The Killer - Dip huet seung hung (Dir. John Woo, 1989)

The Killer ("Dip huet seung hung") is a 1989 Hong Kong action film written and directed by John Woo, and starring Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee and Sally Yeh.

Description

The Killer is a 1989 Hong Kong action and crime film written and directed by John Woo and starring Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee, and Sally Yeh. Chow plays the assassin Ah Jong, who accidentally damages the eyes of the singer Jennie (Sally Yeh) during a shootout. He later discovers that if Jennie does not have an expensive operation soon, she will go blind. To get the money for Jennie, Ah Jong decides to perform one last hit. Meanwhile, the police detective Li (Danny Lee) who has been tracking Ah Jong for a long time, is determined to bring him to justice.

After the financial backing from Tsui Hark became problematic following the release of Woo's film A Better Tomorrow 2, Woo had to find backing through Chow Yun Fat and Danny Lee's financing companies. Woo went into filming The Killer with a rough draft whose plot was influenced by the films Le Samouraï, Mean Streets, and Narazumono. Woo desired to make a film about honour, friendship and the relationship of two seemingly opposite people. After finishing filming, Woo referred to The Killer as a tribute to directors Jean-Pierre Melville and Martin Scorsese.

The Killer was not an immediate success in Hong Kong, but received critical acclaim in the Western world with reviewers praising the action scenes and its over-the-top style. The film became Woo's stepping stone to make Hollywood films and has been a strong influence on many directors, including Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and Johnnie To.