Woo discusses his rise to fame in Hong Kong, U.S.

  Egyptian Theatre "Hard Boiled," starring Chow Yun Fat and
Tony Leung, is one of John Woo’s trademark action
films.

By CJ Yu
Daily Bruin Contributor

Director John Woo’s action-thrillers have greatly changed
the landscape of action-adventure cinema in the last few years, and
Hollywood has noticed.

Last weekend, the Egyptian Theatre honored the director for his
work with a tribute that included public screenings of his earlier
films from Hong Kong, as well as question-and-answer sessions with
Woo himself.

From Hong Kong films such as “The Killer” and
“Hard Boiled,” to more recent American movies like
“Face/Off” and the upcoming “Windtalkers,”
Woo’s filmmaking career has spanned over 30 years, making an
especially large impact on Hong Kong cinema and now in the U.S.

Born in China, Woo spent most of his life in Hong Kong, where he
originally planned to break into the entertainment field from in
front of the camera, rather than behind it.

“When I was young and in high school, my first dream was
actually to become an actor,” Woo said. “But then I
realized I was too short “¦ at that time, actors were very
tall and handsome.”

When Woo finally began working with actor Chow Yun-Fat for his
role in “A Better Tomorrow,” one of his first
successful action films, Woo realized that he would be more than
content with directing. With Chow, Woo had discovered the perfect
hero for the action films that he wanted to make.

However, before the two met, Chow’s poor box office
performance had scared many other directors and producers from
hiring him.

“Before “˜A Better Tomorrow,’ I did not know
about Chow Yun-Fat. All I knew was that he was a very popular
television star and he did some movies, but all of his movies
flopped and failed,” said Woo. “He had a name at the
box office, called “˜box office poison.'”

  The Egyptian Theatre John Woo spoke at
the cinematheque last weekend.

While Woo is now more widely known for directing action films
and casting Chow as the lead in many of his movies, Woo started his
career directing comedies, many of which were box-office bombs
rather than big-budget successes.

Woo’s first big break came when he was hired as an
assistant director to Chang Cheh, a renowned director in Asia who
was famous for his traditional martial arts films. Under his
guidance, Woo was able to create a style for himself which is still
prominent in his films today.

“The Killer,” which also stars Chow, is said to be
one of the first films in which Woo used the fight scenes that have
now become synonymous with his name: villains firing two guns at a
time and sequences where two characters hold weapons to each
others’ heads at arm’s length.

Although such extravagant fight scenes may seem carefully
planned and meticulously choreographed, Woo said that some of the
most memorable scenes from his earlier works were actually
improvised.

“I started the film (“The Killer”) without a
complete script,” said Woo. “The whole big action
sequence was created on set ““ something that I don’t
think would ever happen in this country,” said Woo, referring
to a scene where Chow was enmeshed in a bloody battle aboard a
packed subway train.

As a filmmaker who has worked extensively in both Asia and the
United States, Woo was eager to discuss the dramatic differences
between the entertainment industries in Hollywood and Hong
Kong.

“(In Hong Kong) everyone, including actors and the
studios, all they want is to make a good movie. It’s a lot
more like a family business,” Woo said. “In Hollywood,
there’s a lot more meetings. After six months of meetings,
they’re still talking about the same thing. In six months (in
Hong Kong), I would have had enough time to make another
movie,” Woo added.

However Woo said he had no problems making the transition from
Hong Kong films to the upcoming American war epic
“Windtalkers.”

“The film was not about the enemy. Instead, the focus was
on the friendship (between the protagonists), so overall, it was
pretty easy,” said Woo.

After the release of “Windtalkers,” Woo will be busy
working on yet another epic, titled “Men of Destiny,”
currently in development.

“Men of Destiny” tells the story of the construction
of the transcontinental railroad. While not wanting to give away
too many details, he hinted that they are hoping to pair Chow
Yun-Fat and Nicholas Cage as potential male leads for the
movie.

Speaking in Chinese to reporters before the Q&A session, Woo
explained why he continues to make movies in the U.S., rather than
return to Hong Kong.

“I like working here not only because the films I’ve
made have been successful, but also because everyone here has
welcomed and treated me very well,” Woo said.