Download
1 / 10
E N D
Let the Bullets Flyis a 2010 Chinese-Hong Kongco-productionaction comedy film written and directed by Jiang Wen, based on a story by Ma Shitu. The film is set in China during the 1920s when the bandit Zhang (Jiang Wen) descends upon a town posing as its new mayor. The film also stars Chow Yun-fat, Carina Lau, Ge You, Chen Kun, and Zhou Yun
The film's script went through over thirty drafts before Jiang Wen was happy with it.
Plot Set in China during the warring 1920s, the bandit Pocky Zhang enters the remote Goose Town pretending to be their newly installed governor. Zhang is accompanied by Tang . Zhang's aim at this position is opposed by local mobster Huang who lives in his fortified citadel overlooking the town. While Tang is aware of Huang's previous financial arrangement with the town's former governor, Zhang is not interested in sharing his wealth with a crook he finds to be as unworthy as himself.
Production Director Jiang Wen went over 30 drafts of the film's script.Jiang Wu, stated he was offered the role in the film through a text message from JHe said that he got a text message from his brother, director Jiang Wen. Wen stated that he his brother "never picked any talentless person for his productions. So it is good to be chosen for work in a good team."
Release Let the Bullets Fly was originally scheduled for a release in September 2010.This release date was nullified as a spokesperson for Emperor Motion Pictures stated that "There is a lot of post-production to be done and it has to be done properly." The film premiered in Beijing on December 6, 2010 with wide-release in Mainland China on December 16.Let the Bullets Fly was released in Hong Kong on January 13, 2011.A Hollywood film studio have bought the rights to create an American remake of Let the Bullets Fly.The film has become the highest grossing Chinese film, beating the record set by Aftershock.Following James Cameron's Avatar, this film is now the second highest grossing film ever released in China.
Box office Let the Bullets Fly's opening midnight screenings have grossed at least one million yuan ($150,000), making the film gain a new midnight opening record for Chinese-language films. The film's opening day gross was $4.5 million (RMB30m), which did not break the opening day record set by Feng Xiaogang's Aftershock. By the weekend, the film's accumulated grossed reached $19.52 million (RMB130.18m) and it became the fastest local film to break the RMB100m mark.Let the Bullets Fly earned a total of 400 million yuan (60 million dollars) in its first 11 days of release.
Critical reception In China, Let the Bullets Fly has won acclaim for story and dialogue as well as attracting criticism for its violence.Maggie Lee of The Hollywood Reporter described the film as "unabashedly entertaining" though less tailored to film festivals than Wen's other works and the bottom line is that a "rollicking Chinese western directed with cinematic gumption."The Global Times gave the film a seven out of ten rating, calling it a "a nicely tense pace and with a compact storyline featuring enough genuine laughs" while stating that the role of Jiang Wen "quickly becomes excessive and over-the-top". China Daily placed the film on their list of the best ten Chinese films of 2010.
