This most auteur film of John Woo's ‘Heroic Series' not only propelled Woo to international renown, it profoundly influenced many western and Asian filmmakers. An outstanding example is Thai New Wave director Nonzee Nimibutr's debut film Young Gangsters (1997). In The Killer, professional assassin Jong (Chow Yun-fat) accidentally injures a songstress (Sally Yeh). To raise the medical expenses for her eye surgery, he takes on one final job, but ends up caught between a gangster power struggle and an intense police investigation. Supposedly, police detective Li Ying (Danny Lee) and Jong respectively represented good and evil, but gradually they develop a bond as they go through life-and-death experiences together. Here, righteousness is redefined by John Woo. Inside the framework of a contemporary cops-and-robbers film structure, a kind of martial ‘bromance' is portrayed. At the same time, the John Woo aesthetic sense came into its own: blood-filled gunfights contrasting with doves, candlelight and religious symbols in a church, rendering the stirring, tragic image of the blood-stained hero. The film won Best Director and Best Editor in the 9th Hong Kong Film Awards, and has been included among the ‘100 Must-see Hong Kong Movies' issued by the Archive.

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# Post-screening talk with Joyce Yang & Dr Dickson Cheung

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