Female Bloodsport!
Jane, an American, sets off to Hong Kong, to compete in the no holds barred, fight to the death underground martial arts tournament known as the ‘Kumite’.
Production Company: Voltage Pictures
Director: Chris Nahon
Cast: Amy Johnston, Jenny Wu, Muriel Hofmann, Mayling Ng, Jet Tranter, Kathy Wu
Lady Bloodfight
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Chris Nahon’s action film effectively lives up to its title. It features sexy ladies fighting in bloody fashion, and on its own limited terms provides the sort of violent entertainment geared to fans who enjoy watching movies like, well, Lady Bloodfight.
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One particular standout is a fight that occurs pre-kumite, when Wai challenges Ling to pick a fight with a random man at an outdoor cafe to prove her worth. Ling gleefully antagonizes both the man and his girlfriend before proceeding to wreak havoc on the entire street – with Wai’s help. Watching Ling and Wai defy all misogynistic expectations regarding their gender and size to prove how powerful and dangerous women can be is empowering in the most entertaining way.
Black Belt Magazine
Noel Plaugher from Black Belt Magazine interviews Jenny Wu on the making of Lady Bloodfight.
“Do you know something funny? I was bashed by Lisa [Marie Henderson] in the face during our fight rehearsals. Lisa, the actress I fought against, her style was krav maga. There’s this moment where I’d go for her waist and she’d smack me with her elbow on my back.
Well, I was a micro-second too slow bending down for her waist, and she smacked me right in the face with her elbow. It hurt. The next day my face swelled. We managed with makeup, etc. I guess if you don’t have injuries, you ain’t really in the ring.
One thing that shooting fight scenes has taught me is that you have to zone in 100 percent. Your mind is focused solely on your opponent, and you have to just zone in to be completely in the moment. Otherwise, accidents happen. It’s actually really liberating when your attention is that razor-sharp-focused.”
"Chris is non-stop action, every day and every minute of shooting. And what’s funny is that although “Lady Bloodfight” is an action movie, Chris could equally win the medal for being the most active person on set. He had this 360 degrees of shooting, where he was operating the camera on a ronin around the action, so every now and then, he would spontaneously rotate around the action at 360 degrees. And it was funny, because the whole crew followed behind Chris like a massive fish tale, and every time the camera moved, there was this delayed domino effect of the fish tale running to keep up with Chris and stay behind the camera, all the time not sure when and where he was moving to.”
Kung-Fu Kingdom
A graduate of Sydney’s National Institute Of Dramatic Arts (NIDA), the Shanghai-born and Sydney-raised Jenny Wu has hardly taken the usual route of Hollywood via Neighbours or Home And Away, instead decamping to China, where she worked as a translator and assistant director on the blockbusting epic, Dragon Blade (2015), starring Jackie Chan, John Cusack, and Adrien Brody. Topping that, Wu now has a major on-screen role in the upcoming feature film, Lady Bloodfight. Filmed in Hong Kong, this female-driven actioner is one of 2016’s most anticipated martial arts movies, and is helmed by Frenchman, Chris Nahon (the Jet Li-starring Kiss Of The Dragon; Blood: The Last Vampire; and Empire Of The Wolves, with Jean Reno).
FILMINK
“So I was doing my first ever wire work including a difficult stunt on the day of shooting without any prior practice or training, I think everybody was praying for me! So at times it can be very stressful, because you are doing something dangerous without really knowing what you’re doing at all, and all you have is your gut instincts, and of course lots of instructions thrown at you in the last minute, thrilling as well as numbing.”
Dan’s Movie Report
Jenny Wu, a graduate of the world-renowned National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) in Sydney, worked on the biggest Chinese-produced blockbuster in Dragon Blade (2015), starring Jackie Chan, John Cusack, and Adrien Brody. She also stars in Voltage Pictures’ (Hurtlocker, Dallas Buyers Club) upcoming feature film Lady Bloodfight. Filmed in Hong Kong, this female fueled action flick is one of 2016’s most anticipated martial arts movies, helmed by director Chris Nahon.
In 2013 we first saw Jenny Wu travel to China where she became a top ten finalist amongst 70,000 contestants in the “Transformer 4: Age of Extinction, Search for Chinese Actors” competition hosted by CCTV6 & M1905, China’s official Movie Channel, in conjunction with Paramount Pictures. Transformers 4 went on to gross a whopping AUD$448 million in China alone when it opened in 2014, becoming the highest grossing film that year. Now all eyes are on China.
This month Jenny Wu returns to Asia as a guest of the inaugural Gold Aries Award Macau International Film Festival from March 6 – 8, where Hollywood’s mega Director James Cameron is the honorary Chairman.
