BioRhythm
This was the title of a MTV biography series. It was the next step after their Rocumentary series, but I think that it suits the career of John Woo. Huang Xiaohong’s 2010 book about the director, authorized by the man itself, is not the best book about him but it has its fair share of moments that surprised me - someone who has read three books about him. What gives the female author’s book more distinction is that she felt obligated for each chapter to begin with a rundown of historical events in Hong Kong related to a specific year. I would preferred something more film-related because John Woo’s films are not so topical as to reflect what was going on at the time of each film. Nevertheless, I will be kind enough to reveal some if not all of Huang’s new insights…
When John was three years old, he developed an abscess on his back. It was just a small abscess, but it grew bigger, and finally spread to the whole back. A Chinese doctor in Guangzhou told John’s father, Wu Zhuoyun, that the child was beyond saving and advised him not to waste any more money. John’s back was swollen and full of pus, and he couldn’t sleep because of the pain. He cried day and night. Wu Zhuoyun had some savings at the time, so he hired a servant and asked her along with his wife to take turns holding him each day, letting him sleep on their arms. Wu Zhuoyun sold his family property and went around looking for famous doctors to treat his son. Finally, he found a Western doctor who studied in Germany. He cured John’s “incurable disease” with Western medicine and surgery.
There’s a quote from what John which goes: “When I was ten or eleven, I loved to draw little people on the glass with a brush, then cover myself with a quilt, and then find a flashlight and shine it on the glass. The image would be projected on the wall, moving like a movie.”
The Concordia Lutheran High School where John Woo studied was a Christian school. John grew up drinking the church’s relief milk, and went to church every day. In the warm atmosphere, he naturally became a devout Christian. The pastor was impressed by the good handwriting of this little church member, so he asked him to help copy the handouts and paid him a little money as a reward. John, who was devoted to movies, of course donated every penny he earned to the cinema.
Walking through the corridor and the entrance hall of the school, a large playground is right in front of you. The basketball stand and the football field each have their own space. John told his female biographer: “I often played basketball here when I was in school. I was the best at it, but I still couldn’t make the school team. I liked art class the most, and the art teacher likes me the most too, because I am the bravest in the school and I often pose as a model with my upper body naked. I only wear a pair of swimming trunks, and I stand here, posing like this, and like this, and let my classmates draw my portrait.”
The pastors and teachers would not help them directly, but would ask these students to do some small things and then pay them a little so that they could have their own pocket money like other children. In addition to being given the privilege of helping the pastor copy handouts because of his good handwriting, John Woo, like other poor students, did odd jobs for the school, such as cleaning the school building, weeding and planting flowers, to earn a stipend of three or four dollars. After saving up, he went to watch an after-school show with his classmates. And the one at 9:30 p.m. was a must-see.
Michael Hui talked about Games Gamblers Play (1974): “I didn’t know how to shoot the scenes dealing with more than a thousand gamblers. Golden Harvest called me overnight and said, “Don’t be afraid, we have found someone for you who will definitely be able to shoot it.” That person finally showed up and helped me shoot the gambling scenes for several nights. He impressed me with his proficiency in camera use and it was obvious that he was a professional director, but he would not steal my limelight. He just stayed by my side and reminded me from time to time: ‘Michael, is it okay to shoot this shot like this?’ He made a huge contribution to the whole movie, but until it broke the box office record, he had never mentioned to anyone that he had helped me shoot this movie.”
John Woo talked about it: “Games Gamblers Play was the first film directed by Michael Hui. He didn’t have much experience on set at the time, but he had a lot of ideas to express. Michael Hui is a very smart and hard-working director, but he needed someone to help him control the scene. He encountered difficulties when shooting the gambling scenes in Macau. There were only three days left, and the deadline was approaching. I learned how to make comedies from him. Not only does Michael Hui’s comedy have his own unique sense of rhythm, but he also knows how to control the audience’s emotions. He can make the audience laugh at any part.”
It is said that when the movie was released, the weather was not good. There were strong winds and rain for several days. Everyone was very worried. If it continued like this, wouldn’t the box office be in jeopardy? Leonard Ho suddenly had an idea and suggested to show a short film at the same time to attract the audience. John Woo immediately came up with a new idea: to ask Sam Hui to take action. John said: “I think I was the first person to shoot an MTV-style music video at that time. Sam and I created a few musical sketches, which were shot, edited, printed and mixed in three days. On the fourth day, they were shown in theaters together with Games Gamblers Play. Unexpectedly, both the movie and the short film were very popular, and the film broke the box office record. The three of us were very happy. At that time, we felt like a family. Everyone was fully focused and invested in the movie.”
When Princess Chang Ping (1976) went into production, John Woo did not have box office status after the releases of The Young Dragons (1974) and The Dragon Tamers (1975). Some people at Golden Harvest were dissatisfied with the repeated favors that he received. John recalled: “At that time, some people even wanted to replace me as the director, and some people tried to anger me away. The preparation of the whole film had already cost a lot of time and money. When Leonard Ho knew that someone was doing this to me, he was very angry. He immediately summoned all the producers, company executives and even staff members, and said to everyone in front of me: “If this movie is not directed by John Woo, I will stop filming immediately, no matter how much money it costs!” When I heard Mr. Ho say this, I was relieved.”
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During his most depressed days in the mid-eighties, John and Tsui Hark sat in a cafe on the rooftop of a hotel, looking at the sunset over the bay: “We talked about Lung Kong’s The Story of a Discharged Prisoner and found that everyone loved this movie so much. We agreed that one day, we must remake it. If he was the director, I would be the producer; if I was the director, he would be the producer. At that time, we were so happy to talk about it. He said that we could make a female version, but I preferred a male version.”
John Woo not only discovered Jackie Chan’s potential before his stardom, but Tsui Hark too: “I recommended him to Golden Harvest, but after two years, the company still didn’t respond. Later, I introduced him to Cinema City, and this time it was successful. Not only did his talent show, he became a very outstanding director and later received recognition from the world. I still remember when he won the Golden Horse Award for Best Director, I was still working for Golden Harvest, but when I heard the emcee call out his name, I jumped up with joy, yelled and cried. The reporters present were very surprised, why was John Woo more excited than Tsui Hark when he won the award?”
When they remade Story of a Discharged Prisoner, it was titled A Better Tomorrow. John’s biographer mentioned in the book: “I have a male friend who was ecstatic to buy the Japanese version of A Better Tomorrow which had one more scene than the Hong Kong version.”
John Woo talking about Chow Yun-Fat: “A Better Tomorrow started filming in the fall of 1985 and was released in 1986. I still remember the first time we met, we talked about the characters’ personalities, and as soon as we finished talking, I immediately changed the script.”
John Woo had this to say about Bullet in the Head (1990): “I was sad because every actor and every staff member had put in a lot of effort, but they all suffered setbacks. We took this film very seriously. It took us four months and a lot of money just to collect information. In order to strive for authenticity, we put a lot of effort into collecting information, whether it was about Hong Kong’s current affairs and historical facts, such as the riots in the resettlement area and the popular clothing of the time, or the social background and culture of Vietnam. We turned some news materials and even war scenes into scenes as long as they could fit the plot. At the same time, we tried to preserve the authenticity of the content, which required extra effort. We went to Vietnam in person to collect information, even a thatched hut, a theater sign… no matter how detailed it was, we put in enough effort.”
John Woo lamented about Once a Thief (1991): “I have always regretted not being able to write a good script for Leslie Cheung. His acting skills could have been better. When casting for A Better Tomorrow, I only chose between him and Alan Tam. I told him that this character was caught in the middle and it was difficult to please him. Are you afraid that it will affect your image as a singer? He said ‘No, it’s just singing.’ This alone proves that he is a good actor.”
A bond never broken: “When we were filming in Hong Kong, he often called me ‘brother’. At that time, I would go to his house every year on his birthday, just like a family. Later, I went to the United States to develop my career. He came to visit me once. He invited me and my wife out for dinner. He called me Master and my wife ‘Master’s Wife’. I never taught him anything, but he respected me so much. During that dinner, there was a slight earthquake, and the tables and chairs shook. He held my hand with one hand and my wife with the other. I felt that he was also very nervous, but he comforted us not to be afraid. He is such a sincere and caring person.”
David Wu, who won the 12th Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Editing for Hard-Boiled, remarked: “His editing skills are also very good. Sometimes he would come to the editing room and feel like showing off his skills, but I was sitting there and he couldn’t edit. So he would coax me: ‘Hey, can I buy you some ice cream? How about this, you go buy it…’ When I came back after buying it, I saw him sitting there editing my film. Another time it was even worse. He finished filming Hard-Boiled and after editing the rough cut, there was three hours of film. Everyone watched it and found that every scene was very good, and it was really difficult to cut 40 minutes. I worked all night and finally cut out 20 minutes. He said, ‘Hey, David, you are very tired and haven’t washed for many days. I can smell you. Why don’t you go home and take a bath to refresh yourself?’ I thought the director cared about me so much. When I came back, I found that he had ruthlessly re-edited the clips I had cut out! But looking back, it’s a good thing he made such an effort, otherwise I might not have won the Academy Award.”
Ironically, John Woo became more human in Hollywood: “In Hong Kong, Tsui Hark and I were called “inhumane” because we often forgot to eat during filming. That’s really not good. How can people only care about themselves? Everyone works so hard, they should have a relaxing meal time! So after coming to the United States, I sometimes cook for the crew. I remember when we were filming Broken Arrow, I cooked Chinese food for the crew in a small hotel in the desert, and they were very happy. At that time, I cooked for them every weekend. Everyone works so hard, we should think about them.”
John Woo’s wife, Annie, is known in Chinese as Ngau Chun-Lung (a.k.a. Niu Chun-Long). She was interviewed by the female historian behind the 2010 book: “Before we moved to the United States, our family almost broke up. I felt very uncomfortable during that period. I had no choice but to tell John Woo that I wanted to take the children back to the United States because they would soon be taking college entrance exams. Congratulations! John Woo was also very cooperative and came to the United States with us. This was naturally a happy ending for everyone. What happened at that time? I think there are some things I can’t say too directly.”
I can. John Woo almost got killed. Terence Chang was threatened by Jet Li’s manager, Jim Choi, because he wanted Terence to join his company. Things got so bad that John had to leave Hong Kong before he could finish editing Hard-Boiled. John left with his family in March 1992. Symbolically, the film was released in Hong Kong on the same day that Jim Choi was murdered: April 16. There is method acting, but then there’s method directing. I don’t know of any method actors in Hong Kong, but John Woo is a method director: “Being my wife is hard. I often bring the emotions from the movie home. For example, if I want to shoot a killer story, I will feel like a killer. When I go home, I still maintain that state of mind. If the scene is about anger, I will kick the door; if the scene is about romance, I will buy a flower for my wife and kiss my child. My mood swings are so great that it is very hard for my family, especially my wife, but I can’t help myself and let the character in the scene become myself.”
Plot twist: “I like cars very much, but I don’t know how to drive. When I was a child living in a resettlement area, I stood by the railing almost every day, waiting for the Benz sedan to pass by. At that time, I dreamed of owning a Benz when I grew up, and that logo, in my mind, was equivalent to the desire for success. One time I found a logo similar to Benz on the street, and I kept it at home, and often took it out to take a peek at it. I like to think too much, so it’s hard for me to concentrate on driving. And I have no patience.”
