Best of Director John Woo

Continuing my list of favorite Hong Kong directors and their best films, is famed "Gun-Fu" director John Woo (Face/Off, Mission: Impossible II)

John Woo is famous for his gun action films, his trademarks are double wielded guns, ballet-like choreography, slow motion, themes of brotherhood and justice, tragedy and of course doves. Just think of him as the thinking man's Michael Bay. Even though his action is described as "high-octane" and "roller coaster ride", Woo knows hows to inject irony into his films. Whether it be a 'killer' caring for a victim in The Killer or a huge shootout in a hospital in Hard Boiled, all of these conflicting images work in a bigger poetic narrative.

Woo is a master of timing. His action sequences are cut in a way where it flows smoothly, his protagonists know exactly when and where to shoot. Violence is glorified and yet at the same time it becomes a shock to the viewer. We get to see the blood in plain sight and it's not pretty, we can sense the fear and pain in Woo's victims. John Woo has stated that he doesn't encourage violence, this can be apparent in his films when an innocent bystander gets hit with a bullet or the fact that no good comes to any character firing a weapon.

Although John Woo has had a string of critical successes in the late 80s and early 90s, his career has been shaky in the 00s. After the success of Face/Off, Woo could not replicate that with his other American films such as Windtalkers and Paycheck, and several failed attempts at the television industry. Woo later returned to China to tackle a big budget historical war epic with Red Cliff. The film includes Woo's previous themes, in addition 'politics' is something he hasn't tackled before in his films.

Best of Director Tsui Hark

So, I've been away from blogger world for a bit and now I've come back with some stuff to share.

I've recently made a short playlist of videos that culminates the best work of Hong Kong action film director Tsui Hark. Considered to be the Steven Spielberg of Hong Kong cinema, he brought action, comedy and dazzling visual effects to the films of the 1980s. He has produced and directed many staple Hong Kong films such as A Chinese Ghost Story, A Better Tomorrow, The Killer and Iron Monkey. He's produced for "Gun-Fu" Director John Woo (both of which famously had a falling out) and famed Action coordinator Yuen Woo-Ping.

His directing efforts has been few compared to other prolific Hong Kong filmmakers. He's best known for the Once Upon a Time in China series with Jet Li, based on an actual historical Chinese figure Wong Fei Hung (a physician/martial artist). They were made in a time where Hong Kong was still occupied by the British and national identity seemed to be at a crisis. Peking Opera Blues is a kind of Charlie's Angels set in early 20th century China, Twin Dragons was his first project with Jackie Chan and Seven Swords was Tsui Hark's 'Lord of the Rings' big adaptation.

The playlist was inspired by a recent Facebook posting by a friend who posted the trailer of Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, Tsui Hark's latest film starring Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs I, II & III), Tony Leung Kar-Fai (Election I & II) and Carina Lau (Days of Being Wild, 2046). I felt that Detective Dee was not Tsui Hark's strongest film, it had the well intention of being a period mystery thriller, but bad screenwriting, sloppy cinematography and underwhelming CGI made the film campy. The film will be released on September 2nd in select theaters around the nation.

So I put together a short list of films that I think best represents Tsui Hark's body of work.

Watch my playlist here:



Coming out at the end of the year is Tsui Hark's second attempt at the Dragon Inn story, working with Jet Li again but this time in 3D. Here is the teaser trailer of their latest effort.



Update (7/31):
Catch the chance to see one of Tsui Hark's early special effects heavy film, Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain on the big screen at BAM in Brooklyn, NY on August 8th. The film stars Bridgette Lin (Ashes of Time), Yuen Biao (Once Upon a Time in China) and Sammo Hung (Project A).

for more info click here.