no one was yelling!”
Walker is a genius behind the camera in an industry where few women are cinematographers — less than five per cent.
After filming the Australian drama Lantana (2001), she had her really big break with Baz Luhrmann’s Australia (2008), before moving on to Hollywood movies, including the Leonardo DiCaprio-produced Red Riding Hood (2011), the acclaimed Hidden Figures (2016) and 2017’s farfetched but stunningly filmed survival drama The Mountain Between Us starring Kate Winslet and Idris Elba.
MORE FROM DUNCAN LAY:
Trolls miss secret to killing off Captain Marvel
Battle of Super Bowl trailers not all trash
Mulan’s live action remake follows live reboots of Alice In Wonderland, Cinderella, Beauty And The Beast and The Lion King. It was expected to hit $1 billion at the box office and become the highest-grossing film of the year thanks largely to the Chinese market — but that was before coronavirus struck.
With all Chinese cinemas remaining closed to stop the spread of infection, the health crisis will certainly affect the movie’s takings there — at least initially.
“It is disappointing but I had heard this will be the first film shown when they reopen the cinemas,” Walker says.
“The Chinese public has been waiting a long time for this movie.”
The stakes were always high for Mulan. With a budget of $300 million, an all-Asian cast and a beloved Chinese legend as its story, the live-action epic is aimed straight at the heart of Chinese moviegoers.
But the original’s loyal global following will also be vocal in its disapproval if it feels the remake has lost the spirit of the original.
With high-profile movie titles such as Doolittle and Jojo Rabbit already skipping their Chinese release this year, a similar delay for Mulan will obviously be a huge blow for both fans and Disney.
The same concerns were behind this week’s decision to officially postpone the global release of the latest James Bond blockbuster, No Time To Die, until November.
The much-anticipated final outing of Daniel Craig as the super spy had been scheduled for release next month but producers said they made the decision after “careful … evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace”.
Judging by the trailers, nobody is going to be disappointed by Mulan. The action looks stunning and Walker says she is very proud of the look they were able to achieve.
Striking a balance between real battle action and a family-friendly rating was always going to be a challenge but the film has a real Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon otherworldly vibe to the fighting.
“When I first spoke to Niki (Caro) she wanted it centred on Mulan so I always had that in the back of the mind,” Walker says.
They steered away from the stereotypical battle scenes with “lots of swords clashing”, she says.
“It was choreographed, elegant and controlled,” she says.
“Mulan doesn’t have supernatural powers but she is an elite warrior and has this Chi, an inner strength and power that helps her become elite.
“There is no blood and gore, the fight sequences are all about her and her special abilities.”
Of the reported 1000 young women Disney saw to find the “real” Mulan, chosen to wield her sword — Loyal, Brave, True etched in gold on its blade — was Yifei Liu, a 32-year-old born in Wuhan, China.
“I’m very lucky but I don’t want to put on too much pressure because pressure means doubt,” says Liu.
“For me, the spirit of Mulan is the simpleness and the unspeakable belief and strength. This power inspires me.”
The diminutive actor may not have the fierce exterior of a warrior (“I love the sheeps!” she exclaims, when asked about filming in New Zealand) but colleagues attest to her inner steel.
“She is Mulan,” says costume designer Bina Daigeler.
“What she achieves with her body and her strength … she’s an example for all.”
Adds producer Jason Reed: “Yifei has been unbelievable. No one works out as much as she does, no one trains as hard as she does, no one works as many days as she does on this movie and she is indefatigable. What Niki homed in on was this determination, this fierceness of spirit.”
Liu, who lived in New York from age 10-15 before being accepted into the Beijing Film Institute, believes Mulan is a “spirit” that lives “in every one of us”.
“Bravery is instinct,” she says.
“Mulan doesn’t think complicated, she just follows her feelings. She feels the love for her family and on the journey finds out who she really is.”
Walker created a special lens that was able to make Yifei Liu’s character the centre of every frame, so the focus is on her, even in the middle of a massive battle.
“It’s given it a different look,” she says.
Although it is set in China and based on a Chinese fable, Walker says the story is “universal”.
Much of it was filmed in New Zealand, in areas made famous by Peter Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings trilogy.
So did they come across what they thought was the perfect shot, only to reject it because it would have been recognised as something from Middle-earth?
“That would have been funny but no, we were looking for scenery that was like China. We also had a scenic unit in China, so some of it is Chinese as well,” Walker says.
Extensive cultural consulting led to some of the more problematic aspects of the animated movie being discarded — such as Mushu the dragon, voiced by Eddie Murphy.
“We all love Mushu, but it turns out that isn’t the most culturally appropriate way to represent a dragon in Chinese culture,” says Reed.
Research also determined “the treatment of the Emperor in the original movie was not accurate or respectful”.
Enter Jet Li to bring the requisite “respect and gravitas to the role”.
“He also happens to be one of the greatest Wushu masters of all time so the Emperor does not just sit on the throne and read scrolls in our movie,” says Reed.
The prospect of Mulan falling for a senior officer has also been removed with the purpose of the animation’s Li Shang now split across two characters: Hong Kong action superstar Donnie Yen plays Mulan’s mentor, Commander Tung, and Yoson An is Honghui, a fellow conscript and love interest.
“It’s a very exciting time for cultural representation and diversity,” An says.
Leading the enemy is Bori Khan, played by Hawaiian Jason Scott Lee, who is backed by a foreboding force in black, known as the Shadow Warriors.
“They’re my ninja guys, my elite fighters,” says Lee of the horsemen portrayed by Mongolian and Kazakhstani trick riders.
Also riding high in the action stakes is Liu who performed many of her own stunts, honing her skills over three months of horse riding, strength and conditioning training.
“I’m not a big-muscle girl,” Liu says.
“There are some muscles but not extreme.”
Besides, she adds, Mulan’s strength is not in her muscles.
“One word for Mulan? It’s always love.”
As for Walker, although she spent so much time working on it, she is still looking forward to watching the movie with her daughter.
“It’s always exciting for me,” she says.
“I love every movie and bringing something to the audience.”
* Mulan opens in cinemas March 27
CONTROVERSIAL STAR
Even before the coronavirus drama surrounding its release, Mulan had attracted controversy for comments made by star Yifei Liu, who last year provoked calls for a boycott of the film after she declared her support for Hong Kong police during the protests which wracked that country.
“I support Hong Kong police. You can beat me up now,” she posted while resharing an image posted by a Chinese newspaper to her millions of followers on social media site Weibo.
Fans and commentators were quick to react, claiming her comments were at odds with the ethos of the character she portrays in the movie while others pointed out her American citizenship allowed her the very freedoms that the protesters were fighting to keep.