The Killer (simplified Chinese: 喋血双雄; pinyin: Diéxuè shuāngxióng; literally "Bloodshed of Two Heroes") is a 1989 Hong Kong action/crime film written and directed by John Woo and starring Chow Yun-Fat, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh and Kenneth Tsang. It was a critically acclaimed film production for producer Tsui Hark's Film Workshop. The story follows Ah Jong (Chow-Yun Fat), the killer who accidentally hurts the eyes of the pop singer Jennie (Sally Yeh). Later, he meets Jennie and finds that she needs an expensive operation due to the accident or she will go blind. To get the money for the surgery, Ah Jong decides to perform one last hit. Inspector Li Ying (Danny Lee), who has been chasing Ah Jong for a long time, is determined to catch him.
Producer Tsui Hark and his production studio argued with John Woo throughout the production of the film. Changes including the idea of even producing another action film to the market, the music use, and film styles such as slow motion were debated between Woo and Tsui. On its release the film was not a commercial success in Hong Kong, but a great critical success both overseas and in Hong Kong where it won Best Director and Best Editing at the 9th Hong Kong Film Awards.[1] The film was highly praised on its American release, and is hailed as one of the most critically acclaimed action films ever.[2]
Plot
The Killer revolves around the character of Ah-Jong (Chow Yun-Fat), a professional killer who has decided to retire. During a hit in the opening act, Ah-Jong accidentally blinds a young nightclub singer, Jennie (Sally Yeh) with the muzzle flash from his pistol. Driven to help the now near-blinded woman by securing money for a sight-saving corneal transplant, he agrees to carry out another hit. During his escape he is pursued by Li Ying (Danny Lee Sau-Yin), a cop who is investigating his crimes. Ah Jong then finds himself being hunted by his employers who want to get rid of him for being seen "on the job".
After witnessing Ah-Jong save a dying girl and learning about Jennie's operation, the cop realizes arresting this hitman would not set things right. Together they fight the Triads through amazing action sequences which ultimately climax in an explosive shootout at an abandoned church. There, Ah-Jong has Li Ying swear to donate the hitman's eyes to Jennie if something were to happen to him.
The ending is tragic, in that Ah-Jong dies, his eyes shot out by the Triad boss, Wong Hoi. Jennie is left crawling for him in the dark, her operation unrealized. The boss flees to police custody, but Li Ying chases after him: Li Ying realizes that the law could never give someone like Ah-Jong justice, so he acts under his own sense of right and wrong and shoots the boss in cold blood.
Cast
Production
The Killer was made under Tsui Hark's production company Film Workshop and was the last collaboration between Tsui and Woo.[3] After mixed ideas between the two on the film A Better Tomorrow II, Tsui was very indifferent to Woo's suggestions on even going through with production on The Killer and Once A Thief (1990). Tsui and Woo often disagreed to aspects of the film such as the opening scene where Woo wanted the singer to perform a jazz song and have the killer playing a saxophone. Tsui rejected this idea as he felt that the Hong Kong audiences didn't understand or like jazz that much. Woo stated "I had to change it to a Chinese song, the kind of song they always use in Hong Kong movies."[4][5] Actress and singer of the song in the film Sally Yeh also didn't find the song suitable for the film.[6] Tsui also suggested to remove all the slow motion scenes in the film, which Woo refused to do.[7] To receive more financing for The Killer, Woo borrowed money from the star of the film Chow Yun-Fat.[8] Chow helped convince Golden Princess which he was contracted with to let him be in the film as well, despite that the company was against claiming it was unworthy of Chow and would be no different than any other gangster film made in the wake of A Better Tomorrow.[8]
The Killer was heavily influenced by French director Jean-Pierre Melville's 1967 crime film Le Samouraï. Parts of Le Samouraï are borrowed such as the introduction to scene at a nightclub that similar to the introduction scene in The Killer.[3] Woo also described influence from crime films from Japan in the 1960s.[3] The friendship/rivalry between Ah Jong and Insp. Li Ying 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."[10]
Woo's first cut of the film was 142 minutes long, over half an hour longer then most home video versions of the film. Woo cut this version of the film after the initial Hong Kong release of the film, which cut out a sub-plot of Yun-Fat's character's best friend who works in the same triad.[11] Parts of this cut material appears in a Taiwan print of the film. At a 1998 screening of the Taiwan cut of the film, frequent Woo collaborator and film editor David Wu spoke negatively about the cut version saying "I had no idea this version even existed, and if I find out who re-cut this movie without our knowing about it I'm going to kick his butt".[10]
Release and reception
The Killer was released in Hong Kong in 1989. The film was not a financial success. The film's star Chow Yun-Fat felt that the level of violence turned people off, and the authorities accused the film of glorifying mob life and believed the film acted like a recruitment campaign for the Triads since there was a significant rise in Triad membership shortly after its release.[12][13] However, film producer Terence Chang suggested that the film's success around the world made several Hong Kong filmmakers jealous. Terrence said, "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."[12]
On its release to an English speaking audience, the amount of violence was noted. In Britain, the film was given an 18 rating and in American ad campaigns warned of "extreme graphic violence".[14] Woo recalls that "I was really surprised by the reaction some people had to the movie...I think I care too much about romanticism. In the future, [I] have to look deeper into the people."[12] English critics' response also mentioned a homoerotic nature between the two male characters of Danny Lee's character and Chow's character.[15] Woo responded to these comments: "People will bring their own preconceptions to a movie...If they see something in The Killer that they consider to be homoerotic, then that's their privilege...a lot of things people have pointed out about my work were never intended when I was making the film."[16] On the film rating website, Rotten Tomatoes, the film received the highest rating for an action film with 100% positive reviews with an 8.7 average based on 30 reviews.[2] The Killer was also voted number 202 on Empire's 500 Greatest Movies of All Time poll.[17]
Home video
The Criterion Collection released the film on DVD on April 1, 1998,[18] containing a commentary with Woo and producer Terence Chang, deleted scenes and the American theatrical trailer.[19] Fox Lorber released a second DVD release on October 3, 2000, containing the American film trailers for Hard Boiled and The Killer and a different commentary without producer Terence Chang.[20] Fox Lorber also released The Killer as a double pack with Hard Boiled on the same date as the single disc.[21] Both the Criterion and Fox Lorber DVDs are currently out of print.[19][22] The 2002 Hong Kong Legends Region 2 and 4 edition included a Bey Logan commentary and cast and crew interviews.[23] In 2007, Dragon Dynasty promised to release a two-disc DVD of The Killer but, as of 2009[update], it has not yet been released.
Notes
- ^ "Hong Kong Film Awards". Hong Kong Film Awards. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hkfaa.com%2Fhistory%2Flist_09.html. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
- ^ a b "The Killer Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1032434-killer/. Retrieved 2008-12-22.
- ^ a b c Heard, 1999. p.63
- ^ Heard, 1999. p.78
- ^ Heard, 1999. p.79
- ^ Yeh, Sally (Actress). (2002-10-21). The Killer. [Video interview]. Hong Kong Legends. Event occurs at 10:30.
- ^ Elder, 2005. p.55
- ^ a b Heard, 1999. p.64
- ^ Elder, 2005. p.78
- ^ a b Heard, 1999. p.70
- ^ Heard, 1999. p.69
- ^ a b c Heard, 1999. p.73
- ^ Heard, 1999. p.74
- ^ Heard, 1999. p.72
- ^ Heard, 1999. p.76
- ^ Heard, 1999. p.77
- ^ "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time". Empire. September 2008. Archived from the original on August 27, 2009. http://www.webcitation.org/5jKm8TdSI. Retrieved August 27, 2009.
- ^ "The Killer Overview". Allmovie. http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=16:758. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
- ^ a b "The Criterion Collection: The Killer by John Woo". The Criterion Collection. http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=8. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
- ^ "The Killer Overview". Allmovie. http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=16:758. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
- ^ "The Killer Overview". Allmovie. http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=16:9774. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
- ^ "The Killer (1989) (Fox Lorber)". http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID.1375/qx/details.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
- ^ http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare2/killer4.htm
References
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