A scene in Jet Li's latest film "Fearless"

Most overseas film fans will not have heard of Huo Yuanjia (1869-1910), but the founder of "Jing Wu Sports Federation" is about to become a household name played by Jet Li.

Thanks to the popularity of several previous movies and TV dramas documenting the legendary life of the Chinese martial arts pioneer, Huo is familiar to many in China.

"Fearless" premiered on Friday at Beijing's Oriental Plaza after a barrage of media hype. The film goes on general release tomorrow.

Jet Li, a mainland action star that has shifted his focus to Hollywood in recent years, describes the long awaited feature as his "most important movie so far."

As the movie's protagonist, co-producer and spiritual guru, Li attended a press conference on the morning of the premiere.

During the two-hour conference and in interviews before and afterwards, he continuously preached his philosophy as a successful and established action star.

But many may be disappointed by this approach if they just want to spend two hours watching dazzling ass-kicking and gravity-defying flying, and do not want to meditate on serious subjects such as the meaning of life.

Wish fulfilled

As Jet Li himself has pointed out, "Fearless" is not a biopic of Huo Yuanjia it would be more accurate to label it the biography of Li's spiritual path.

The idea of making a film about Huo first came to Li 14 years ago.

It was 1992 and he was in some "really big trouble," which seriously affected his acting career. Frustrated, he left Hong Kong and returned to Beijing with only 40,000 yuan (about US$4,900 according to today's exchange rate) in his pocket half of which he gave to his family. He had been away from home for four years.

His martial arts teacher, who was raising money to repair the tomb of Huo Yuanjia, asked him to donate 50,000 yuan (US$6,200).

"I did not and he was very upset," said Li. "After he left I told myself that I would make efforts to spread Huo's spirit to the whole world in the future. That was more important than simply repairing a tomb. Today I finally fulfilled that wish. I hope my teacher can forgive me now."

Li began preparing for the film in 2003, when he learned that 280,000 people commit suicide in China every year. He hoped the film would encourage those that have lost confidence in life to be strong again.

In "Fearless," Huo Yuanjia is cast as a prodigal son that stages a comeback after lying low. He dreams of continuing the legacy his father established as a world-class fighter. After reaching his goal, a personal tragedy causes him to disappear for several years. He is not heard of or seen until he resurfaces at an international tournament to defend the honour of his country.

Although Huo is a fighter representing Chinese martial arts, there are few written records about him.

Li admits most of the movie's plot is fiction. Only the era when Huo lived, the time of his death and the fact that he founded "Jing Wu Sports Federation" tally with historical facts.

"We did a great deal of research and field work before shooting. The cliche about national heroes is that they are immaculate. That is not what we want. We want to tell a convincing story in which Huo is a human, not a god," Li said.

The storyline is consistent with Li's own ups and downs. He achieved success in the first flush of youth after playing the lead role in the film "Shaolin Temple" in 1979. He then struggled amid the cutthroat competition of the film industry in Hong Kong and Hollywood, and finally climbed the ladder to fame through hard work.

"Huo's attitudes towards life, the world and martial arts displayed in the movie are actually my attitudes," said Li. "He died at the age of 42, and I am 42 now. I hope this movie can reflect the philosophies of people at my age."

Li was very clear about what the first half of Huo's life should be portrayed as, "because I myself had walked the same road," but he admitted he had no idea of the latter half of his life.

It took eight screenwriters 17 days to finally come up with a satisfying story.

"I sincerely hope everybody who goes to see the film will receive the information it aims to convey: to face life actively," Li said.

Different genres

"Fearless" may be film buffs' last chance to see Li looking to unleash a world of hurt on some bad eggs. He said "Fearless" would be his last martial arts movie. Li no longer wants to make films in this genre because what he wanted to say about martial arts through movies had all been said.

But he emphasized he would continue doing action movies and kung fu movies.

According to his categorization, action, kung fu and martial arts are three different genres of movie. The first two only take the form of martial arts.

"Kung fu is a concept of time," said Li. "You spend time practising it, and you will command new skills. Martial arts is an overall concept, which also includes the practicing of souls.

"One common subject of my movies in recent years is: is violence the only way to solve disputes? The answer is no. We should not return violence for violence, but return good for evil," he said.

Li said "Fearless" gives him a chance to ponder some basic questions. Why practise martial arts? What does one gain and lose on the path to becoming the best martial arts master in the world the ultimate goal of every practitioner in the fictional martial arts world?

At the age of 36, Li started taking a greater interest in spiritual matters and became a loyal Buddhist. That was the time when he realized "it was not enough to have a strong body, you have to have a strong soul."

He now divides his time between charity work and film-making.

Weighty cast

For all his trials and tribulations, "I do not care about the mundane successes any more now. What the audience will learn from the movie weighs much more than the box office, or anything else," said Li.

But he is so eager to share his life experiences with the audience that lengthy lectures fill the film. As a result, it is reminiscent of a tedious textbook, with little room for students to think on their own.

Shot in Shanghai, "Fearless" is directed by Ronny Yu Yan-Tai, one of the Hong Kong directors now overseeing Hollywood films.

Collin Chou, who became known for his performance in "The Matrix," plays Huo's father.

Rising mainland actress Sun Li plays Yue Ci, a fictional blind character that supports Huo when he is down.

Other members of the cast include Japanese actor Nakamura Shidou and mainland actor Dong Yong.

The movie's action director is the respected Yuen Woo Ping, who has many of the best Hong Kong kung fu epics under his belt.

As a big proponent of martial arts becoming an Olympic sport at the Beijing Games in 2008, Li dreamt up an International Olympic Committee official to tell the story of Huo.

But the scenes involving the character, played by renowned Hong Kong actress and former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh, were cut in order to make the movie more concise.

The original edition of the movie was 143 minutes long, but was later trimmed to 103 minutes, also cutting an action scene featuring Li and a Thai fighter.