Martial arts star Jet Li is back in action in the new Chinese fantasy film "The Sorcerer and the White Snake".
Li and cast members Eva Huang and Charlene Choi joined director Tony Ching at the film's presentation at the Venice film festival.
The movie, a well-known, centuries old story told with a modern twist, is one of the festival's competition films.
Ching, who worked as the action choreographer on "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers" made his cast work hard to create credible action scenes.
Actress Eva Huang.
SOUNDBITE: Eva Huang, actress, saying (English):
"The stunts were really intense, even Jet Li said he was more exhausted in the end of the day than he had been for any other movie before. But I do all my own stunts by myself in the end, I was very happy I was able to do all my own stunts in the end. I think it's a good thing, right?"
Huang says in addition to the large-scale fantastical features, the film also gives an accurate portrayal of Chinese society.
SOUNDBITE: Eva Huang, actress, saying (English):
"I think it is very important for the way it helps to present China to the western world, it shows the best of Chinese culture, that was very important. I think shows that we have similar values, we also value the people who persevere and work hard at the face of adversity. So I think it's very important for the Chinese people to show their culture in this movie."
"The Sorcerer and the White Snake" will receive its world premiere at the film festival later on September 9th.
Alicia Powell, Reuters.