9° FESTIVAL INTERNAZIONALE CINEMA GIOVANI
Special Event - Hong Kong 1985-1991
Die xue jie tou
by John Woo
Country: Hong Kong
Year: 1990
Duration: 136'
The film is related to other gangster films by Woo such as A Better Tomorrow and The Killer. The central themes in these films are friendship, love and deceit. They are set against the background of greed, violence and corruption. Bullet in the Head stars the three friends Ben, Frank and Paul. They grew up together in the slums of Hong Kong. They try to escape the poverty and violence in various ways, but have little success. They leave Hong Kong and their travels take them to Vietnam (the Vietnam of 1967). There they only find more violence and corruption. Evil stars forming a divisive element in their friendship.
"I didn't make a Vietnam War movie to cater to the American and European market. In fact there are a lot of messages that I want to get across with this film, most notably to use Vietnam to make a point about the present and future of Hong Kong. All those beautiful things that we once had in the '60s and are now lost, I want them back, I want people to find for themselves again the lost values, warmth, passion, and other fine virtues; and I want to remind them that war only ends up distorting humanity that war only turns us Chinese into a wandering people." (John Woo)
Biography
film director
John Woo
John Woo (Guangzhou) trained at the Matteo Ricci College in Hong Kong. He was actor in and member of the Chinese Student Weekly's Theatre Company and started making experimental films at the age of nineteen. In 1971 Woo was assistant director Io Zhang Che on Boxer from Shantung and The Blood Brothers. He made his debut in 1973 with the first of three kung fu films. In 1986 he directed A Better Tomorrow, which was a box-office hit in South East Asia.
FILMOGRAFIA
The Young Dragons (1973), The Dragon Tamers (1974), Countdown in Kung Fu (1975), Princess Chang Ping (1975), Money Crazy (1977), Follow the Star (1977), Last Hurrah for Chivalry (1978), From Rags to Riches (1979), To Hell with the Devil (1981), Laughing Times (1981), Plain Jane to the Rescue (1982), The Sunset Warrior (1983), The Time You Need a Friend (1984), Run Tiger Run (1985), A Better Tomorrow (1986), A Better Tomorrow II (1987), The Killer (1989), Bullet in the Head (1990).
Cast
& Credits
Director and editor: John Woo.
Screenplay: John Woo, Patrick Leung, Janet Chun.
Director of photography: Ardy Lam, Wilson Chan, Somchai Kitti Kun, Wong Winghang.
Art director: Leung Wah Seng.
Music: James Wong, Romeo Diaz.
Cast and characters: Tony Leung (Ben), Jacky Cheung (Frank), Waise Lee (Paul), Fennie Yuen (Jane), Simon Yam (Luke), Chung Lam (Y.S. Leong), Yolinda Lam (Sally).
Director of Production: Yiu Yat Wah, Hui Chi Ho.
Production company: John Woo Film Production Ltd., 6/F, 742744 Nathan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong, tel. 8523919988, fax 9527891365.
Foreign sales agent: Golden Princess Amusement Co. Ltd., 6/17, 742744 Nathan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong, tel. 8523919988, fax 8527891365.
Screenplay: John Woo, Patrick Leung, Janet Chun.
Director of photography: Ardy Lam, Wilson Chan, Somchai Kitti Kun, Wong Winghang.
Art director: Leung Wah Seng.
Music: James Wong, Romeo Diaz.
Cast and characters: Tony Leung (Ben), Jacky Cheung (Frank), Waise Lee (Paul), Fennie Yuen (Jane), Simon Yam (Luke), Chung Lam (Y.S. Leong), Yolinda Lam (Sally).
Director of Production: Yiu Yat Wah, Hui Chi Ho.
Production company: John Woo Film Production Ltd., 6/F, 742744 Nathan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong, tel. 8523919988, fax 9527891365.
Foreign sales agent: Golden Princess Amusement Co. Ltd., 6/17, 742744 Nathan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong, tel. 8523919988, fax 8527891365.
