Willem Dafoe & Luo Yan Pavilion of Women

(SUZHOU, China, Nov. 23) At the break of dawn, the Liu Garden lies silent. A popular tourist spot in the historical port city of Suzhou, on China's eastern coast, it is the quintessential Chinese garden, with carp ponds and towering scholar rocks recalling an ancient mandarin's watercolor. What the garden doesn't look like is a Hollywood film set. Just then, the quiet of the dawn is gently broken by the footfall of three dozen film extras heading for make-up in the dim morning light.

In July, the garden provided the cinematic backdrop for "Pavilion of Women," an adaptation of Pearl Buck's novel about a Chinese woman's romantic relationship with a foreign missionary during the late 1930's and early 1940's, when Japan was carrying out a brutal invasion of eastern China. Starring the Western film star Willem Dafoe, teamed up with an enterprising actress/screenwriter/producer, Luo Yan, the making of this movie exemplified a trend now taking hold in Chinese cinema. Taking a page from marketing tricks long mastered by the makers of "chinoiserie" -- arts and crafts playing up nostalgic China themes - the filmmakers are producing the picture in China to cut costs, while mixing name brands (Dafoe, Buck) with the Western fascination with China to draw in their audience.

To visitors, what's going on in the garden doesn't make much sense until they walk through a narrow corridor and up a slight incline away from the make-up staging area. There, the massive lights that will turn daybreak into late afternoon, coupled with hundreds of meters of electrical cable, betray the otherwise subdued veneer of the work that's underway.

Love and Struggle

Willem Dafoe Pavillion of Women

Compounding the morning's set-up is pouring rain, which lasts for most of the next two days. Luckily for the cast and crew, the shooting today calls for an interior scene of a banquet and the weather causes no delays.

Luo Yan stands in a traditional gold cheongsam and cape near a moon gate, sheltered from the downpour. If it weren't for the huge batteries of lights transforming the rainy morning into a late afternoon, Luo could easily pass for the mistress of the garden, not looking at all out of place even in fin-de-siecle China.

On the set of "Pavilion of Women," Luo is the master of all she surveys. In the film she plays a frustrated Chinese wife who carries on a romantic relationship with an American missionary, both out of love for him and as a part of her own struggle for freedom in a constraining society.

For someone who's required to be up before dawn every day to meet her on-screen requirements, and whose work does not end until well after dark, Luo doesn't seem to be cracking under the strain of 15-hour days.

"If I had it to do over again, I would hesitate," she says. A Shanghai native who now lives in Los Angeles, Luo is one of several Chinese actresses-cum-entrepreneurs, following in the footsteps of the Shanghai actresses Joan Chen and Liu Xiaoqing. Liu parlayed her film career in China into a multi-million dollar fortune in Shanghai's real estate market.

Change of Pace

Although Luo was an award-winning actress in China before she moved to the U.S., and has remained in film production throughout, she always speaks in business terms as much as artistic terms. Suzhou was chosen as the film's location for both reasons. "For business, it worked," Luo says. "The cost was low. Other films cost five times what this one will cost to make. And artistically, it's very beautiful." Because of its low cost, Luo expects "Pavilion" will succeed financially and allow her to produce other English-language films in China.

"Honestly, it's a great business opportunity," she said. "As long as this film breaks even, it can be used as a model to create a lot of other films."

Luo is not yet herself a box-office draw, but there is a household name attached to the film: actor Willem Dafoe.

Best-known for his Oscar-nominated performance in "Platoon," and also for his role as Jesus in "The Last Temptation of Christ," Dafoe wasn't in the banquet scene and dashed to Beijing for some sightseeing during one of his few down times on set. He explained his interest in the project in a telephone interview: "I read the script. I liked certain aspects of it. Some of it is very sentimental, some of it is very melodramatic. But I was attracted to those things. Those aren't necessarily bad qualities for me. After making some pictures playing some ugly characters I wanted a change of pace."

Strong and Silent

Willem Dafoe in Suzhou, China

However, China certainly provided some of the lure for Dafoe. "I think I probably wouldn't have done this movie if it wasn't shot in China and if it wasn't a Chinese production. Not because the other elements were weak -- but because that rooted it for me."

While Luo is the primary business force behind "Pavilion," and Dafoe gives the movie name-recognition, much of the creative juice injected into Luo's screenplay is provided by director Yim Ho.

The Hong Kong director won critical acclaim for his handling of the Chinese film "The Day The Sun Turned Cold," the true story of a murder in Heilongjiang province. Yim is definitely a strong, silent type, eating lunch by himself during very short breaks in the shooting schedule, while always commanding a large physical presence by virtue of his six-foot height and broad frame. His previous work in China encouraged him to take on "Pavilion" in spite of an abbreviated shooting schedule. "I always like working in China," he said. "I think it's great. People tend to be more focused when they're working in China. Things come more naturally." The idea of the film "seduced me," he added. "During this chaotic, traumatic time, there is this relationship that develops between an American missionary and a bold Chinese woman."

The long days and tight budget of the film had taken their toll on the film's crew. The day of the banquet scene was the second of a twelve-day shooting stretch with no scheduled rest. Some production assistants complained about not being paid, and said some had already departed when they weren't paid on time.

Yim hinted at friction between himself and Luo in her role as both producer and lead actress, while quickly shrugging it off as unavoidable in such a risky artistic and entrepreneurial enterprise.

"This is one of the difficulties of this film, of course," he said. "It's a learning process for every one of us. We all have to learn how to contribute."

Also, reviews of Shower by Steven Schwankert,
Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou by Alexa Olesen