23 - 10 - 09 : The Blood Bond Saga (part 18)

Checking in to danger

When Michael Biehn and I were first invited to visit the Ace Studios in Nanhai, we stayed at the magnificent Fontainebleu. Modelled on a French hotel (as the name suggests), its a faux Grecian building set in its own beautiful grounds. The approach to the hotel, with landscaped bushes and fountains, is just incredible.

We asked our host, Henry Luk, if it would be possible to shoot at the hotel, and he said that he would try and ask his local contacts to arrange it. From that moment, MB and I were determined to feature the stunning exterior of the Fontainenbleu in the opening sequence of the Blood Bond. We subsequently gave poor Henry further pressure by demanding permission to shoot inside the hotel as well!

True to form, Henry came through and we scheduled a day to shoot exterior and interior scenes of the spiritual leader the Bagwun (Ye Xiao Keng) and his entourage at the place. The night before, the weather forecast was for clouds and rain.

Once again, the great god of celluloid (or, at least, HD) was with us on this shoot and the day dawned bright and clear. To maximize the impact of the Bagwun's convoy pulling up at the entrance, we had hired a crane that would allow DP Ross Clarkson to sweep up and across the vista of the Fontaine Bleu.

Of course we had to shoot this film during the Canton Trade Fair, meaning that there were several bus loads of multinational attendees coming and going, and thereby blocking our shot. We had also arranged for the hotel's manager and staff to play themselves, which meant they had to juggle their regular duties with running out front to play their roles!

I was surprised and delighted to meet Wing Chun master William Cheung, one of the men who taught Bruce Lee, who was staying at the hotel. He had been visiting nearby Foshan to celebrate his 70th birthday. He showed great interest in the proceedings and asked me to remember him to my step-father Tino Ceberano, an old friend of his.

After we wrapped the main entrance, we moved to a covered stone walkway that connects two of the hotel's buildings. If you've seen one hotel corridor, you've seen them all, so we were lucky to find such a unique passageway in which to film.

After shooting everything we needed at the hotel, we moved back to the studio for the first Blood Bond scenes to be shot on the sound stage. The sequence takes place inside a hotel suite, supposedly located at the Fontainebleu, but these rooms have been constructed at the studio.

The reason for this is that it would be the setting for a fight scene, and therefore not appropriate to shoot at an actual suite at the hotel.

Today, we were just shooting a dialogue scene between the Bagwun and Deva, and also a scene when she wakes during the night and realize that something is amiss. We will shoot the actual fight between Deva and the would be assassin later in the schedule.

I can't say enough about the wonderful actor Ye Xiao Keng. The character of the Bagwun is the one that motivates the entire plot. You needed an actor with real charisma to pull it off and Ye has this in spades. I'll always have a fond memory of Michael watching the monitor very closely and reactig to Keng's performance.

As I was watching the scene, something struck me. I first created the characters of Deva and her master about 20 years ago, just after I first moved to Hong Kong. I remember sitting in my rootftop apartment in San Po Kong, tapping out their original dialogue on my (yes!) typewriter.

And here they were made real, and by the perfect actors for the roles. I joked with Phoenix that the reason it took so long for me to make this film was that I had to wait for her to grow up!

Next : Praying for peace and luck