The Killer

Part shoot-em-up action, part Douglas Sirk melodrama, John Woo’s kinetic crime thriller raises the well worn action genre to new and delirious heights. The charismatic Chow Yun Fat stars as the guilt ridden contract killer of the title who experiences a crisis of sorts when he accidentally blinds a night club singer (played by Hong Kong pop star Sally Yeh) during one of his hits. The angsty hitman then spends the rest of the film trying to redeem himself and make enough hits to pay for the singers cornea transplant. Hot on his trail however is Inspector Li (Danny Lee) who subsequently forms a strange affiliation with the killer. Woo, well known for his outrageous and balletic gun play doesn’t disappoint here with an astronomical body count but infuses the film with his other ongoing obsessions, the intimate code and conduct of male bonding and the dual nature of men. Oddly enough this version differs from it’s original release in that the nicknames that Chow Yun Fat and Danny Lee use for each other (Mickey Mouse and Dumbo) have been changed to Butt-head and Numb-nuts. See also: ‘Yang and yin: gender in Chinese cinema: a film to celebrate 100 years of cinema’ by Stanley Kwan (in our collection). In Cantonese with English subtitles. See also ‘Hard-boiled’, ‘Hard Target’, ‘Face-off’, ‘Broken Arrow’.