Saturday, March 5, 2011
The Bullet Ballet
In action cinema, perhaps no director has been as influential as John Woo. From The Matrix to Kill Bill, it is nigh impossible to find an action film that does not reference his work. With his 1986 Hong Kong action film A Better Tomorrow, Woo laid the visual foundations of his distinctive take on the gangster film. This restaurant shootout scene from the film contains most of the basic elements of a Woo action scene; for example highly choreographed action sequences and the use of slow motion. The gun play is highly stylized and real limitations such as the need to reload exist only as visual devices. Blood is used liberally, again seemingly more for its visual impact, as in the 'Crazy 88' scene of Kill Bill, than for a realistic depiction of events.
Woo's films, while sometimes savagely violent, contain an emotional side and often heavy-hitting moral messages. His films generally depict a conflict between police and triads, but the characters are never one-sided or predictable. The complex drama and intricate choreography of his films has earned them the title of "bullet ballets". In a way, his films, where stylized form takes precedence over realistic function, do seem to be a violent and gritty take on the art of ballet.
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I've actually seen this scene before (possibly on youtube?), which is really interesting because I've never watched Chinese movies in my life. I do like this scene because it's a bit more heavy hitting. Yes, the blood is liberal, but it's not a slasher and it has a much more serious tone. I'm also sure people bleed a ton if you shoot them in real life, so it probably is realistic to some degree. But, the slow motion parts are what I really enjoyed (they really are like the slow motion parts in the Matrix). Like they've already been called, they remind me of a dance like ballet. It's very artistic.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say that John Woo's films are "never one-sided or predictable" as evidenced by Romeo Must Die, which was admittedly pretty terrible. That said, I do agree that he imbues a sense of morally into this movies, implying that there is a moral mandate associated with committing violence.
ReplyDeleteI'm probably going to sound overly vague here, but in his epic "Red Cliff," the protagonist justified sending hundreds of thousands of men into battle because in that instance, violence was needed to mend the kingdom and to revive and restore what was good and just.