Share:  Viewing problems? View Cinemail online Exhibitions Programs & Events Cinema Members Shop Blog TV In this fortnight's screenings, 'Action, Hong Kong Style' showcases films by Johnnie To, recognised internationally as one of the most singular voices in the action genre today. Johnnie To came to attention with The Mission 1999, Election 2005 and Election 2 2006, tightly constructed crime films that riff on the action styles developed by John Woo but resist sentimentality or moralising. The program also explores the kung-fu comedy that emerged in the late 1970s, particularly associated with the demythologisation of the action hero through parodies of martial virtue and loyalty. Jackie Chan's exhilarating physical slapstick was central to this development; his breakthrough film was Snake in the Eagle's Shadow 1978. Don't miss the rare screening of Sammo Hung's classic Pedicab Driver 1989 and veteran director Lau Kar-leung's masterfully blended action–comedy Dirty Ho 1979. FILM SCREENINGS: 11–20 OCTOBER 2013 A Hero Never Dies 1998 MA15+ DIRECTOR: Johnnie To Kei-fung PROGRAM:  Action, Hong Kong Style WHEN:  Fri 11 Oct 6.00pm (86 mins) WHERE:  Cinema A, GOMA 'An unlikely alliance between rival assassins forms the basis for this uncharacteristically baroque shoot-em-up by director To. A Hero Never Dies both parodies and revels in the hard-boiled operatics of Hong Kong's previous action master, John Woo (especially A Better Tomorrow).' The Cinémathèque, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Read more The Mission 1999 Ages 18+ DIRECTOR: Johnnie To Kei-fung PROGRAM:  Action, Hong Kong Style WHEN:  Fri 11 Oct 8.00pm (81 mins) WHERE:  Cinema A, GOMA 'The Mission follows a motley assortment of gunmen — an ice-cold hairdresser, a hard-wired bartender, a pimp, “the rookie” and “the veteran” — quickly assembled to keep a triad leader alive. Leaving the pyrotechnics aside, the film concentrates on the downtime between the bullets, when the men kill time, make jokes, and bond.' Jason Sanders, Pacific Film Archive. Read more Bullet in the Head 1990 Ages 18+ DIRECTOR:  John Woo PROGRAM:  Action, Hong Kong Style WHEN:  Sat 12 Oct 1.00pm (136 mins) WHERE:  Cinema A, GOMA A 35mm film print from John Woo's personal collection. 'Hailed by many as Woo's finest and most personal film, Bullet in the Head is a thrillingly beautiful and searingly cathartic drama of three friends (Tony Leung, Jacky Cheung and Waise Lee) in 1967 Hong Kong, who are forced to flee after becoming embroiled in a gang vendetta. Woo charts their harrowing escape into the Vietnam inferno, as the trio becomes a target for black marketeers and the Vietcong, experiences that will tear apart their friendship.' American Cinémathèque. Read more Hard Boiled 1992 Ages 18+ DIRECTOR: John Woo PROGRAM:  Action, Hong Kong Style WHEN:  Sat 12 Oct 3.30pm (128 mins) WHERE:  Cinema A, GOMA A 35mm film print from Hong Kong presented with live English subtitling 'Violence as poetry, rendered by a master — brilliant and passionate, John Woo's Hard Boiled tells the story of a jaded detective nicknamed “Tequila” (Chow Yun-fat). Woo's dizzying odyssey through the world of Hong Kong triads, undercover agents and frenzied police raids culminates unforgettably in the breathless hospital sequence. More than a cops-and-bad-guys story, Hard Boiled continually startles with its originality and dark humour.' UCLA International Institute. Read more Election 2005 MA15+ DIRECTOR: Johnnie To Kei-fung PROGRAM:  Action, Hong Kong Style WHEN:  Sat 12 Oct 6.00pm (101 mins) WHERE:  Cinema A, GOMA 'The Election films constitute a sprawling crime epic that traces the power plays, betrayals and retributions of high-level gangsters battling to fill the power vacuum left after the leadership of their triad society comes up for grabs. Though the films were shot and released separately, Election 2 2006 is not a sequel to the first film, but the essential tying-up of its many intricate narrative strands, making it imperative to view both films together.' TIFF Cinémathèque. Read more Election 2 2006 MA15+ DIRECTOR: Johnnie To Kei-fung PROGRAM:  Action, Hong Kong Style WHEN:  Sat 12 Oct 8.15pm (101 mins) WHERE:  Cinema A, GOMA 'The Election 2 is an altogether darker and chillier affair, merciless in tone and claustrophobic, which for all its stylishness never romanticises. If Woo's heroes were often noble, sacrificing themselves to a cruel system on behalf of the innocents they loved, in To's movies no-one is innocent, and the social corruption reaches down into the soul.' Andrew O'Hehir, Salon. Read more Throw Down 2004 M DIRECTOR:  Johnnie To Kei-fung PROGRAM:  Action, Hong Kong Style WHEN:  Sun 13 Oct 1.00pm (95 mins) WHERE:  Cinema A, GOMA 'Ex-judo champion Szeto has exiled himself from the frenetic high-powered judo world, until a chance for redemption arrives in the youthful forms of feisty Tony and aspiring singer Mona. Taking the usual gangster milieu and lightening it up, Throw Down is arguably To's most pleasurable, accessible film, a tribute to the kind of old-fashioned storytelling in which tales of outlaws and drifters still have room for redemption, humour and sentiment.' Jason Sanders, Pacific Film Archive. Read more Breaking News 2004 M DIRECTOR: Johnnie To Kei-fung PROGRAM:  Action, Hong Kong Style WHEN:  Sun 13 Oct 3.00pm (90 mins) WHERE:  Cinema A, GOMA 'The film begins with a labyrinthine Touch of Evil-esque opening shot of all hell breaking lose between a group of bank robbers and a special investigations team. The gang of thieves embarrass a police officer on live television during a botched raid, opening up a battle over the airwaves, as well as in the gritty side streets and alleyways of Hong Kong.' Doc Films. Read more The Way of the Dragon 1972 M DIRECTOR: Bruce Lee Siu-lung PROGRAM:  Action, Hong Kong Style WHEN:  Wed 16 Oct 6.00pm (100 mins) WHERE:  Cinema A, GOMA 'The Way of the Dragon is the only film directed and written by Lee and expands on the themes of his earlier kung-fu flicks, such as the code of humility and a sense of national pride tinted with anger. Lee takes the action to Italy, the story culminating in a showdown staged at the Colosseum, its iconic, symbolic visage adding a mythic dimension.' Hong Kong Film Archive. Read more Enter the Dragon 1973 MA15+ DIRECTOR: Robert Clouse PROGRAM:  Action, Hong Kong Style WHEN:  Wed 16 Oct 8.00pm (99 mins) WHERE:  Cinema A, GOMA 'In Enter the Dragon Bruce Lee plays a martial arts expert seeking revenge on the gang that killed his sister. To take down the gang's kung-fu-obsessed kingpin, Lee enters a gruelling martial arts tournament. With its mixture of spectacular action, fierce female co-stars and exotic locations, the film became a huge success.' Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Read more Snake in the Eagle's Shadow 1978 Ages 15+ DIRECTOR:  Yuen Woo-ping PROGRAM:  Action, Hong Kong Style WHEN:  Fri 18 Oct 6.00pm (98 mins) WHERE:  Cinema A, GOMA 'Jackie Chan teamed with director Yuen Woo-ping for this path-breaking kung-fu comedy about a bullied young man working as a janitor at a martial arts school, who learns to fight back against his tormentors using a kung fu technique known as “Snake's Fist”. The film became Chan's first box-office hit, and the first movie to introduce the world to his innovative brand of action–comedy.' Film Society Lincoln Center. Read more Drunken Master 1978 M DIRECTOR: Yuen Woo-ping PROGRAM:  Action, Hong Kong Style WHEN:  Fri 18 Oct 8.15pm (111 mins) WHERE:  Cinema A, GOMA 'Drunken Master's immense popularity consolidated Jackie Chan's superstardom. The film is one of the first films to depict the legendary martial artist Wong Fei-hung in his youth. Director Yuen Woo-ping, with his mastery of storytelling and action choreography, anchors the newly emerging subgenre of kung-fu comedy and reflects kung-fu cinema's state of intoxicated ecstasy in his spirited staging of the drunken fist.' Hong Kong Film Archive. Read more Pedicab Driver 1989 M DIRECTOR: Sammo Hung Kam-bo PROGRAM:  Action, Hong Kong Style WHEN:  Sat 19 Oct 1.00pm (95 mins) WHERE:  Cinema A, GOMA 'This fine example of 1980s Hong Kong action cinema has new elements such as romance and burlesque: heart-warming love stories, fun tricycle chases and spectacular fights. The showdown between Sammo Hung and Lau Kar-leung is particularly memorable.' International Film Festival Rotterdam. Read more Aces Go Places 1982 M DIRECTOR: Sammo Hung Kam-bo PROGRAM:  Action, Hong Kong Style WHEN:  Sat 19 Oct 3.00pm (79 mins) WHERE:  Cinema A, GOMA 'The famous thief, King Kong, has stolen a bag of diamonds from a group of gangsters, and asks his friend Ah Chuen to look after it. After Ah Chuen has hidden the diamonds in a safe place, he is kidnapped by his enemy, Mad Max. While the gangsters send White Glove to find out where the diamonds are, the police set about solving the case and more hilarious twists and turns ensue.' Hong Kong Film Archive. Read more God of Gamblers 1989 M DIRECTOR:  Wong Jing PROGRAM:  Action, Hong Kong Style WHEN:  Sat 19 Oct 6.00pm (126 mins) WHERE:  Cinema A, GOMA 'In Hong Kong's second highest grossing picture of the decade, partly inspired by Rain Man 1988, the great Chow Yun-fat suffers a head trauma and reverts briefly to a childlike state, taking a vacation from high-stakes capitalism. But, alas, nurtured by a young hustler (Andy Lau, with the callow charm of a rising star), he eventually saunters back into the gambling ring.' Hong Kong Film Archive. Read more Kung Fu Hustle 2004 MA 15+ DIRECTOR: Stephen Chow Sing-chi PROGRAM:  Action, Hong Kong Style WHEN:  Sat 19 Oct 8.30pm (99 mins) WHERE:  Cinema A, GOMA 'Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle follows Sing, an aspiring hoodlum with bigger dreams than talent, trying hard to make a name for himself amongst the criminal elite. Much of the humour springs from the exaggeration of action that would be taken perfectly seriously in any other martial arts film, with bodies flying all over the screen.' Sydney Morning Herald. Read more Dirty Ho 1979 PG DIRECTOR: Lau Kar-leung PROGRAM:  Action, Hong Kong Style WHEN:  Sun 20 Oct 1.00pm (103 mins) WHERE:  Cinema A, GOMA 'Fighting without seeming to fight — that's the ingenious premise at the heart of this dazzler by martial arts grandmaster Lau Kar-leung. Gordon Liu plays a prodigal prince targeted for assassination by his elder brother. With the killers disguised as a wine merchant and an antiques dealer, the prince finds himself parrying dangerous kicks and blows while in art appreciation mode.' UCLA Film and Television Archive. Read more My Young Auntie 1981 M DIRECTOR:  Lau Kar-leung PROGRAM:  Action, Hong Kong Style WHEN:  Sun 20 Oct 3.00pm (121 mins) WHERE:  Cinema A, GOMA 'An energetic, anachronistic, wildly inventive, everything-including-the-kitchen-sink action–comedy. What makes My Young Auntie work is the auntie herself, Kara Hui. Not only is she beautiful and graceful but she shows . . . [the] ability to shift from goofy slapstick to grace — remarkable considering teenage Hui was learning martial arts on set in between takes.' Twitch Film. 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