The Killer (1989)
- For his next project, Woo pitched the idea of a film about a hitman to Tsui, who rejected it because he thought the concept was not commercially viable[1][2]
- According to producer Terence Chang, Tsui felt that Woo had "screwed up" A Better Tomorrow II, and had asked Chang to fire the director; when Chang refused to, Tsui began rejecting Woo's movie ideas[3]
- The Killer (1989) starred Chow as a contract killer named Jeff, who takes one last assassination job to help a nightclub singer (Sally Yeh) he accidentally blinded in a previous mission[4]
- Jeff would be pursued by maverick police officer Li (played by Danny Lee)
- It was inspired by Teruo Ishii's An Outlaw (ならず者, 1964)[5]
- The Killer attracted considerable praise in film festivals abroad, helping to establish Woo to a Western audience[6][7]
- Woo himself believed The Killer to be one of his best films: "The Killer is a nearly complete movie to me. I am never 100% satisfied. However, the technical experiments worked pretty well and helped me to establish my style. [...] It was one movie where I had total creative freedom."[8]
- At the 9th Hong Kong Film Awards, it was nominated for six awards, winning two for Best Director and Best Editing (Fan Kung-wing, 樊恭榮)[9]
Plot
editCast
editProduction
editConception
editWriting and development
editCasting
editFilming and post-production
editMusic
editDesign
editRelease
editContext
editBox office
editReception
editCritical response
editAccolades
editPost-release
editHome media
editOther media
editThematic analysis
editLegacy
editCultural influence
editCritical reassessment
editSequels and spin-offs
editNotes
editReferences
edit- ^ Hall 2012, p. 109, The Killer: Heroism Defeated.
- ^ Hall 2009, p. 20, Production History and Background.
- ^ Heard 2000, p. 64, 1989–1992: Woo Asserts Himself.
- ^ Donovan 2008, p. 183, Mayhem in Slow Motion: The Viral Cinema of John Woo and the Hong Kong New Wave.
- ^ Havis, Richard James (2022-09-25). "What they said about The Killer: director John Woo and stars Chow Yun-fat and Sally Yeh on shooting the classic Hong Kong action movie". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
- ^ Fang 2004, p. 65, Global Reception, ca. 1997.
- ^ Hall 2009, p. 73, Woo After The Killer.
- ^ Hall 2009, pp. 81–82, Conclusion.
- ^ "第9屆香港電影金像獎提名及得獎名單" [List of Nominees and Awardees of The 9th Hong Kong Film Awards]. Hong Kong Film Awards (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 2024-04-13.
Cited literature
edit- Donovan, Barna William (2008). The Asian Influence on Hollywood Action Films. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-3403-9. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Elder, Robert K., ed. (2005). John Woo: Interviews. Conversations with Filmmakers Series. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-57806-776-3. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Fang, Karen (2004). John Woo's A Better Tomorrow. The New Hong Kong Cinema. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-962-209652-3.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Hall, Kenneth E. (2012). John Woo: The Films. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-4040-5. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Hall, Kenneth E. (2009). John Woo's The Killer. The New Hong Kong Cinema. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-962-209-956-2.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Heard, Christopher (2000). Ten Thousand Bullets: The Cinematic Journey of John Woo. Lone Eagle Publishing. ISBN 978-1-58065-021-2. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
Further reading
editExternal links
edit- The Killer at IMDb
- The Killer at the Hong Kong Movie DataBase
- The Killer at AllMovie
- The Killer at Letterboxd
- The Killer at the TCM Movie Database