The Killer (1989 film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Killer
Directed by John Woo
Produced by Tsui Hark
Written by John Woo
Starring Chow Yun-Fat
Danny Lee
Sally Yeh
Chu Kong
Music by Lowell Lo
Distributed by Golden Princess Film Production Limited
Release date(s) Flag of Hong Kong July 6, 1989
Flag of the United States January, 1990
Running time 111 min.
Language Cantonese
Budget HK$ 18,255,083
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese: 喋血双雄
Traditional Chinese: 喋血雙雄
Pinyin: Diéxuè shuāngxióng

The Killer [1] is a 1989 Hong Kong action-thriller film directed by John Woo and produced by Tsui Hark. The film, which brought Woo widespread recognition in the West, stars Chow Yun-Fat as the hitman Ah-Jong, Danny Lee as the cop Li Ying and Sally Yeh as the singer Jennie.

The Killer is considered a classic of the Asian heroic bloodshed genre of action cinema.[2] It is a very popular and well regarded film, not only for its stylised violence, but for its themes of honor, love and friendship, which, coupled with the religious motif of salvation (not uncommon in the heroic bloodshed genre) is used to evoke powerful emotions. The film also asserts a higher morality that is above the law of man, which makes the cop question his motivations. The film is notable for its tense Mexican standoffs, a trademark of Woo.

A Hollywood remake has for many years been in development, but various factors have kept it in development hell.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

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.

[edit] Alternate versions

In one scene, Ah-Jong and Li Ying are in Jennie's flat, holding each other at gun point; in order not to worry the blind girl, they pretend to be childhood friends and give each other silly nicknames: Ah-Jong becomes 'Shrimphead' and Li Ying 'Runt'. Western releases of the film change the nicknames to "Dumbo" and "Mickey Mouse", or alternately, "Numbnuts" and "Butthead" on the Criterion version. The UK DVD release is currently the only English subtitled version to render the nicknames correctly.

There is an extended DVD version, dubbed in Mandarin which contains several minutes of extra scenes, most notably during the final shootout.

[edit] Influence

The plot is similar to the 1954 Hollywood film Magnificent Obsession starring Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman. In that movie, Rock plays a playboy who accidentally blinds a young woman, and through newly found ideals and pity that eventually turns to love for the blinded woman, he befriends her and tries to raise money for an eye operation, all the time not revealing his identity.

The Killer was heavily influenced by French director Jean-Pierre Melville's 1967 cult film Le Samouraï. Some of the plot is borrowed (the female pianist in Melville's film is replaced by a nightclub singer), and Chow Yun-Fat's character was obviously inspired by Alain Delon's Jeff Costello [3]. In what may be an acknowledgement of this, Ah Jong is called 'Jeffrey Chow' in the English subtitled versions of the film.

The TV series Renegade has an episode "Carrick O'Quinn" (season 2, episode 22), in which a cop accidentally blinds a judge and tries to discreetly help her.

[edit] DVD Versions

The film has been released in Region 1 from Criterion Collection which features a unique Commentary track by John Woo. Fox Lorber also released the film after the Criterion edition went out of print. The Fox Lorber release is also OOP now.

On November 6, 2007 Dragon Dynasty was to release an Ultimate Edition DVD of The Killer. This was a two disc set with a newly remastered Anamorphic Widescreen transfer and many extras including a Commentary by Woo and Chang. (Davis DVD)

The release has been delayed, with no current announced release date.

[edit] Box Office

The Killer grossed $18,355,083 HKD in Hong Kong.

[edit] Music Cues

Several music cues are taken from other films, most notably Red Heat, and Hero and the Terror. The songs:

"Russian Streets" Composer: James Horner From: Red Heat (1988)

"Victor Escapes" Composer: James Horner From: Red Heat (1988)

"Bus Station" Composer: James Horner From: Red Heat (1988)

"Breakout" Composer: David Michael Frank From: Hero and the Terror (1988)

[edit] Trivia

Excerpts of the dialogue from the English dubbed version of The Killer is used in the album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx by Wu Tang Clan rapper Raekwon.

[edit] References

  1. ^ (Traditional Chinese: 喋血雙雄, Simplified Chinese: 喋血双雄; Cantonese IPA[tɪp22 hyt33 sœŋ55 həʊŋ11], Jyutping: dip6 hyt3 seong1 hung4; Mandarin Pinyin: Diéxuè shuāngxióng; literally: Bloodshed of Two Heroes)
  2. ^ Kupść, Jarek [1989] (1989). The History of Cinema for Beginners. Writers and Readers Publishing Inc. ISBN 0863162754.
  3. ^ Bey Logan. The Killer [DVD]. Hong Kong Legends.

[edit] External links