Director in Action: Johnnie To and the Hong Kong Action FilmDirector in Action examines the career of Johnnie To, whose art-house action hits include A Hero Never Dies, The Longest Nite, Running out of Time, The Mission, PTU, Breaking News, Election, and Election 2. The author discusses the symbiotic relationship between director and genre, why To is regarded as an auteur, and the influence he has on the trajectory of the action genre in the Hong Kong cinema. The author's view is that To's idiosyncratic auteurist style transforms the generic conventions under which he is compelled to work, and that there is a discernible element of experimentalism in his most outstanding films. In addition, To modulates the film noir form to suit his local contexts, characters and locations, to create a highly personalized noir cinema in post-1997 Hong Kong. |
Contents
| 1 | |
2 From The Big Heat to Lifeline | 31 |
3 Nucleus of the Milky Way | 65 |
4 Directed by Johnnie To | 101 |
5 The Uneven Auteur | 145 |
6 Postscript | 177 |
Epilogue | 199 |
Authors Interview with Johnnie To | 215 |
Johnnie To on Election | 245 |
Notes | 249 |
| 273 | |
Filmography | 281 |
| 283 | |
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Common terms and phrases
action film action genre action sequences actors Andy Lau assassin auteur Big Heat body Breaking Carman character Cheung Chinese comedy crisis culture Destiny-machine director double Election and Election Exiled Expect the Unexpected fate female film’s filmmaker fire Fong Fulltime Killer gang gangster genre films gunfire gunplay guns Hero Never Hero Never Dies hero’s heroic fatalism Heroic Trio Hollywood Hong Kong cinema Hong Kong film Hypothermia Ibid jianghu Johnnie Ka-fai killing Kong film industry Kong’s Kurosawa Lau Ching-wan Lau’s Leung Lifeline Longest Nite Loving male martial arts masculinity Milkyway films Mission movie mythical violence narrative Number Odd One Dies ofhis ofTo’s ofviolence Patrick Yau played police production protagonists robbers role Running on Karma Running out ofTime scene sense shoot shootout shot symbolic Szeto Takeshi Tasker theme Throw To’s action films To’s career To’s films Tony triads Tsui Hark unevenness villain wanted Wong Wong’s