John Woo on his return to theaters in the United States, new project on Columbia University donor Dean Lung and the remake of “The Killer”

Talk to Term Fresh off the Fantasia Film Festival (Montreal, July 14-August 3), where he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award, Hong Kong director John Woo revealed the details of his recent return to American cinema: feature films. silent night and Peacock’s reboot of his iconic 1989 action thriller The murderer – as well as a future human passion project that helped found Columbia University’s Department of East Asian Languages ​​and Cultures.

wow full silent nightof Thunder Road and Capstone Studios in Mexico in May. The film stars Joel Kinnaman as a father on a mission to avenge the death of his young son in gang violence. Also in the cast are Kid Cudi, Harold Torres and Catalina Sandino Moreno. NBCUniversal Peacock streaming service recently announced a new English version of Woo The murderer As part of his first original films.

Fantasia presents the Wu classic from 1992 hardOne of the films that helped blow Hong Kong action cinema into the international stratosphere, as well as on off, starring Nicolas Cage and John Travolta, one of the few films he directed in Hollywood after his transition in the mid-1990s (with difficult goal, a broken arrow Y Mission: Impossible II). He returned to Asia in the mid-2000s, when mainland China’s nascent film industry was emerging for the first time, where he directed a two-part historical epic. red rock Y crossingAlso a Japanese crime thriller. Huntingpremiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2017.

Q: You seem to have had a lot of projects under development in Asia a few years ago. Why did you decide to go back to the United States to shoot the film?

JW: There were some songs I wanted to do in China, but it was hard to get funding and I couldn’t find anything else I wanted to do. when I got the script silent night From Thunder Road, I thought it was truly unique and I loved it. What attracted me is that the script has no dialogue, the whole film is completely visual, you use visuals, sounds and music to tell the story, so it’s something new to me. If I had stayed in China, I would probably have done the same old thing again, another war movie or action movie, so even though this movie has a pretty small budget and tight schedule, it was fine for me. I also worked with a wonderful actor on Joel Kinnaman.

Q: Where are you with the new version of The Killer?

JW: At first we tried to hire another director to direct it, but we couldn’t find anyone, so I went there. Maybe we shouldn’t call it that The murdererBecause we are creating a very different version of the main character. [an assassin played by Chow Yun-fat in the original] A woman will play. We are now launching. We were talking to Lupita Nyong’o but she has to make it, so we’re looking for someone else. the story is similar The murdererBut we can say that this is more a story of friendship than a love story.

Q: What was the most difficult project in China for you?

JW: One theme was about flying tigers. [a U.S. volunteer group working with the China Air Force in the Second World War], a high-budget Hollywood-style action film. But it was a difficult film, we had to build old flying tiger airplanes and use a lot of visual effects, so it was difficult to finance them. I would have the same budget as Michael Bay count port.

Q: Do you have contacts with the Hong Kong film industry? What do you think about the current state of Hong Kong cinema?

JW: I haven’t lived in Hong Kong for a few years because I live in Los Angeles, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care. [the Hong Kong and Chinese film industries]. I think they need to make some changes, especially in Hong Kong, because it’s creatively limiting itself. We need to create more new stories because we have too many robbery movies and some little lifestyle drama, so we need to think about what changes we can make because otherwise the market will get smaller and smaller. Then, of course, the big problem is that they need more money, more investment in Hong Kong films, including investment from mainland China.

Q: After such a long hiatus from work in North America, what was it like shooting in the US and Mexico?

JW: People are always the same, I still have the same respect and the whole team worked well together. I wish I could shoot all my films in different countries. I have a mission to learn from new people, learn from other cultures and also make a film in Hollywood that is like a bridge; We bring the culture of China and the culture of the West and try to combine them.

There are some stories I’m working on. One is based on the true story of Dean Long, a Chinese boy who worked as a servant in New York in the 1870s, and his relationship with his master. He donated all of his savings to Columbia University so that he could organize a Chinese language and culture course. He then also convinced his teacher to donate. They still have a picture of him on display at Columbia and the camp is still there. Hopefully, stories like this will increase understanding on both sides. We have funding, a Chinese American businessman is investing and a writer has been hired.

Q: How do you find an audience for Fantasia?

JW: It’s my first time in Montreal and the fans support me a lot. I just found out that this festival started with showing some of my Hong Kong films, then they got a lot of support and started growing the festival, so I’m proud to be part of their family. But there are many other great Hong Kong films and I hope they start appearing all over the world as well.