Filmmaking: A question of details

Schindler's List producer Branko Lustig was in Shanghai recently scouting locations for his new movie, an inter-racial romantic drama about Jewish refugees who found safe haven in the open port city during World War II.

Judging by the two-time Oscar winner's filmography, which also includes Gladiator and Black Hawk Down, the movie has the potential to be huge, or at least better than director Mikael Hafstrom's spy 'thriller' Shanghai (2010), which John Cusack, Gong Li and myself all apparently fell asleep halfway through. It may even come to define this episode in history for future generations of moviegoers. Or it may be a turkey. Who knows?

The question is - and this is especially pertinent given the 79-year-old Croatian's reputation as a stickler for detail - will it be accurate?