Once a Thief (4K Restored Version)

Director John Woo came to international attention in as early as the 1980s and successfully broke into Hollywood in the 1990s. He has a huge influence on Asian as well as Western filmmakers—Thai New Wave director Nonzee Nimibutr being one of them. Once a Thief is a rather singular work in Woo’s prolific career. Departing from his signature hardcore bloody action films, Woo teamed up with big-time comedy writer Clifton Ko Chi-sum this time to wittily spice up the otherwise gunplay-filled heist movie with a pinch of humour and a dash of romance. Once a Thief revolves around three orphans who are raised and trained by their foster father to become master art thieves. Bound by brotherhood and love since childhood, the trio works perfectly together to pull off one ingenious job after another, until one day a hit goes unexpectedly wrong and one of them ends up killed in a fire, presumably. But when Joe (Chow Yun-fat) shows up without warning years later in a wheelchair, James (Leslie Cheung) and Cherie (Cherie Chung) realise that things are more than they appear...Shot on location in picturesque France and starring three of the most gorgeous looking movie stars of the time, Once a Thief is one hundred percent a feast for the eyes. The brilliantly choreographed wheelchair dance between Joe and Cherie, in particular, left an indelible imprint on the mind of thousands of audiences in Hong Kong and across Asia.

© 2010 Fortune Star Media Limited All Rights Reserved

# Pre-screening talk with Sam Ho and Joyce Yang

The contents of the programme do not represent the views of the presenter. The presenter reserves the right to change the programme should unavoidable circumstances make it necessary.