HK Cinema - 1989
In 1989 Chow Yun Fat officially became the God
of Actors with his portrayal as a tough but caring cop in Ringo Lam’s Wild
Search, the charismatic gambler in Wong Jing’s God Of Gamblers and then
his finest role in the greatest HK film ever as the assassin in Woo’s The
Killer.
In The Killer Chow is larger than life, mythic,
romantic, debonair and deadly. The film is infused with romanticism and
themes of honor and loyalty. The gunplay for which the film is so famous
is so over the top that it soon becomes surreal and dream like. It is Astaire’s
Slaughter on 10th Avenue brought to life in a hail of bullets and buckets
of blood. Woo manages to bring all these elements together and creates
a perfect film.
Chow Yun Fat goes on to do a number of other excellent
films – Once a Thief, Full Contact, Hard Boiled and his final HK film Peace
Hotel – before Hollywood beckoned. Woo followed up The Killer with A Bullet
in the Head, Once a Thief, and Hard Boiled before he too made the journey
to America.