John Woo

John Woo

Woo in 2005
Born (1946-09-22) 22 September 1946 (age 77)[1]
Guangzhou, China
NationalityHong Konger
Occupations
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
  • producer
Years active1968–present
Spouse
Anne Chun-Lung Niu
(m. 1976)
Children3
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Signature

John Woo Yu-Sen SBS (Chinese: ; born September 22, 1946)[1] is a Hong Kong filmmaker, known as a highly influential figure in the action film genre.[2] He is a pioneer of heroic bloodshed films (a crime action film genre involving Chinese triads) and the gun fu genre in Hong Kong action cinema, before working in Hollywood films. He is known for his highly chaotic "bullet ballet"[3][4] action sequences, stylized imagery, Mexican standoffs, frequent use of slow motion and allusions to wuxia, film noir and Western cinema.[5]

Considered one of the major figures of Hong Kong cinema, Woo has directed several notable action films including A Better Tomorrow (1986), The Killer (1989), Hard Boiled (1992) and Red Cliff (2008/2009).[5][6] His Hollywood films include Hard Target (1993), Broken Arrow (1996), Face/Off (1997) and Mission: Impossible 2 (2000).[5] He also created the comic series Seven Brothers, published by Virgin Comics. He is the founder and chairman of the production company Lion Rock Productions.[7]

Woo is a winner of the Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Editing, as well as a Golden Horse Award, an Asia Pacific Screen Award and a Saturn Award.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Rawnsley was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "John Woo". Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
  3. ^ Kehr, Dave (14 July 2002). "John Woo: Ballets full of bullets". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 October 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  4. ^ Weinraub, Bernard (22 February 1996). "ON LOCATION WITH: John Woo;Ballets With Bullets". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 29 October 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference BBC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "WOO John - Festival de Cannes 2014 (International Film Festival)". Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Festival de Cannes fiche artiste (artist profile)
  7. ^ "John Woo". Variety. 7 November 2013. Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2017.