New War Film “The Tale of Three Cities” About Jackie Chan’s Parents?

The Tale of Three Cities <三城記>, a period drama war film co-directed by Mabel Cheung (張婉婷), Alex Law (羅啓鋭) and starring Sean Lau (劉青雲), Tang Wei (湯唯), and Qin Hailu (秦海璐) and Jing Boran (井柏然), has commenced shooting in Anhui. The epic film, produced by Nansun Shi (施南生), tells the story of a sweeping romance that takes place during the tumultuous era of 1930s China.

Rumors claim that The Tale of Three Cities is based on the real-life story of Jackie Chan’s (成龍) parents, Charles and Lee-Lee Chan. Though director Mabel Cheung neither denied nor confirmed these reports, it is known that the creators behind The Tale of Three Cities had indeed approached Jackie Chan in 2003 about working on a possible film together. In 2008, Jackie announced through his rep that he intended to write his parents’ life story into film. At the time, he expressed his wishes to invite Jiang Wen (姜文) and Gong Li (鞏俐) to star, while Mabel Cheung was already signed on to be the director.

“It was during times of great upheaval,” said Mabel Cheung, when describing the setting for the film at an earlier press conference. “Those who survived those times were really strong people. The main character is someone from Shandong who escaped to Anhui, and then to Nanjing, Shanghai, and finally to Hong Kong. I do not dare to compare this film to Gone with the Wind, but I do hope my film will strive towards that direction.”

Jackie Chan once revealed in a tell-all interview that his father used to be from Anhui, and moved to several cities in mainland China before he decided to settle in Hong Kong. His mother had smuggled opium for a living, while his father worked as a customs officer. When his mother was caught at the customs gate, his father decided to release her for the sake of her two young children she was carrying. His father also had two young sons at the time. After falling in love, his parents moved to Taiwan before returning to Hong Kong later in life.

Source: Sina.com

This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.