Jade Warrior

Toronto International Film Festival Program Book
2006

Jade Soturi | Jade Warrior
Antti-Jussi Annila
FINLAND/CHINA/ESTONIA/THE NETHERLANDS, 2006
Finnish, Mandarin
100 minutes Colour/35mm
Production Company Blind Spot Pictures/Ming Productions/ Film Tower Kuubis/FuWorks
Executive Producer Peter Loehr, San Fu Maltha, Margus Ounapuu
Producer: Petri Jokiranta, Tero Kaukomaa
Screenplay: Antti-Jussi Annila, Petri Jokiranta, based on the story by liro Kuttner
Cinematographer: Henri Blomberg
Editor: likka Hesse
Production Designer: Jukka Uusitalo
Sound: Timo Anttila, Erno Kumpulainen
Music: Kimmo Pohjonen, Samuli Kosminen
Principal Cast: Tommi Eronen, Markku Peltola, Zhang Jing-chu, Krista Kosonen
Production: Blind Spot Pictures

Jade Warrior is an often bizarre, bracing and wildly successful admixture of a traditional Chinese martial-arts film—think King Hu—and Finnish auteur cinema. Although it swings wildly through time and geography, the film nails its central conceits so perfectly that it feels entirely natural for a contemporary Finn to be fighting an ancient demon in medieval China.

The film was inspired by the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, a text that bears remarkable similarities to the mythologies of ancient China. A sad-sack, part-time iron-monger (Tommi Eronen) has been abandoned by his girlfriend (Krista Kosonen). When she tries to dump his collection of Asian knick-knacks at a local chinoiserie antique dealer, she sets off a chain of events that implicates them in a mythical history. The ironmonger turns out to be a majestic prince, destined to fight the last of the great demons, an unnameable force that keeps human beings in bondage. But his major strength—and weakness—is a woman: a beautiful, inspiring swordswoman (Zhang Jing-chu) who is destined to betray him. Magic boxes, sensational swordplay and fantastical happenings converge simultaneously on a rural house outside Helsinki and in the misty mountains of remote China until the truth about a puzzling contemporary archaeological find is at last revealed.

Like any martial-arts epic, Jade Warrior insists that you pay attention, as events occur quickly, with the astonishing fighting carrying the narrative along at a fast pace. Young director Antti-Jussi Annila has seamlessly meshed his expressive Finnish actors—especially the wonderful Eronen as the ironmonger—with more taciturn Chinese stars. His understanding of the medium is faultless. And he also reveals several surprising lessons regarding the history European migration when you least expect them. Finland, it turns out, is closer to the centre of Asia than we ever imagined.

This is the first ever Sino-Finnish co-production. Judging by Jade Warrior’s success, we should hope for many more.
—Noah Cowan