Part 1.2: John Woo? Me?

Imagine Amy, my roommate, staring at me in awe. She must have thought that Chinese Politics finally got the worst of me. Thankfully, as much as I would like to shout out to the world, I swallowed it. But you must believe me when I said I shouted it out- at least in my mind. John Woo was definitely my goal. I thought of writing about the many reasons why I can’t be John Woo. See that insecurity in me? That would totally defeat the purpose of my articles and we can all have an early sleep instead of staying up writing about passions in life. Instead, I will write about why I want to be John Woo. Let me start by making a list.

Firstly, John Woo is a pioneer. The first movie that comes to my mind when I think of this is “A Better Tomorrow”. He made gun play look good when Hong Kong was going to cinemas for comedy and martial arts only. Thus, he helped start the gangster genre that is an ever so popular theme today. Furthermore, his gun scenes are not used merely as an action scene. It is used to advance the plot as serious dialogue usually happens during the scene. In my opinion, when it comes to gun scenes, no one in Asian cinema does it better than John Woo.

Secondly, John Woo is a bridge. He introduced Chinese values to the Western audience through depiction of his characters. Loyalty to friends or 义气is a constant attribute of his protagonist. Many of a time, the protagonist is willing to give up his life for a friend. Well, this theme is largely unheard of in Western cinema. John Woo garnered enough interest in the West that his earlier works are subbed and available for viewing.

Thirdly, John Woo is versatile. He can do different genres. To date, he has done comedy, action, martial arts, periodic, war, and love. His also plans to do animations and musicals. John Woo also started out as a scriptwriter before going into directing.

While I’m not out to emulate his style, I would definitely like those qualities that I listed above. Besides, I would totally like to see myself in his place. John Woo is one of the most respected and influential director in Asian cinema. Being in such an influential position opens the door to a lot of opportunities. And by this I mean opportunities to do lots of different projects which will advance God’s Kingdom culture here on earth.

So now you know why I want to be John Woo. Armed with this reemerged passion, for once, I decided to do something about it. I approached one of my “uncle” in church who was working in the industry and told him about it. I was also thick skinned enough to ask for a summer internship to experience the industry first hand. NO! I did not end up in TVB. But there I was, sitting in the office one of the premier production house in Malaysia!