After making Underground I wanted to make something different, try and reinvent myself. When I went to HK, I wanted to portray this clash of culture and I wanted to depict both worlds. The film opens in HK and ends in HK, with the middle section taking place in the UK. We go back and forth between the two worlds. I like to think the film is something different and unique.

With Bodyguard: A New Beginning I suppose you could say it was back to a more conventional narrative storytelling. I tried to create some dynamic characters, situations and stories within the film, which would intertwine and cross over from Wong and his son to the girl and her bodyguard. That was the appealing part of the film and I was keen to try to explore within the film why the characters did what they did.

The film depicts two rival gangs, a long standing triad boss (Richard Ng) who has been in power for decades and is respected and a new rival gang boss (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) who comes in to try and take over. Richard Ng’s character, Wong, is at a point in his life where he’s examining life and looking at what he’s achieved and what he has. He’s in this strange place where he realises that it’s not necessary the life he wanted to live but this is the life he has ended up choosing to live. He’s in this contemplative state. Having witnessed so much violence and bloodshed in his lifetime, he’s reluctant to see anymore and for many this is seen as a sign of weakness.

His son, Yuen played by Carl Ng, wants to take over the business. Wong sees himself in his son and as the film progresses we see a dramatic turn of events. I’d like to think dramatically the film is about understanding and self realisation and about people looking back at what they have done and examining the choices that they’ve made in life.