John Woo’s three favourite movies of all time
The world of action cinema is seemingly inherently biased toward Hollywood cinema. Sure, the American film industry has been incredibly influential in regard to the genre, bringing us such classics as The Terminator, Point Break and Die Hard from the respective likes of James Cameron, Kathryn Bigelow and John McTiernan, yet while these flashy high-value productions demonstrate flair, nothing compares to the artistry on display in the Hong Kong cinema of John Woo.
Announcing his presence in the industry in the mid-1970s with such celebrated films as Last Hurrah for Chivalry, Woo steadily grew in prominence, creating The Killer in the following decade and Hard Boiled in 1992, forcing his profile into the eyesight of Hollywood. Known for his frenetic cinematic style and wild narrative concepts, Woo’s filmmaking would exemplify the feral feeling of the genre at the turn of the new millennium.
Such can be clearly demonstrated in the movies he created when he made his way to Hollywood, directing Face/Off in 1997, which many consider to be his most quintessential movie. Starring Nicolas Cage and John Travolta, the film follows a criminal and a police officer who have their faces surgically switched so that the latter can successfully go undercover.
This will give you some insight as to what Woo is like as an action auteur, having a fondness for bombastic action filmmaking. Such isn’t quite reflected in his personal favourite movies; however, with his 2004 interview with the BBC casting a fascinating new light on the filmmaker.
The ‘Best Picture’ winner, Lawrence Of Arabia by David Lean, is the first movie on his favourites list, choosing the film for its “great humanity” before saying of the director: “He not only had a great mind, he also had a great heart. He really care about people. That make him a great master”. Indeed, although the epic cinematic scale of Lean’s film can’t quite be seen throughout Woo’s work, the essence of its drama can be seen distilled in his action scenes.
Elsewhere, Woo looks to Akira Kurosawa and his 1954 action classic Seven Samurai as a primary source of inspiration, highlighting the “humanity” of the film before admitting that he uses the final action scene as a template for how to pace the rhythm of his own action scenes. Such can be seen in the ebb and flow of the iconic hospital scene in 1992’s Hard Boiled.
Perhaps his most curious favourite is Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samuraï, a film that shares little of the cinematic electricity seen throughout Woo’s filmography. Still, look closer, and it’s clear that the style of Le Samuraï has emanated through Woo’s films, stating that he has learned much from the “cool and emotional” protagonist Jean-Pierre Melville designed in the movie.
Take a look at the trailer for Melville’s celebrated crime thriller, Le Samuraï, below.
John Woo’s favourite movies:
- Lawrence Of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)
- Le Samuraï (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1967)
- Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)
