Hard Boiled: the fight is on at Cannes Classics
Journey back to 1992 with Hard Boiled, one of John Woo’s most successful films featuring two hours of thrilling action, a must-see to (re)watch in a restored 4K version.
There’s Tequila, a loner and trigger-happy cop, in pursuit of gun smugglers. Then there’s Alan, the undercover cop he partners with. The two men attempt to take down the leaders of the gangs that run Hong Kong and, in this mission, nothing is off limits.
Starring Chow Yun-fat (The Killer, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and Tony Leung (Award for Best Actor in 2000 for In The Mood For Love), Hard Boiled delivers two hours of highly-choreographed John Woo action. Bullets and punches fly more than lines, as the camera tracks every move, filming sequence shots in slow motion and taking a few breathers amidst the frenzy.
In this film, John Woo infuses the essence of a style honed by twenty years of experience: a re-interpretation of martial arts, blood and brutality without glorifying violence, strong characters and emotion. Three years after the success of The Killer, the Hong Kong film director was struck by something he noted: “I made this film because of the increased violence in Hong Kong. The situation was getting out of control. People were being killed in the street every day. So, I wanted to make a positive film to counterbalance the situation.”
Among those he admires, John Woo counts: Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Francis Ford Coppola and Oliver Stone. After Hard Boiled, he set down his camera in Hollywood to film Hard Target with Jean-Claude Van Damme in 1993, direct Face/Off with Nicolas Cage and John Travolta in 1997, then joined Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible II. With about 30 films to his name, John Woo continues to amaze us: he is currently working on a musical comedy written with the Sparks.
