at that,andthe Disney animated movie, and
created our own new telling.”
Originally, Disney had wanted a Chinese
director, but Hong Kong producer Bill Kong
persuaded them to widen the net. Caro
impressed Disney with an epic pitch
outlining herMulanvision and, having done
so, she suggested shooting partly in New
Zealand, doubling for some of China’s more
inaccessible locations.
Having got the gig, Caro worked on the
script with Jaffa and Silver, bringing her own
sensibility to the film. From the start she gave
it her all, Method directing, you might say: she
worked out every day with the trainer who
trained Jason Scott Lee and the film’s lead, Liu
Yifei. “When I’m directing something, I’m all
in,”she tellsEmpire, meeting in London this
January. “Deeply in. When I didWhale Rider
I learnt Māori. There’s always something I can
do that gets me closer to the character, and with
MulanI knew that I had to become incredibly
strong. And so I am now actually physically very
strong.” She grins broadly.
There are, obviously, thematic parallels with
Whale Rider, too —Mulanis “Whale Rideron
steroids”, she says. “I like to think there’s some
500.” In fact, Disney bought
a spec script, written by
Elizabeth Martin and Lauren
Hynek and telling a Mulan
story, in early 2015, before
passing it over to Rick Jaffa
and Amanda Silver — writers of
Jurassic Worldand the recent
Planet Of The Apesfilms — for
an overhaul. The spirit of the
legend would guide them.
“We’ve done a lot of
research on at least five
versions of the ballad from
ancient China,” says Reed. “We
are working with The Walt
Disney Company, and under
the auspices of making the
animated film, but really we
went back to the original
source material and lookedClockwise from main:Feeling a little
horse: Liu Yifei as Mulan, with equine
friend Khan; Jason Scott Lee’s Bori
Khan leads the charge; Gong Li as
mysterious witch Xianniang; Jet Li
strikes a regal pose as the Emperor;
Director Niki Caro and her star relax
on location.destiny going on,” she says. “I feel a very strong
sense that everything I’ve done has brought me
to this. And I was ready.”BEING AUTHENTIC
THE FIRST THING Caro did after signing up
was to meet Bill Kong, who also produced
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,Heroand
House Of Flying Daggers, among countless other
Asian classics. He was her “fairy godfather”, she
says — cultural authenticity onMulanwas
paramount. She then undertook some research
trips to China, travelling across the country
before planning the production. They didn’t
want to get anything wrong.
A prime example was the handling of the
Emperor, played by Jet Li. “One of the things
that came back very clearly to us was that the
treatment of the Emperor in the original movie
was not accurate or respectful,” says Reed. “So
we’ve worked really closely with a lot of Chinese
partners and with the Chinese government and
with cultural consultants and researchers. We
have gone to great pains to make sure that we
show due deference.”
Every actor in the film, says Reed, is of
Asian descent. This includes two south Asian
con-artists Mulan meets on the Silk Road, Skatch
and Ramtish, who become helpful allies as well
as gifting the film some comedic chops. “It
speaks to what the Silk Road was at that time,
which was an incredibly diverse area,” says
Utkarsh Ambudkar, who plays Skatch. “It wasn’t
just representatives of China and east Asia —
there were plenty of Persians and Southeast
Asians who also travelled that route.”
Ambudkar praises the production for
reflecting such diversity. “The two brown guys
inCrazy Rich Asianswere the two guards at the
gate. And when Chum [Ehelepola, who plays
Ramtish] and I watched that movie together we
looked at each other and were just like, ‘Well,
thereweare.’ And so for us to have important
roles, large speaking parts inMulan, and to be
able to create an example of south Asians who
are hopefully entertaining and can also be
involved in the action I think is in opposition
to what most Hollywood people think of how
we’re supposed to fit into film.”
Getting it right also meant ditching the
dragon. Potentially upsetting fans of the original
animation, Mushu, as voiced by a wisecracking
Eddie Murphy, had to go. “We all love Mushu,”
says Reed. “But it turns out that that maybe
isn’t the most culturally appropriate way to
represent a dragon in Chinese culture. So we
are not having Mushu.”
Also absent willbe the songs — at least in
their previous form. Some of the music will be
honoured within the score: “In the most epic and
appropriate way,” laughs Caro. But, as she says,
“people don’t tend to break into song when
they’re going to war”. In New Zealand,Empire
watches Liu Yifei’s Mulan at the training camp,
ducking and diving, jumping and spinning,
thrusting a spear with deadly precision. In the
animated film, this wasthe musical ❯