Simply said, John Woo is a genius in action cinema. He is known as the man responsible for bringing about the golden age of Hong Kong action Cinema.
Woo's films are very violent, but there is a beauty and ballistic flair to this violence which sets his films apart from other producers.
The bread and butter of film making are action movies. Summer after summer, moviegoers can expect to see car chases, gun fights, martial arts mayhem, and the like. And production studios get to see hundreds of millions of dollars in profits.
Though most of these films are labeled by critics as being "all action, no substance," this is true about most action films. But not those produced by director John Woo. He puts his heart and soul into his movies, and that is very obvious to those viewing them.
John Woo(Wu Yu-Sen) was born in Guanzhou, Canton in 1946. His father was out of work due to tuberculosis, and because of this his family lived a meager existence. His family was temporarily homeless when a fire in Hong Kong burned down their home
Growing up in Hong Kong was tough. The projects had become notorious for crime and lawlessness. As a young child, John Woo witnessed the murder of man, and memory that is very vivid even until this day. John Woo was very interested in becoming a priest, but was told that he was far too artistic for that. John Woo knew this to be true.
It was at this time that Woo turned to movies. Movies where free for children, so his mother took him to the cinema often. It was a place of comfort for him. He was fascinated with musicals, and it was at this time that he decided he wanted to be a filmmaker. Once he reached his teenage years, he borrowed some film equipment, and began to experiment and teach himself the art of filmmaking.
About the age of twenty two, Woo began making movies, though he had never been able to afford the tuition necessary to attend college. In 1969 Woo landed his first job as a supervisor with Cathay Studios.
Woo eventually moved to the more prestigious Shaw studios, and worked under director Chang Cheh, who was instrumental in teaching Woo editing. In 1973, Woo began work on his first film as a director, which was Young Dragons. a martial arts film which also had Jackie Chan as the choreography coordinator. Because of the film's violence, it was shelved for about two years.
When Young Dragons was finally released, it was a box office smash. Woo was hired by Golden Harvest, a small company that eventually became one of Hong Kong's largest production studios. Woo directed a few more films such as Hand of Death, which featured Sammo Hung. This film was a stepping stone for Woo in the fact that he was able to both write and direct the film, which was rare at the time, especially for someone his age.
After this point he experimented a little with comedy, but soon turned back to his roots with a film called Heroes Shed No Tears. This was an ultra violent film about mercenaries sent to Vietnam to capture a drug lord. The film was thought too violent by the production studio and like Young Dragons, was shelved.
Woo was enraged. He fought bitterly with the studios in order to have the film released, a fight so bitter that many at the time thought Woo was finished as far as cinema was concerned. However, it was at this time that Woo met Tsui Hark, and after a time, he offered Woo the chance to direct A Better Tommorow.
The film was about a man torn between two worlds, the world of the triad and the loyalty to a close friend. His little brother is about to become a cop, and the man whose name is Ho, decides to cut his ties with the triads after one last assignment. He gets cheated, and is captured by the police. To make sure Ho doesn't rat to the police, the triads send one of their own out to capture Ho's father, but instead they kill him. Once this happens, Ho's younger brother finds out his brother's true line of work.
Meanwhile, Ho's friend seeks revenge for Ho's double cross. He kills one of the local gangsters, but is shot and crippled in the process. After his release from prison, both him, his brother, and his friend fight the gangsters in a blood soaked ending.
After years of making films It was eventually Face Off with Nicolas Cage, that Cemented Woo in Hollywood. His filmmaking influence is immense. The trend of movie characters killing with remorse is something that Woo brought to American Cinema. Even the look of Woo's films have attracted American directors. The black suits and ties style of dressing has been emulated by Quentin Tarantino and Keenan Ivory Wayans.
