The reason John Woo became a director: “How I see everything”
The action genre has been shaped by countless artists, dating right back to the silent era when the first cinematic pioneers were figuring out how exactly movement could be turned into magic through film. However, the modern action movie wouldn’t exist as we know it without the incredible impact of Hong Kong’s invaluable contributions to the genre, spearheaded by visionaries like John Woo.
The creative genius behind globally beloved action flicks such as The Killer and Hard Boiled, Woo fashioned his own visual framework for the genre by incorporating various techniques that have been endlessly copied and borrowed from. Ranging from characteristic slow-motion sequences to highly stylised references to the movies he loved while growing up, the Hong Kong auteur has revitalised not just Asian action movies but also Hollywood.
During a conversation with the BBC, Woo opened up about how he found himself gravitating towards the medium over the years. Initially, he wanted to be a Christian minister because the local church supported his family and education during tough times. He was deeply influenced by the philanthropic tenets of his community, inevitably ending up with the desire to give back.
His goals shifted when he witnessed the mastery of the French New auteurs, particularly the works of Jean-Pierre Melville, who broadened Woo’s cinematic horizons. Despite trying his best to capture his feelings through other art forms, the Hong Kong filmmaker found himself returning to cinema time and again because of its narrative potential.
Woo explained: “I was very shy and I also have difficulty speak, so I didn’t know how to express myself. I just wanted to do something to explore my feeling, my thinking, but I didn’t know how. After, I find only a movie could do that. I can use movie as a language. Not only could it send a good message, I could let people know about my thinking and how I see the world, how I see the colour, how I see the music, how I see everything.”
Engaging in filmmaking helped the Hard Boiled director break out of his shell, enabling him to collaborate with many artists whom he would normally not have spoken to due to his introverted nature. His experience with acting as a student also allowed him to gain a better understanding of the stars he worked with in the future, resulting in some truly spectacular creative partnerships.
Woo added: “I love performers. When I was in high school, I started as an actor. With a movie, you can enjoy great performances from the actors. And I like to work with people. When I was a kid, I feel lonely, I have not many friends. If you make a movie, then you can work with different kinds of people and make different kinds of friend. That’s very important to me.”
Even though Woo has worked in Hollywood and made a directorial comeback last year with Silent Night, the brilliance of his early Hong Kong action movies remains unparalleled. Watch the trailer for Hard Boiled below.
