For the past three nights I've been killing people in my sleep.
Last night it was a sudden thrust with a butterfly knife to a guy's larynx. The night before that, it was with some gun I don't even know the name of, but damn was that thing potent. It was shaped like a handgun but fired like an Uzi. The shots were going so fast you couldn't differentiate from one to the next. I swear I must have killed eleven or twelve people in one fell swoop.
I've been boning up for an interview with John Woo, the action/adventure director responsible for classic Hong Kong action fare like "Hard-Boiled" and "The Killer" as well as big-budget Hollywood flicks like "Face/Off," "Mission Impossible 2" and "Paycheck."
As a result I've watched more double-fisted gunfights, mano y mano pistol pointing and bone-jarring explosions in tight concentration than is probably healthy for any single person. Five films in three nights and the stuff is starting to infiltrate my slumbering subconscious. Not that I haven't enjoyed it.
When it comes to action films, Woo resides in a category of his own making, having invented and refined a large number of the clichés that define the modern genre. Slow-motion action hero firing two guns simultaneously while careening down a staircase? Doves flying by as shots ring out? Strange weapons popping out of nowhere to be used expertly by the hero mid-fight? Seemingly incongruous music intertwined with high-voltage whizzing bullet montages? All vintage Woo.
Citing influences as disparate as the French New Wave and American Westerns as well as the mentoring of the recently departed Hong Kong mainstay Chang Cheh, Woo takes a carefully studied approach to developing some of modern cinema's coolest good/bad guys. Chow Yun Fat's matchstick-munching Tequila in "Hard-Boiled," for example, draws on everything from Jean Pierre Melville to Sergio Leone and throws some solid ass-kicking in to boot.
Chow Yun Fat (Tequila) in the John Woo classic, "Hard-Boiled"
Woo's films have received effusive praise from the recently ubiquitous Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorcese, Sam Raimi, and a slew of other directors who brazenly rip off his stylistic nuances. Think, for example, that Robert Rodriguez could have pulled off the all-guns-blazing "El Mariachi" and "Desperado" without crib notes from Woo? Think again.
Not that all of his films are good. Not by a long-shot. From the Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle "Hard Target" to the critically bombarded "Windtalkers," Woo has multiple stinkers in his repertoire and just as many average, yet not wholly uninspired efforts like "Face/Off" and the recent Ben Affleck/Uma Thurman sci-fi offering "Paycheck."
Even genuine masterpieces like "A Better Tomorrow" could use a little help in the dialogue department (or perhaps simply in translation). Good or bad though, there's always a little poetry in the motion, in the small details and signature moments that make the director's films so distinctive.
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Woo comes to Chicago on June 12 for the Gene Siskel Film Center's Annual Gala Benefit and to receive the Visionary Award for innovation in filmmaking.
We caught half an hour with him by phone and were pleasantly surprised at how a man responsible for so much on-screen big-budget bloodshed could also be so humble, warm and driven to return to the fertile grounds of his past.
Woo directs Tom Cruise in the blockbuster "Mission Impossible II"
Thanks for your time, John. You're coming to Chicago in a couple of weeks to be honored at the Siskel Center. You're also a good friend of Siskel Programming Director Barbara Scharres, right?
Yes. Barbara is a wonderful lady. I met her before I came to this country – in 1991, I think. She had seen a couple of my movies – "The Killer," "A Better Tomorrow" and she loved them. She had written some articles about my films and gave me a lot of ambition to go forward. I was moved. At the time, I didn't know anybody in this country. Then I had a very good friend here.
There are so many great people here that have a great passion for movies and give great care for Hong Kong films. I was very honored. I also find I have a lot of support from the people of Chicago. There are a lot of young people who care about Hong Kong movies and I really appreciate it.
In the past 10-15 years there's been a great revival of interest in Hong Kong films. One of the most vocal voices in support of that movement has been Quentin Tarantino...
Yes. I met with Quentin very briefly at Cannes this year. I went to a press conference for UNICEF because I'm doing a film for them, something about children. There's a company called MK Film in Italy and they have invited 8 directors from different countries asking each one to make a 10-12 minute short about hidden children. I'm going to represent China. It will hopefully make the whole world think more about children – it's a very good thing to do.
So I went to the press conference and then I met Quentin and I told him how much I really admired "Kill Bill" and he was so excited. And he kept saying that movie was a tribute to my mentor Chang Cheh. I worked for him for many years and learned so much from him. And he loves to talk and he kept talking about how he made all the shots, the fighting, the camera angles and lots of movies. It was exciting.
I kept telling him how I thought the movie was really unique, really different from the other films. It was even better than a lot of movies from Hong Kong directors. The movie had its own character and I also loved the anime parts. So it was a very brave, a very nice piece of work.
I've spent the last week or so watching or re-watching a bunch of your films and have noticed I've had some pretty vivid, violent dreams. You're constantly surrounded by this stuff – what do you dream about?
Something romantic. Some dancing sequences. I see myself dancing and am always dreaming to make an action musical. So many dancing action images in my mind.
Did I read somewhere that you were once a ballroom dance instructor?
For a couple of years in school, mainly teaching the folk dances. It's probably not worth mentioning. It was fun though, because I really love the musical – I grew up loving the dancing, the songs, the beautiful people. I'm not a real good dancer, I just love dancing. I make all my action sequences like a dance, using music as a guide.
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006: John Woo
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