Jade Warrior (film)

Jade Warrior is a - co-produced movie. It combines elements of the wuxia genre with Finnish Kalevala mythology. It was directed by Antti-Jussi Annila.

The movie opened in Finland on October 13, 2006 with 40 copies. The film debuted at #2, right after ''''. It opened in China on October 24 with 150 copies in 70 cities. Jade Warrior is the first Finnish movie to be released in movie theaters in China. In addition to China, the movie's international distribution rights have been sold to more than 30 countries.

Plot

Inspired by a well-known Finnish epic called '''', the story opens with a down-on-his luck wannabe blacksmith who gets dumped by his girlfriend. She tries to dispose of his collection of Asian artifacts and body carbon at an antique dealer, but this sets off a mythical series of events that holds the girlfriend back from leaving town. His body carbon causes a mythical chest to open and that causes the blacksmith to remember a past life where he was a half-Chinese half-"Far Northern" warrior, fated to battle a demon in China, threatening to enslave all of humankind.
The warrior was fated to be rewarded with Nirvana on dying in that lifetime if he killed the demon.The warrior is abetted — and then ultimately disheartened — by a female warrior who has captured his heart. The woman unexpectedly finds her lost lover who is the warrior's friend.
Thus the warrior uses a magical chest to imprison the demon and escape Nirvana. He then commits suicide to be reborn as the now wannabe blacksmith, who is being instructed by a now freed demon to build the Sampo, a machine that will open the gates to hell.The blacksmith's remembering and the sampo building are transposed to each other. Finally the blacksmith realises what he has done and knows his complete past life and, with his lady love now potentially returned to his side in a Finnish incarnation, he decides to fulfill his original quest and kill the demon. The movie involves enchanted boxes, spectacular sword fights, and supernatural events that come together — simultaneously — in an isolated cabin on the outskirts of Helsinki and in the rural mountains.

Cast

*Tommi Eronen - Kai/Sintai
*Markku Peltola - Berg
*Krista Kosonen - Ronja
*Zhang Jingchu - Pin Yu
*Elle Kull - Weckstr?m
*Taiseng Cheng - Demoni
*Hao Dang - Cho

Reviews

*''CineFantastico.com''
*''Cinematic Happenings Under Development''
*''The Hollywood Reporter''
*''Twitch Films''
* ''Up Against the Wall''

Soundtrack

According to the website, the soundtrack was released on October 11 2006.