The Killer (1989 film)
The Killer | ||
---|---|---|
Hanyu Pinyin diéxuè shuāngxióng | | |
Yue: Cantonese | ||
Jyutping | dip6 hyut3 soeng1 hung4 |
- Peter Pau
- Wong Wing-Hang
companies
- 6 July 1989 (Hong Kong)
The Killer (Chinese: 喋血雙雄[4]) is a 1989 Hong Kong action and crime film written and directed by John Woo and starring Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee and Sally Yeh. Chow plays assassin Ah Jong, who accidentally damages the eyes of singer Jennie (Yeh) during a shootout and sets out to perform one last hit for her treatment.
After the financial backing from
The Killer was not an immediate success in Hong Kong, but received critical acclaim internationally with reviewers praising its action scenes and over-the-top style. The film became Woo's steppingstone to Hollywood and has been a strong influence on many directors, including Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and Johnnie To. In the years since, The Killer has come to be considered one of the greatest action films ever made.
Plot
Ah Jong, a hitman, decides to retire after one final job. During a shootout with gangsters, he accidentally blinds a young
Meanwhile, Detective Li Ying performs a botched undercover sting but is scolded and demoted by his superior for shooting his enemy inside the tram and unintentionally causing the fatal heart attack of a hostage. Li later spots Ah Jong in the middle of the hit on the Triad boss, but eventually loses him. Ah Jong's client, Hay Wong Hoi, betrays him by sending hitmen to kill Ah Jong at the location of his getaway car. Ah Jong guns down the hitmen, but a child is badly injured in the crossfire. Ah Jong rushes the child to a nearby hospital while being followed by Li and his partner, Sgt. Tsang Yeh. Ah Jong holds Yeh at gunpoint until the girl regains consciousness, then escapes from the police. Li becomes obsessed with Ah Jong's act of good will. He and Tsang learn about Jennie; when Ah Jong visits her, he manages to outwit and elude the two cops once again.
Li and Tsang explain to Jennie that Ah Jong was the assassin that blinded her at the nightclub. Ah Jong meets with his manager, Fung Sei, and demands the money he was promised for his last job. Sei betrays him by giving him a briefcase of blank notes and sends hitmen to take down Ah Jong in his own home. Ah Jong kills his attackers, but spares Sei out of loyalty. The next day, Ah Jong attempts to kill Wong Hoi in a drive-by shooting but fails. Wong Hoi hires hitman Frank Chen, to kill Ah Jong. Jennie is persuaded to help the police set a trap for Ah Jong at the airport, but Sei distracts them while Ah Jong flees with Jennie. Tsang follows Sei to his house, where Ah Jong and Jennie are hiding, but gets fatally wounded by Chen's gang and dies in the hospital moments after sharing his discovery with Li.
Li goes to arrest Ah Jong, but winds up helping him, and Jennie fight their way out of an ambush. Ah Jong and Li flee, and while Ah Jong's wounds are mended, they find themselves bonding and becoming friends. Ah Jong makes Li promise that should anything happen to him, he will make sure that Jennie has her operation. Li, Ah Jong, and Jennie take refuge in a church while Sei goes to get Ah Jong's money from Hoi. He is badly beaten after trying to shoot Hoi and sustains several mortal gunshot wounds, but manages to get the money to the church. Ah Jong shoots Sei to end his suffering, and he and Li arm themselves before engaging in a bloody shootout with dozens of gangsters.
Li and Ah Jong are wounded, and eventually find themselves in a Mexican standoff between Ah Jong, Li, and Hoi. Hoi holds a gun to Jennie's head and shoots Chen dead when Li takes him hostage. Ah Jong has his eyes shot out, and bleeds to death as Jennie, now completely blind, crawls around helplessly trying to find him. As the police arrive, Hoi immediately surrenders, but an enraged Li kills him promptly during the process of his arrest. In the end, for disobeying the law by murdering Hoi as an unknown suspect in public, Li is terminated from his career, arrested, humiliated, and surrounded by the police, and collapses to the ground in despair at the loss of his friend.
Cast
- triads. Ah Jong decides to take on one last mission to pay for surgery to repair her eyes. Ah Jong is called John and Jeff in some subtitled prints of the film.[1] The nickname given to Ah Jong by Li is "Har Tau", which roughly translates as "Shrimp Head."[6] In some dubbed and subtitled prints, his nickname is "Mickey Mouse" or "Butthead".[6]
- Danny Lee as Detective Li Ying (李 鷹, Lǐ Yīng, lei5 jing1). Li works with his partner Tsang to find Ah Jong. After his first meeting with him, Li becomes obsessed with Ah Jong's morals and character. The nickname given to Li by Ah Jong is "Ah B" which roughly translates to baby or kid. In some dubbed and subtitled prints, his nickname is "Dumbo" or "Numbnuts".[6]
- Sally Yeh as Jennie (珍妮 Zhēnnī, zan1 nei4), a nightclub singer who is blinded by Ah Jong in a shootout. Jennie falls in love with Ah Jong, before learning of his profession as a killer.
- Kenneth Tsang as Sgt. Tsang Yeh, Li's police partner and only sympathizer. Tsang helps find the whereabouts of Fung Sei that lead Li to Ah Jong before getting killed by the triads. In some subtitled prints, his name is Randy Chang.
- Chu Kong as Fung Sei, Ah Jong's oldest friend and "manager"; he previously worked as an assassin himself before suffering a hand injury that ended his career. In some subtitled prints, his name is "Sidney Fong."
- Shing Fui-on as Hay Wong Hoi (汪海 Wāng Hǎi, wong1 hoi2), a ruthless triad boss who tries to kill Ah Jong after hiring him to kill his uncle. Both Ah Jong and Fung Sei consider him a symbol of the triads losing their honor. In some subtitled versions he is "Johnny Weng."
- Ricky Yi Fan-wai as Frank Chen, a contract killer/assassin hired by Wong Hoi to kill Ah Jong.
Themes
Director John Woo has described The Killer as being about "honour and friendship", "trying to find out if there is something common between two people" and as a "romantic poem".[7][8][9] The structure of the film follows two men on opposite sides of the law who find a relation to each other in their opposition to a greater evil, Wong Hoi, a Triad boss.[10] Li and Ah Jong's relationship was influenced by the Spy vs. Spy comics from Mad Magazine.[9] Woo recalled "When I was young I was fascinated with the cartoon–I love it very much ... the white bird and the black bird are always against each other, but deep in their heart, they are still friendly, and the idea came from that."[11] Woo uses Ah Jong and Li as a central motif to illustrate moral points. Scenes with this reflective doubling include the hospital sequence with Li and Ah Jong on opposite sides of a hospital hall and in the final battle scene where Li and Ah Jong are in a standoff with Wong.[12][13] The focus on male friendships in Woo's film have been interpreted as homoerotic.[13][14] Woo has responded to these statements stating "People will bring their own preconceptions to a movie .... If they see something in The Killer that they consider to be homoerotic then that is their privilege. It's certainly not intentional."[15]
Woo is a Christian and instills his films with religious imagery while stating that The Killer is "not a religious film".[7][16][17] In the opening of The Killer, Ah Jong is found in a church stating he enjoys the "tranquility". Ah Jong is later found in the church again getting several slugs pulled out of his back showing his intense pain while the altar and cross are shown prominently behind him.[17] The idea was influenced by Martin Scorsese's film Mean Streets,[18] Woo stated the imagery was used to show that "God is welcoming, no matter if it's a good or a bad man, everyone is welcome".[19][20]
Woo draws on animal symbolism throughout the film. He filled the church with doves and pigeons, employing doves to represent the spirits of the people. This was the first film in which Woo used the dove symbolism that he would later use for a similar effect in Hard Target and Face/Off.[20][21] A cat appears when Ah Jong first meets Jennie on her visit home, and secondarily when Li's partner Tsang tries to catch Ah Jong in Jennie's apartment. In Chinese culture, a cat coming into a home is an omen of ruin and poverty for its inhabitants. Both Tsang and Jennie meet negative outcomes in the film.[22][23]
Production
Pre-production
The Killer was director Woo's follow-up to
The Killer was not able to be filmed until actor
Filming
Woo had over 90 days to shoot The Killer which was nearly double the amount of time that the average Hong Kong film was shot in the late 1980s.[31] Woo went into filming with only a short treatment for the film and wrote the details of the script while filming.[30] During promotion periods for the film, Woo described the film as a tribute to Martin Scorsese and French director Jean-Pierre Melville.[7] Woo cites Melville's Le Samouraï as an influence on the story. Woo borrows plot elements for the film, including the set-up where Jef enters a nightclub and looks at the female singer.[32] Woo also described the influence of a Japanese film, Narazumono , about a killer (Ken Takakura) who only kills delinquents. When a mob tricks him into killing an innocent person, he swears revenge but then meets a woman who has tuberculosis and wants to go home. The killer promises the woman that he will take her home after getting his revenge.[33]
The scene where Danny Lee chases a gunman onto a tram was filmed in
Music
Tsui and Woo disagreed on the musical aspects of the film. For the opening scene, Woo wanted the singer to perform a
The
Release
The Killer was first released in Taiwan in March 1989 with a running time of 124 minutes. It was then cut to its current running time of 110 minutes and released in Hong Kong on 6 July 1989,
The Killer was shown at several film festivals outside Asia including the 1989 Toronto Festival of Festivals and, during the film's United States premiere, at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in January 1990.[44][45][46] It was also shown at the Sundance Film Festival in the United States and the Cannes Film Festival in France in 1990.[44][47] Film producer Terence Chang suggested that The Killer's success around the world made several Hong Kong filmmakers jealous: "It created a certain kind of resentment in the Hong Kong film industry. One thing I can say for sure is, the American, European, Japanese, Korean and even the Taiwanese audiences and critics appreciated The Killer a lot more than it was in Hong Kong."[48] The Killer received a wide release in the United Kingdom on 8 October 1993.[49]
Home media
The Killer was released in the United States on
On 3 Oct 2000
On 30 March 2010 The Killer was released by the
In the United Kingdom, The Killer was released on DVD by Hong Kong Legends on 21 October 2002 which included an audio commentary with Bey Logan and interviews with Kenneth Tsang, Sally Yeh and cinematographer Peter Pau.[59][60][61]
Reception
Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 95% based on 43 reviews by critics, with and average rating of 8.7/10. Its critical consensus reads, "The Killer is another hard-boiled action flick from John Woo featuring eye-popping balletic violence and philosophical underpinnings."[62]
Stephen Holden of The New York Times referred to the film as "Alternately gripping and laughable" and that "The scenes of gore and destruction are even more spectacular than Hong Kong's fog-shrouded skyline".[63] Variety gave a positive review, describing the film as an "extremely violent and superbly made actioner demonstrates the tight grasp that director John Woo has on the crime meller genre".[64] Kathleen Maher of The Austin Chronicle praised the film stating that it "defies all categorization but demands comparisons, if only to prove that there's never been anything like this before."[65] Hal Hinson of The Washington Post wrote a positive review, describing the film as "like eating popcorn, but it's not just any old brand; it's escape-velocity popcorn, popcorn with a slurp of rocket fuel...[Woo's] ideas overreach themselves with such a virile swagger that they border on comedy. With excess like this you can't help but laugh. This is a rush of a movie".[66]
Later critiques of the film remained positive. The Washington Post stated that "the plot doesn't exactly break new crime-story ground. It's all the Woo flourishes...that elevates The Killer to another level".
Legacy
I went to the movies to see John Woo's The Killer. Damn. I wish we had more money for squib effects (bullet hits).
Director Robert Rodriguez before production on El Mariachi (1992)[71]
The Killer has been recognized as an important and influential film for both Western and Asian filmmakers.
The Killer was also influential on hip hop music. American hip hop artist, and Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon released his critically praised debut album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... (1995) that sampled numerous portions of dialog from the film.[79][80][81][82] RZA, the producer of the album described the album's themes by stating that "Rae and Ghost was two opposite guys as far as neighborhoods was concerned, I used John Woo's The Killer. [In that movie] you got Chow Yun Fat [playing the role of Ah Jong] and Danny Lee [Inspector Li]. They have to become partners to work shit out."[79] Woo felt honored that the group sampled The Killer and asked for no monetary return from them.[79] In 2005, Vibe magazine placed The Killer at number 21 on their list of top fifty films that shaped hip hop.[83]
Accolades
Accolades | |||
---|---|---|---|
Ceremony | Category | Recipient | Outcome |
9th Hong Kong Film Awards[84] | Best Film | Nominated | |
Best Director | John Woo | Won | |
Best Screenplay | John Woo | Nominated | |
Best Supporting Actor | Paul Chu Kong | Nominated | |
Best Film Editing
|
Fan Kung Wing | Won | |
Best Cinematography | Wing Hung Wong and Peter Pau | Nominated |
Remake
In 1992, American filmmaker
In October 2007,
Woo commented in 2015 that he would return to Hollywood after filming Manhunt (2017) in order to make an American adaptation of The Killer.[91] Universal Pictures was announced to be developing the film with a script written by Eran Creevy based on drafts by Josh Campbell and Matt Stuecken, with additional contributions by Brian Helgeland.[92] Actress Lupita Nyong'o had been cast for the lead role.[92] Woo said that filming would begin in January 2019.[93] About the decision of flip both the gender and race of the lead, Nyong'o remarked that she "did not see it coming, either", stating that she had received, read and liked the script without having seen the original movie.[94] However, Woo told Deadline in November 2019 that Nyong’o had left the film due to scheduling conflicts as a result of a script rewrite.[95] In May 2022, it was announced that the film will be directed by Woo, produced by Universal and released exclusively on Peacock.[96] In August 2022, Universal announced that Omar Sy will lead the film as the cop character.[97] In March 2023, Nathalie Emmanuel was cast as the lead role.[98]
See also
- Chow Yun-fat filmography
- Hong Kong films of 1989
- List of action films of the 1980s
- List of crime films of the 1980s
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- Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 57, no. 680. British Film Institute. p. 260.
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- ^ Hall, 2009. p.107
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- ^ a b c Woo, John (2010). Exclusive Interview with Director John Woo (DVD). Dragon Dynasty. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012.
- ^ a b Yau, 2001. p.104
- ^ a b Elder, 2005. p.78
- ^ Hall, 1999. p.23
- ^ Heard, 1999. p.70
- ^ Hall, 1999. p.68
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- ^ Pierce, Nev (24 September 2004). "Getting Direct with Directors". BBC. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
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- ^ Hall, 1999. p.109
- ^ a b Hall, 1999. p.110
- ^ a b Yeh, Sally (Actress) (21 October 2002). The Killer (Video interview). Hong Kong Legends.
- ^ a b c d e f g The Killer Locations (DVD). Dragon Dynasty. 2010.
- ^ a b Hall, 2009. p.88
- ^ Le Samouraï (Booklet. p.14-15). Jean-Pierre Melville. New York: The Criterion Collection. 2005 [1967]. 306.
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- ^ "1990 Sundance Film Festival (pg. 12)" (PDF). Sundance Film Festival. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
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- ^ Jackson, Kevin (7 October 1993). "The drop-dead director: John Woo makes movies with guts, and buckets of blood. Kevin Jackson talks to him. Plus Jeremy Clarke on Chow Yun-Fat, Woo's favourite leading hard-man". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
- ^ Nichols, Peter M. (26 November 1992). "Home Video:Mayhem Intensified". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
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- ^ a b Morrison, Al. "Review of The Killer". Empire. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
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- ^ Holden, Stephen (12 April 1991). "Review/Film; Blood and Bonding in Hong Kong". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
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- ^ Maher, Kathleen (19 April 1991). "The Killer". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
- ^ Hinson, Hal (10 May 1991). "'The Killer' (NR)". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
- ^ Bozzola, Lucia. "The Killer: Review – allmovie". Allmovie. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
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- ^ a b Mazdon, 2000. p.108
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- ^ Landreth, Jonathan (8 October 2007). "Woo's "Killer" gets a new U.S. contract". Reuters. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
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- ^ Screen Daily. Archived from the originalon 27 October 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
- ^ a b McNary, Dave (30 April 2018). "Lupita Nyong'o to Star in 'The Killer' Remake With John Woo Directing". Variety. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
- ^ Keeley, Pete (24 August 2018). "'Hard Target' at 25: John Woo on Fighting for Respect in Hollywood". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- Indie Wire. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (16 November 2019). "John Woo Says Lupita Nyong'o No Longer Attached To 'The Killer' Remake, Talks 'Face/Off' Reboot, Chimes In On Superhero Movie Debate". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
- ^ Petski, Denise (2 May 2022). "Original Films From LeBron James, Will Packer & John Woo To Premiere On Peacock In 2023". Deadline. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ "'Lupin's Omar Sy to Lead John Woo's Reimagining of 'The Killer' for Peacock". 4 August 2022.
- ^ "'Game of Thrones' Nathalie Emmanuel to Co-Star Opposite Omar Sy in 'The Killer' for Universal, Peacock and John Woo". 14 March 2023.
Bibliography
- Elder, Robert K. (2005). John Woo Interviews. ISBN 1-57806-776-6. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- Hall, Kenneth E. (1999). John Woo: The Films. ISBN 0-7864-0619-4.
- Hall, Kenneth E. (2009). John Woo's The Killer. ISBN 978-962-209-956-2. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- Heard, Christopher (1999). Ten Thousand Bullets: The Cinematic Journey of John Woo. ISBN 0-385-25731-7.
- Mazdon, Lucy (2000). Encore Hollywood: Remaking French Cinema. ISBN 0-85170-800-5.
- Morton, Lisa (2009). The Cinema of Tsui Hark. ISBN 978-0-7864-4460-1. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- Rodriguez, Robert (1995). Rebel Without a Crew. Plume. ISBN 978-0-452-27187-6. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
- Yau, Esther C. M. (2001). At Full Speed: Hong Kong Cinema in a Borderless World. ISBN 0-8166-3235-9.
External links
- The Killer at IMDb
- The Killer at the Hong Kong Movie DataBase
- The Killer at the TCM Movie Database
- The Killer at AllMovie
- The Killer at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Killer at Hong Kong Cinemagic
- The Killer an essay by David Chute at the Criterion Collection