A Better Tomorrow (英雄本色)
As the
saying goes, if you don't know this movie, then you don't know Hong Kong
cinema. A Better Tomorrow is a little gangster film that became nothing
less than a cultural relic - a multiple award winning, box-office smashing tour-de-force
from director John Woo and producer Tsui Hark that single-handedly transformed
Hong Kong cinema forever. Before
Quentin Tarantino introduced the world to Vincent Vega, Jules Winfield, and Reservoir
Dogs, A Better Tomorrow series played an enormous role in inspiring
his road to fame. In fact, Tarantino often pays tribute to A
Better Tomorrow with subtle references in his films such as Reservoir
Dogs and Pulp Fiction.
As is
often the case in film history, an accomplished director and a talented actor
will become friends and team up for a variety of pictures, thrilling moviegoers
in film after film. John Ford and John Wayne, Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro
Mifune, and Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro are all good examples. A
Better Tomorrow adds to that illustrious list, boasting yet another
inspired duo - director John Woo and star Chow Yun-Fat. At the bring of a career collapse and
heading, John Woo, found a career-sagging Chow Yun-fat and Ti Lung, who got a
similar John Travolta-style career boost, in creating A Better
Tomorrow. But it was Chow Yun-Fat
who ultimately benefitted the most from the collaboration as he ascended from
mere dramatic actor to a certifiable icon. This film also was
a personal triumph for a number of the participants. Indeed, John Woo had spent the last few years in a career free
fall and had begun to drink quite heavily.
Frustrated and bietter that he was not getting the opportunity to direct
the kind of films that he wanted to, Woo for years had been pitching to make
heroic gangster films - like the old sword fighting films except with guns. One
of his very favorite films is the French film Le Samourai - about a hitman -
and though this influence is even more pronounced in The Killer, the mood is
evident here as well. As a small homage, Chow wears sunglasses that were Alain
Delon's (star in Le Samourai) brand. Tsui Hark had confidence in Woo's ability
and gave him this opportunity. Chow Yun Fat, though successful in TV, was
thought of as a light comedian and romantic star. Woo though thought Chow was
perfect for this role - and fought very hard to get him over the money men's
objections. Ti Lung was of course a huge star in the Shaw kung fu films, but
with the loss of popularity of those films, he had fallen on hard times. This
film revitalized everyone’s career and the rest is, of course, history.
The plot
of this 1986 film centers on the lives of HK gangsters Ho (Ti Lung) and Mark
(Chow Yun-Fat), two triads living the highlife due to their involvement in a
counterfeiting scheme. Ho's younger sibling Kit (Leslie Cheung) adores his
elder brother, but before long the two become separated by their professions.
While Ho's a slick crook, Kit's quite the opposite: a police academy hopeful
with something to prove. Despite his criminal ties, Ho vows to walk the
straight and narrow for Kit's sake, but is instead double-crossed on that
proverbial "last job" and sent to prison. Adding insult to injury, Ho
and Kit are horrified to find that a hitman has murdered their father due to
Ho's shady connections, thereby creating a significant rift between the
formerly close brothers. And though super-cool gangster Mark avenges his
imprisoned comrade in a fantastic guns-a-blazin' revenge sequence, the deed
comes at a price - Mark's leg is crippled by an errant bullet.
Time
passes, but old wounds do not heal. With his chances for promotion shot
straight to hell due to his brother's checkered past, Kit is a cop on a mission
with a huge chip on his shoulder. In addition, poor Mark has fallen from grace
in the organization becoming more or less a janitor due to his hobbling injury.
On the other hand, Ho finds some luck in his life by getting a job driving a
taxicab for a boss (Kenneth Tsang) friendly to ex-cons. But unfortunately, it
would seem that Ho's relationship with Kit is irreparable. Even worse, former
lackey Shing (Waise Lee) has become a crime boss in Ho's absence and has taken
umbrage with Ho's adamant desire to stay honest. Angry at the snub, Shing goes
after Ho's loved ones: Kit gets plugged (he survives) and Mark is beaten half
to death. In the end, the trio form an uneasy alliance, fulfilling an earlier
philosophical musing by world weary Mark. When questioned about the existence
of God, Mark responds, "Yes, I'm one, you're one. A god is someone who
controls his destiny." And with guns in the hand, they do.
What is
perhaps most noticeable about the film are its principal themes of friendship
and honor within modern society. In A Better Tomorrow, we encounter
characters motivated not by cynicism and self-interest, but by love and mutual
respect - a prototype of sorts for future films in the "heroic
bloodshed" genre. Devoid of much
of the overdone "Woo-isms" that populate the director's later films
(and have actually become groan-inducing clichés), A Better Tomorrow is
a polished, resonant piece of HK filmmaking and an absolute genre essential.
The
sequel A Better Tomorrow 2 follows Ho as he is freed from prison in
return for his services of infiltrating the inner circle of suspected criminal
Lung (Dean Shek). Ho agrees to the deal, but only to protect Kit, who is
romancing Lung's cutesy daughter Peggy in an effort to get closer to the big
man. Well, somewhere in the process Peggy ends up dead and Lung gets set up for
the murder of a rival triad. With the help of Ho, the innocent Lung retreats to
America where, after experiencing yet another traumatic bloodbath, he becomes tragically insane.
Enter
Chow Yun-Fat as Ken, Chinese restaurateur and twin brother of the deceased
Mark, who nurses the helpless Lung back to health. The two new friends finally
return to Hong Kong, reuniting with Ho and Kit to take down the bad guys. But
the fearsome foursome lasts only so long. Tragedy strikes yet again, forcing
the remaining members to go after the new crime boss on their own. But don't
worry, they have guns - lots and lots of guns. Let the carnage begin.
A Better Tomorrow 2 has its moments
(Chow Yun-Fat mocking his Mark persona for one, the ridiculously intense
"Eat the rice!" scene is another), but overall the film is pretty
stale when compared to Woo's other signature films. But, while Hard Boiled
and The Killer might be better flicks, neither can match the pure
aesthetic coolness of A Better Tomorrow 2's exhilarating guns-a-blazin'
finale. It helped define the triad-cop
HK genre. The most memorable scene is
indeed when Mark escapes an assassination attempt by rolling down the stairs on
his back while gripping onto his two pistols as he shoots away at the assassins. Matched with the rhythms of the soundtrack
in the background as Mark falls in slowmotion produces a breathtakingly stunningly
elegant and exquisite ambience that is unforgettable and almost ineffably
poignant.