9. The Shoot Opened Every Day With Ritual Incense Burning
The philosophy of The Matrix is certainly something which has been discussed endlessly throughout the years since its release - it's clear that the Wachowskis were keen to explore all manner of themes in the movie, from the Old Testament to existentialism and the nature of identity in a world controlled by machinery and artificial intelligence. Eastern philosophy is also present in the movie - as you'd expect from a film which draws heavily on kung fu - and was also a strong feature of life on the set for the cast and crew. During the production, each day the cast and crew would carry out a Chinese ritual of incense burning - they also ate the traditional dish of roasted pig barbeques to round of the proceedings. No doubt this is something that Yuen Woo Ping and his crew more than welcomed to help them feel at home away from home.
