The Cinematheque

“One of the most popular and influential Hong Kong films of the 1980s … Woo was the first to successfully merge the melodramatic elements of bloody heroism with the present-day urgency of the New Wave.”

Sean Gilman, MUBI Notebook

John Woo’s influence as an on-set improviser of peerless action and male melodrama began with A Better Tomorrow. ​“It was the first movie for myself,” the director later said. After 14 features in 10 years, most of them mediocre martial arts or action-comedy releases, it took the encouragement of producer Tsui Hark for Woo to heavily rewrite a script to suit his own previously unexpressed taste in highly stylized violence. Here, gun shots act as both a percussive drumbeat—the rhythm of scenes, shots, and dance-like movement—and the violent expression of sincere emotion. Mark (Chow Yun-fat) is the knight in an Armani trenchcoat. The plot surrounding him has less to do with crime strategy or gang infiltration, more the bonds between Ho (Ti Lung), the friend he’s paid to protect, and Ho’s brother Kit (Leslie Cheung). The latter’s career choice of cop destroys reputations, flips fortunes, and leads to tests of loyalty—in Woo’s world, the same thing as love.

In Cantonese with English subtitles

Preceding the December 5 screening of A Better Tomorrow will be a performance of the film’s iconic theme by New Coast Ensemble, blending cinematic power with a live orchestral score. Co-presented with the Chinese Canadian Museum in conjunction with its exhibition Dream Factory: Cantopop Mandopop 1980s–2000.