Posted at 7:00 a.m.
“It will be an intimate conversation, as if I were talking to a friend, indicates the filmmaker, joined in Los Angeles. I will share my experience on my films, my journey. I don’t see myself as a master. I am a simple director like so many others. »
It’s that he is modest, the man who changed action cinema forever, elevating this genre to make art. He practically becomes an opera in front of his camera, filling the screen with stylized choreography, violent poetic shootouts where everyone is at gunpoint and breathtaking slow motions. His influence was particularly felt on the works of Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Johnnie To and even the musical group Wu-Tang Clan, giving ammunition to Matrix, John Wick and others The Raid to make them even more spectacular.
There are people in Hollywood and elsewhere who like my films so much that they have started to imitate my style. I still can not believe it.
John Woo
Asked what he thinks of contemporary action movies like superhero feature films and the franchise Fast & Furious who regularly smash the box office, John Woo, who began his career with the legendary production house Shaw Brothers, does not hide his disinterest.
“I don’t pay attention to all that,” he laughs. To be honest, I don’t watch them. I feel like action movies now only think about fantasy and they forget about the characters. Before, this type of production could give us opportunities to reflect. This is unfortunately no longer the case today. Filmmakers like Akira Kurosawa favored humanity in action. That’s always what I’ve tried to do. It’s hard to find a really good action movie these days. »
Always further
Surfing on the Hong Kong New Wave, John Woo landed with his share of classics like A Better Tomorrow, The Killer and Hard Boiled at a time – the mid-1980s and early 1990s – when Asian cinema was still marginalized. It helped it to democratize and expand its popularity with Western audiences.
“I’m not trying to be humble, but I also learned a lot from the West, only in the cinema that I was able to see when I was younger, concedes the creator. I didn’t know that my films could have such an impact. I only did what I wanted to do, following my instincts, in complete freedom, without thinking of pleasing… Over the years, I made lots of friends all over the planet, who love my work and who make me feel less alone. »
This allowed him to make a career in the United States and to make many remarkable films, including the second episode of Impossible mission. His masterpiece in the English language, however, remains Front/Off, in which John Travolta and Nicolas Cage swap faces. The opus that has become a cult celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.e anniversary and it will be screened at Fantasia this Sunday.
“I had so much fun on this film! recalls the 76-year-old director. I had the complete confidence of the studio. I could do whatever I wanted, which is very rare for a huge American production. I had the latitude to modify the scenario, to privilege the human aspects. Then there were these two big stars who put on some of their best performances. I have such fond memories of that time. »
Since then, time has passed under the bridge, projects have followed one another and the last action film samurai has not said his last word. He is planning his return to Hollywood next year with silent nighta story without dialogue.
“All I want is to shoot in different countries, not just China or the United States,” he says. Maybe in the future, I will be able to direct a film in Montreal. The city is so beautiful and for sure I would put the snow to good use. It would be visually superb to see that in the cinema… Especially since I’ve always wanted to make a film in French, perhaps in line with those of Jean-Pierre Melville. I hope it will materialize one day. »
John Woo is giving a masterclass this Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Museum cinema. FREE ENTRANCE.
Front/Off is presented on July 17 at 4 p.m., at the Salle J. A. De Sève.