Happy 74th Birthday, John Woo! Born today in 1946 as John Woo Yu-Sen, this Chinese-born Hong Kong editor, screenwriter, producer, film director and actor is considered a major influence on the action genre.
Woo was the first Asian filmmaker to helm a major Hollywood feature. He initially emerged as the leading light of the Hong Kong action renaissance of the late 1980s.
During that time, Woo wrote and directed the film of which he is best known. This was the 1989 Hong Kong action/crime thriller film 'Dip huet seung hung' ('The Killer').
The film was produced by Hong Kong film director, producer and screenwriter Tsui Hark ('Peking Opera Blues', 'Once Upon a Time in China').
Mob assassin Ah Jong (Chow Yun-Fat) is no ordinary hired gun; the best in his business, he views his chosen profession as a calling rather than simply a job.
So, when beautiful nightclub chanteuse Jennie (Sally Yeh) is blinded in the crossfire of his most recent hit, Jeffrey chooses to retire after one last job to pay for his unintended victim's sight-restoring operation.
However, when Jeffrey is double-crossed, he reluctantly joins forces with rogue policeman, Insp. Li Ying (Danny Lee), to make things right.
'The Killer' was not an immediate success in Hong Kong, but received critical acclaim in the Western world with reviewers praising the action scenes and its over-the-top style.
After the financial backing from Hark became problematic following the release of Woo's 1987 Hong Kong action/drama film 'Ying hung boon sik II' ('A Better Tomorrow II'), Woo had to find backing through Chow Yun Fat's and Danny Lee's financing companies.
Woo went into filming 'The Killer' with a rough draft whose plot was influenced by the films 'Le Samouraï' ('The Godson'), 'Mean Streets' and the 1964 Japanese crime/thriller film 'Narazumono' ('An Outlaw').
Woo desired to make a film about honor, friendship and the relationship of two seemingly opposite people. After finishing filming, Woo referred to 'The Killer' as a tribute to directors Jean-Pierre Melville and Martin Scorsese.
However, the film became Woo's stepping stone to make Hollywood films and has been a strong influence on many directors.
These include Quentin Tarantino, American filmmaker and visual effects supervisor Robert Rodriguez and Hong Kong film director and producer Johnnie To.
Woo is known for his highly chaotic action sequences, stylized imagery, Mexican standoffs, frequent use of slow motion and allusions to neo-noir, ‘’wuxia’’, white doves, and Western cinema.
Woo was also a pioneer of heroic bloodshed films (a crime action film genre involving Chinese triads) and the gun fu genre in Hong Kong action cinema, before working in Hollywood films.
Woo cites his three favorite films as Akira Kurosawa's 'Shichinin no Samurai' ('Seven Samurai'), David Lean's 'Lawrence of Arabia' and Jean-Pierre Melville's 'Le Samouraï ('The Godson').
Woo is noted for action movies that combine copious stylized violence with lyrical melodramatic depictions of male bonding.
Considered one of the major figures of Hong Kong cinema, Woo has directed several notable action films in his adopted home.
Woo has stated in interviews that his birds are a deliberate use of symbolism, used in his films to represent both purity of the characters' souls as well as the traditional Christian spiritual connection of messengers between people and God.
Among his other credits, Woo is also known for directing 'A Better Tomorrow' (1986), 'Bullet in the Head' (1990), 'Hard Boiled' (1992), 'Broken Arrow' (1996), 'Face/Off' (1997), 'Mission: Impossible 2' (2000), 'Paycheck' (2003), and 'Red Cliff' (2008).
Woo has been active from 1968–present.
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