The film was shot in Chinese, while Gordon worked with an assistant who helped her with language. But she does not think language was a real barrier on set. "In many ways drama and romance are international languages," she says. "I was really able to tell, 'Do I believe this moment? Is there something in this moment that makes my heart tug?' I knew what they were saying at every instant because I developed the script."

Gordon plans to make more Chinese projects in the booming market, where she says she has an unusual amount of creative freedom.

"I had more creative support in this movie than I have ever had with any movie in Hollywood," she says. "In the US, there were tremendous layers of interference in the story development, the casting, the location, the money, and so on, but nobody here said to me I cannot do something. 'You want to go to Singapore? OK. You want to jump over a 57-story building? OK.'"

Producer and female lead Zhang Ziyi gave Gordon tremendous support.

"Very few directors in the US get final cut, I have final cut here. Actually Ziyi has final cut, but she happens to love my edition.

"I feel like a queen here, in the US I was just a factory girl, a worker bee," she jokes.