John Woo
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Posted by Gas Terzoulin in Arts section |
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John Woo (Wu Yusen) was born in 1946 in Guangzhou, South China. His family moved to Hong Kong when he was four. They were extremely poor and were homeless for years, so he couldn?t go to school until he was nine. John entered into a Lutheran school, where he was given the opportunity to direct some of the school?s playes.
"The killer is a man who does bad things, but he wants to be good.” - John Woo
John Woo (Wu Yusen) was born in 1946 in Guangzhou, South China. His family moved to Hong Kong when he was four. They were extremely poor and were homeless for years, so he couldn?t go to school until he was nine.
John entered into a Lutheran school, where he was given the opportunity to direct some of the school?s playes. His obsession with movies grew, and he spent his time teaching himself film technique and theory from books. In the late 60?s he made several experimental shorts, before working as an script supervisor at Cathay Studios.
In 1971 he moved to work for Shaw Brothers as assistant, to veteran director Chang Cheh. Woo rose swiftly through the studio ranks making his directorial debut, aged 26 with the independently produced actioner “The Young Dragons” which waspicked up by Golden Harvest.
Over the next decade he directed twelve films, ranging from comedies to Cantonese opera adaptions, including “Hands of Death”, in which future martial arts star Jackie Chan was given his first major role. In 1986, Woo teamed up with top producer director Tsui Hark, with the ground-breaking “A Better Tomorrow”. The film, united Woo for the first time with Chow Yun-Fat and was an huge success, establishing its director as a force to be reckoned with.
He continued to refine his style with “A Better Tomorrow 2”, and “The Killer”, an explosive fable of redemption through violence, which brought Woo the excited attention of an international audience. It was followed by the brutal Vietnam epic “Bullet in the Head” and he teamed once again up with Chow Yun Fat, in the High-octane rollercoaster movie “Hard Boiled”. In 1993 Woo was offered a chance to work in Hollywood, and got to direct the Jean-Claude Van Damme movie “Hard Target” which sadly got an NC-17 rating and had to been recut to reduce the violence in effect that it lost some of Woo?s spirit, luckily it?s unrated in Europe.
Woo stayed in US almost three years before being contracted by 20th Century Fox, to direct the $54 million “Broken Arrow” a pulse-pounding, non-stop actioner starring John Travolta and Christian Slater which allowed Woo to try his hand at a specialeffect-driven thriller.
In 1996 John Woo also received the CineAsia Lifetime Achievement Award. He also once again teamed up with John Travolta, with the Sci-Fi Thriller “Face Off” about an undercover cop, released in 1997.
In 1998 John Woo have two movies on the way “Black Jack” starring Dolph Lundgren (TV), and Kings Ransom with Chow Yun-Fat
John Woo?s Trademark
He?s bold visual stylist stages kinetic scenes of over- the- top gunplay with fluid camera movements, extremely long takes, and meticulous choreography of movement.
In an interview Woo explained: “I choreograph action like you?d design a dancing sequence in a musical. I have a sense of the beauty and the rhythm of the action, the atmosphere and the action?s emotional arc. Everything is clear in my mind before I shoot. But like a musical, the rhythm and movement have to be filmed precisely as you thought it out.”
Director Filmography
The Young Dragon (1973)
The Dragon Tamers (1974), Woo also writer
Princess Chang Ping (1975), Woo also writer
Hand of Death (1975), Woo also writer
Money Crazy (1977) Golden Harvest, Woo also writer
Follow the Star (1977) Golden Harvest, Woo also writer
Last Hurrah for Chivalry (1978) Golden Harvest, Woo also writer
Hello, Late Homecomers (1978) Golden Harvest, Woo also writer
From Rags to Riches (1979) Golden Harvest, Woo also writer
To Hell With the Devil (1981) Golden Harvest
Laughing Times (1981) Cinema City
Plain Jane to the Rescue (1982)
The Time You Need a Friend (1984) Golden Harvest
Run Tiger Run (1985) Cinema City
Heroes Shed No Tears(1983,1987) Golden Harvest, Woo also writer
A Better Tomorrow (1986) Cinema City/Golden Princess, Woo also writer
A Better Tomorrow 2 (1987) Cinema City/Golden Princess, Woo also writer and screenplay
Just Heroes (1987) Golden Princess
The Killer (1989) Cinema City/Golden Princess, Woo also writer
Bullet in the Head (1990) Golden Princess, Woo also Producer, Editor, Writer, and Screenplay
Once A Thief (1990) Golden Princess, Woo also writer and story
Hardboiled (1992) Golden Princess, Woo also writer, story and editor
Hard Target (1993) Universal Pictures
Once A Thief (1994) TV
Broken Arrow (1996) Twentieth Century Fox
Face Off (1997) Paramount Picture
Balck Jack (1998) TV
King?s Ransom (1998)
Broken Arrow
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