Shooting has started in Taipei for Hong Kong director John Woo’s (吳宇森) big-budget historical drama The Crossing (太平輪), with Taiwanese-Japanese actor, Takeshi Kaneshiro, and a Japanese actress spotted filming in the mountains around Taipei on Tuesday.
Kaneshiro, whose mother hails from Taiwan, and Japan’s Masami Nagasawa were dressed in mid-20th century clothing as they filmed outside a Japanese-style house built for the film in Taipei’s Yangmingshan National Park.
Despite temperatures plunging to about 6?C, the 40-year-old actor was seen wearing just a light jacket, while his costar wore a short sleeveless dress.
Dubbed the “Chinese version of Titanic,” The Crossing is the story of three couples in China who boarded an ill-fated ship bound for Taiwan during the turmoil of 1949.
It is based on the Taiping, which capsized on Jan. 27, 1949, in the Baijie Strait 71 miles southeast of Shanghai after colliding with a cargo ship. A total of about 1,000 lives were lost, many of them well-heeled elites fleeing the onslaught of Communist troops.
The NT$1.45-billion (US$48.6-million) film features an all-star cast from around Asia, including China’s Zhang Ziyi (章子怡), Huang Xiaoming (黃曉明), Tong Dawei (佟大為) and South Korea’s Song Hye-kyo.
Woo is best known for action films including Broken Arrow and Face/Off.
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