Woo says he can produce a romantic film, too

A "femaleoriented film", a love story like David Lean's Doctor Zhivago, a Chinese version of Titanic - these taglines have all been attributed to a veteran filmmaker's surprising new opus.

John Woo, known in both China and Hollywood for his graphic action sequences and the depiction of masculinity in smash hits like Face Off and The Killer, has returned to the public eye by announcing he is making the first romantic film in his 30-year directing career.

The Crossing is based on an accident in 1949, when a ship carrying people from the mainland to Taiwan at the end of the War of Liberation (194549) collided with a freighter, costing 1,000 lives.