There is absolutely no Wuxia or martial arts in 'Red Cliff.' I want all the action to look realistic.

When I made 'Hard Boiled,' I had no idea that it would be released to an international audience. I just wanted to make a film to team up my two favorite actors, Tony Leung and Chow Yun-Fat.

My films are always concerned with family, friendship, honor, and patriotism.

I can use movie as a language. Not only could it send a good message, I could let people know about my thinking and how I see the world, how I see the colour, how I see the music, how I see everything.

When I was young, I loved movies so much I wanted to make one.

For my own films, I would like to see 'Bullet in the Head' remastered. The original cut was actually almost three hours.

It's pretty easy to make a film in China. A few years ago I just walked into the office and let them know I wanted to make a movie called 'Red Cliff' and they were so excited. They said, 'Let's do it!' It's that simple.