This choice of location, while proving enormously advantageous, nonetheless created a daunting challenge for production designer Anthony Pratt, who had previously collaborated with Boorman on such visually inventive projects as "Zardoz" and "Excalibur." It fell upon Pratt to create and construct several of the key locations meant to evoke both Rangoon and the Burmese countryside, from the massive reclining Buddha used in a pivotal early scene, to the pagodas, bridges and villages pictured throughout the drama. Of Pratt's creations, Boorman says, "they look like they've been there forever."
Logistically speaking, the first weeks of filming, while in Penang, presented some of the greatest challenges to all creative departments involved in the production. They also presented ideological ones: "We had to be very aware of the inherent problems of making a political and controversial film in Southeast Asia," says Spikings. But Boorman credits thorough preparation as the element that would get them over their various hurdles. "If you're struggling to make it work," he explains, "you're not open to all of the possibilities. That's why, at the beginning of every week, I spend the whole day, preparing in my head, all the shots. I write down a description of the shots, for each day. I describe where the camera is, what the camera movement is, and what it covers. So, on the first day of the week, everyone knows what we're doing, exactly what is involved. Paradoxically, because everyone is totally prepared, I have more freedom to change the shots, as I often do."
In today's world of filmmaking, the director puts his stamp on the atmosphere of the film set as much as he does the final product. Such is the case with Boorman, who exudes a commanding presence -- aggressive, but always respectful of those working under his direction. Boorman has a philosophy that cast and crew must function as a tightly molded unit, a kind of modern-day tribe who, even when tormented by the conditions in front of them, are secure in the knowledge that the director -- their chief -- always has a vision for them to follow. By mid-March, as the production moved south and began to film in the rural villages, railway stops, and rainforest jungles of Malaysia, it was obvious that John Boorman had his crew's absolute respect and cooperation.
For everyone, the most physically taxing sequences involved the filming on and around the river, for scenes depicting Laura and Aung Ko's flight toward the Thai border. Traditionally, water has been a key element in Boorman's films, and in at least two instances ("Hell in the Pacific" and "Deliverance"), it has served as the primary location for the entire film. Representing, at different times, both the destructive and restorative powers of nature, Boorman frequently uses rivers to represent the very flow of life itself. It is, therefore, not surprising that several major set pieces in "BEYOND RANGOON" take place on or by a river, and that the film's suspenseful climax involves crossing water. Laboring in overpowering heat, in waters rife with poisonous snakes and leeches, Boorman and his crew pushed their own limits in order to visualize most dramatically the way in which Laura Bowman pushes hers.
