Wooing the West

 

I caught John Woo's THE KILLER at Washington D.C.s The Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts in August 1989, (along with a double-bill of his A BETTER TOMORROW films.) And was blasted into the back of the theatre along with the rest of the audience. 

One could argue, that film, starring Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee and Sally Yeh, was more influential, if not more popular, in the United States (and the UK), than with its native Hong Kong audience who perhaps saw it as just another heroic bloodshed picture. It was commercially successful in HK, but I think it did much more to woo (sorry) western audiences and wake up Hollywood to the amazing work of its writer/director. Of course, John Woo eventually did find a new parallel career working on American films as well as Hong Kong productions. Including a 2024 gender-swapped remake. 

Long unavailable in the West due to corporate mergers and licensing issues, now THE KILLER is not only widely available again, but has been remastered from the surviving negative. It looks and sounds stunning in 4K. 

A year ago I was lucky enough to be hired to produce new artwork for the long awaited "resurrection" of this beloved action film. I often pinch myself that this is really happening. In the year 2025. The irony is not lost on me. I'm doing hand drawn artwork (already replaced by AI) for a physical media release (already replaced by streaming) of an old celluloid film (already replaced by digital) of a story (already replaced by a remake). One could argue that the medium of the 90-minute film has itself been replaced in popularity by YouTube or TikToks or whatever. But let's not even go there.

As I've probably said before... this job combines my love of art, marketing and cinema, so I'll happily ride that train to the end of the line doing promotional art for films. 

 Below is the result.     

Alas, there once was a time when I would routinely drive over an hour to another city to see a film, weekly, by myself usually. But now, I haven't even been to a movie theatre in six and a half years. Times change. And people do too. It's so much easier today to see these foreign films, and movies in general, from the relative comfort of my home. And the cost versus quality is about the same. Physical media on a modern television keeps improving, while the theatre-going experience keeps declining. From lengthy commercials to acrophobia-inducing ticket prices. Given the choice, for the same cost I'd rather own it than see it once. If I tire of the film I can always sell it and get my money back. 

But it's true to say that something is lost amid the convenience. It's not just nostalgia for my youth, although there is some of that. (The power of that can't be underestimated.) I think the ritualistic experience of "going to see a film", much like dropping a stylus on a vinyl record, was something greater than just pressing a button from your couch. It's hard to explain, but, ahh, ... that's a whole other conversation. Don't get me started.  

Anyway.... the bullets and bodies keep flying. Next time. Right here.