Battle of Tsushima at Rinella water tank

Explosions are going off on a warship, which starts sinking as sailors engulfed in flames fall into the rough sea.

Were it not for the cameramen, balancing at the tip of the listing vessel, the authenticity of the scene would not have been immediately questioned. In reality, the sequence was being shot at the Rinella water tanks on Wednesday, exactly 104 years after the actual event, the Battle of Tsushima, to the date. And the daring falls were run-of-the-mill jobs for local and foreign stuntmen.

The biggest episodic drama in Japanese TV history, in terms of scale, budget and time, and the largest Asian production to be shot in Malta, Clouds Above The Slope, is a production by NHK's national. A 10-year project, it should be complete in 2011, after the first inquiry came through to the Mediterranean Film Studios, which is organising and servicing the Malta shoot, back in March 2006.

"It took 10 years to write the famous novel on the 1905 Russian-Japanese war, on which the drama is based, and it will take 10 years to finish the production," said the line producer, responsible also for visual effects, Takafumi Yuki, quoting the production's executive producer.

The company visited every tank in the world - around four - before choosing Malta, which fitted the bill due to the quality of the facilities and for geographical reasons as other parts are being shot in Europe.

The competitive costs and workmanship were also a plus: since January, the studios engaged a local engineering company and 40 craftsmen to build two life-size ship sections, plus a 600 square metre metal structure, with hydraulic pistons, for the sinking effect of the ship.

The Japanese warship Fuki Maru can play the part of another six, including Russian vessels.

The 13-day shoot, spread over a three-week period, is spending €2 million and about 80 local crew of a total 150 are being employed, said studio manager Cornelia Azzopardi-Schellmann.

Clouds Above The Slope features top Japanese actor Masuhiro Motoki, who recently starred in the Oscar-winning Japanese feature Departure, and Takahiro Fujimoto, who was on the Japanese national swimming team for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona before he became an actor and was in Malta for the shoot.

But the production also involves the important cooperation of former Russian and Japanese naval officers, who would have been on opposite sides of the fence a century ago. Their ancestors were enemies but, today, they are working together to consult the production and give advice for maximum authenticity.

Russian naval consultant Sergey Chernyavskiy, from the Russian State Naval Archives, said his aim was to show exactly what happened. Having worked as professor of naval history he was confident that could be achieved.

A retired Rear Admiral of the Japan Maritime Self-defence Force, Akio Tsu Tsumi, was also honoured to be lending his expertise to the production after 38 years of service.

It was a coincidence that the battle sequence was shot precisely on May 27, 104 years later, making it a "memorable day" on set - and an emotional one.

About 50,000 Russian soldiers died in the war - fought in Manchuria and the Sea of Japan, ending up with the victory of Japan and triggering the Russian Revolution - and they were honoured on set before filming started.