Chinese director Mabel Cheung's A Tale of Three Cities is based on the wartime experiences of Jackie Chan's parents. Xu Fan reports. Mabel Cheung recalls a scene from her wartime epic, A Tale of Three Cities, in which several Chinese soldiers are beheaded by Japanese invaders.

"When the head falls, blood doesn't flow out immediately. The neck muscles first shrink backward, and then comes the blood," the 65-year-old director says.

The veteran filmmaker behind smash hits like Echoes of the Rainbow and City of Glass is now promoting A Tale of Three Cities in Beijing.