HK director who grew up in RP cites Leone westerns, Woo as inspiration

HONG KONG (AP) - First-time director Alexi Tan said he was inspired by Italian director famed for his westerns and by his mentor John Woo in making his upcoming debut, the action thriller "Blood Brothers."

"I drew inspiration from John Woo's movies. I also really like the Italian director Sergio Leone ... He made many westerns. I especially like those kinds of westerns," Tan said in an interview with the Chinese news Web site Sina.com.

Footage of the interview was posted on Sina.com Monday.

Leone is known for westerns like "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "Once Upon a Time in the West."

Produced by Woo, "Blood Brothers" is a Chinese-Taiwanese-Hong Kong co-production about the breakdown of friendship between three young men who moved to Shanghai from the countryside in the 1930s.

Tan also said the character played by Taiwanese actor Chang Chen is named Mark after the gangster from Woo's 1986 Hong Kong classic "A Better Tomorrow" _ a ruthless gangster seeking revenge and played by Chow Yun-fat.

Chang, who appeared in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," said in the Sina.com interview that his character wears a trench coat, a costume favored by Mark in "A Better Tomorrow."

Tan, schooled in London and at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, started out as a photographer before moving on to directing TV commercials and music videos. He is ethnic Chinese but grew up in the Philippines.

"Blood Brothers," which has been chosen as the Venice Film Festival's closing movie this year, is Woo's second major project after returning to Chinese-language film after a stint in Hollywood. He is also shooting the Chinese historical epic "Red Cliff."