Wu Jing honored at MIFFest says Hong Kong still shapes wuxia
Wu Jing honored MIFFest says Hong Kong action cinema still leaves its mark on every wuxia film today, including his own. The actor-producer received the Malaysia International Film Festival's Excellent Achievement in Film Award and spoke after a special screening of Blades of the Guardians: Wind Rises in the Desert.
Key Takeaways
- Wu Jing received MIFFest's Excellent Achievement in Film Award and told Variety that Hong Kong action cinema still shapes every wuxia film.
- MIFFest screened Blades of the Guardians: Wind Rises in the Desert, directed by Yuen Woo-ping and released over Lunar New Year to $215 million.
- Wu argues global action choreography and industrial production methods still trace back to Hong Kong cinema.
- He says streaming and short-form video will change entertainment forms, but film as an art will keep evolving.
The honor coincided with a special festival screening that drew an enthusiastic response. For more festival and platform coverage, see our Streaming & TV Alerts hub.
What did Wu Jing say about Hong Kong action cinema at MIFFest?
Speaking with Variety at MIFFest, Wu said the fingerprints of Hong Kong action cinema remain on every wuxia film made today. That influence, he noted, includes his own films.
"Action choreography around the world traces its roots to Hong Kong," he said. "Many action sequences today are built on techniques pioneered by Hong Kong cinema."
Wu pointed to two lasting Hong Kong contributions: action choreography and production expertise. In Hong Kong, he noted, a producer could oversee three films at once—an early model of industrialized filmmaking.
Why does Blades of the Guardians matter to this honor?
The festival celebrated a special screening of Blades of the Guardians: Wind Rises in the Desert. Yuen Woo-ping directed the film, adapted from Xu Xianzhe's martial arts comic. It opened during the Lunar New Year holiday, grossed $215 million, and drew an enthusiastic response at MIFFest.
During the post-screening Q&A, Wu recalled the shoot in detail. "There are more than 3,000 shots across exactly 125 minutes and 48 seconds," he said. "I remember every minute of it, even every sound."
Asked if he was satisfied with the finished film, he said his internal score rose and fell from wrap to release. In the end he gives it no score, because once a film is out, "it no longer belongs to me."
How does Wu Jing see wuxia's future on screens and streams?
As short-form video competes for younger viewers, Wu said there is no definitive answer for how they will understand wuxia. He framed Blades of the Guardians as passion work: creators who love the genre wanted "one last great martial arts spectacle" even if it seemed to be fading.
He highlighted a cast whose ages span nearly a century—a nearly 100-year-old master who introduced both Jet Li and Wu to the industry, and a youngest actor born in 2020. That span, he said, mirrors wuxia's own history.
Visual effects can enhance martial arts, Wu argued, but authentic filmmaking still depends on performance: expressing a character through the body and moving audiences with sincerity. Having worked as actor, director, producer, and investor, he called every set role essential and said the work made him a more humble actor.
On streaming-era change, he compared cinema's rise over shadow puppetry—Peking Opera and theater did not vanish—and said film will thrive in new forms even as entertainment shifts.