FINLAND: Jade Warrior (Jadesoturi) 2006

Director: Antti-Jussi Annila
Stars: Taisheng Chen , Tommi Eronen, Krista Kosonen, Elle Kull, Markku Peltola, Jingchu Zhang
Release date: Finland - 13 October 2006
Length: 110 mins

I've been following this film's progress for almost 3 years. I even emailed the produccer at one stage to ask him if it really was happening. He replied straight away & told me that it was a funding issue, combined with seasonal practicality. I guess that damn snow can delay a film by a whole year if everything isn't ready in time. From the begining when they created the website, it had a very distinctive & professional look. The storyboards are quite exquiste & it promises to be quite spectacular. If they pull it off. They also had a short trailer that was simple, yet extremely well shot & intriguing. Film locations included Finland, Estonia & in the Hengdian World Studios of China's Zhejiang Province.

What's not to be intrigued about.

Synopsis
Thousands of years ago in ancient China, a love struck sword hero fights against his destiny. He wants another chance to be reunited with his loved one and he gets that chance, in a far away place and a far away time, in the cold north, in modern Finland. Jade Warrior is set in ancient China early iron age and present day Finland. The past is feeding the story in present day, slowly revealing our warrior his real origin, his superior skills and his destiny. Jade Warrior - the first Finnish Kung Fu film - combines Finnish and Chinese mythologies into one film. Jade Warrior is an homage to Kung Fu genre strongly spiced with a truly original approach to Finnish national epic Kalevala. Like Kalevala Jade Warrior is a pure melodrama. A story of Kalevala´s greatest hero.

• Website
• Trailer 9MB QT file