The Bourne Identity

The Bourne Identity is an American action thriller directed by Doug Liman in 2002, based on Robert Ludlum's 1980 novel. Ludlum's book had already been adapted before as a television miniseries in 1988. The film was produced by Universal Pictures, The Kennedy/Marshall Company and Hypnotic Productions, and the lead role of Jason Bourne is played by Matt Damon. Filming took place from October 2000 to February 2001 in Paris, Prague, Imperia, Rome, on Mykonos and in Zurich. The production was marked by script rewrites and cost problems: it went over budget by 8 million dollars and the premiere, originally planned for September 2001, was pushed back to 14 June 2002. According to Wikipedia, the film's fighting style is built on Filipino eskrima, and the fights were choreographed by Nick Powell. For it he won the American Choreography Award in the category Outstanding Achievement in Fight Choreography. The film was followed by the sequels The Bourne Supremacy (2004), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), The Bourne Legacy (2012) and Jason Bourne (2016).

Martial arts in this work

Fight choreography

The fights in the film were prepared by choreographer Nick Powell, who also trained Matt Damon. Before filming, Damon went through about three months of training that included stunt work, weapons handling, boxing and eskrima. According to Wikipedia, he performed many of the stunts himself, including the close-quarters fight and the wall climb. We have not been able to document whether Damon practised martial arts outside his preparation for the role, and in the sources we did not find anything about Powell's own training in eskrima either. The car chase was shot separately by a second unit led by Alexander Witt, and Liman shot the footage from inside the car for it.

People and martial arts

• Doug LimanDirector
• Nick PowellFight choreographer· Eskrima
• Matt DamonActor — as Jason Bourne· Eskrima (portrays the art on screen)

Awards

• Won · American Choreography Award, Outstanding Achievement in Fight Choreography