Heroic Bloodshed : A tribute to John Woo

FESTIVAL

Heroic Bloodshed : A tribute to John Woo
Offscreen Film Festival

This year, Offscreen pays tribute to Hong Kong maestro John Woo, who redefined the action genre in the late 1980s with his highly stylized gunplay, signature slow-motion dives, and plots of operatic grandeur.

Born in Guangzhou, China, in 1946, John Woo moved to Hong Kong in the late 1960s to begin his career as an assistant director at the Shaw Brothers studios. During this formative period, he absorbed the subversive spirit of the French New Wave; his later work would be profoundly influenced by filmmakers such as Sam Peckinpah, Jean-Pierre Melville, and Akira Kurosawa. By the mid-1980s, his action films gained increasing recognition as they became more visceral and blood-soaked. His narratives are populated by anti-heroes operating within the underworld of modern Hong Kong, yet guided by the chivalric codes of traditional Chinese genre fiction.

Woo’s stylistic signature is defined by meticulously choreographed stunt ballets and a frantic tempo, set against a backdrop of intense emotional bonds between his male protagonists. The result is a compelling fusion of action and sentiment that propelled the charismatic Chow Yun-Fat to international superstardom. Often categorized as "heroic bloodshed" by his admirers, Woo’s films have left an indelible mark on Hollywood action cinema, inspiring a vast array of works, from the films of Quentin Tarantino to the Matrix and John Wick series.

Offscreen honors this visionary director with a program featuring four newly restored versions of his Hong Kong classics, including The Killer and Bullet in the Head. To accompany a selection of his early Hollywood ventures, the program will also feature a lecture by Asian cinema expert Julien Sévéon.

Tuesday 17.03 21:00 LEDOUX Cart

Heroic Bloodshed : A tribute to John Woo : Offscreen Film Festival
Lectures, introductions, workshops...

A Better Tomorrow
Ying huang boon sik

John Woo, Hong Kong 1986 ⁄ Ti Lung, Chow Yun-Fat, Leslie Cheung ⁄ color ⁄ 95' ⁄ ST - OND: EN

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Wednesday 18.03 19:00 LEDOUX Cart

Heroic Bloodshed : A tribute to John Woo : Offscreen Film Festival
Lectures, introductions, workshops...

A Better Tomorrow II
Ying huang boon sik II

John Woo, Hong Kong 1987 ⁄ Ti Lung, Chow Yun-Fat, Leslie Cheung ⁄ color ⁄ 105' ⁄ ST - OND: EN

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Thursday 19.03 19:00 LEDOUX Cart

Lectures, introductions, workshops...
Heroic Bloodshed : A tribute to John Woo : Offscreen Film Festival

LECTURE

Le cinéma de John Woo

Julien Sévéon ⁄ Offscreen Film Festival ⁄ FR ⁄ 60 ⁄ FREE ADMISSION

Découvrez l’univers unique de John Woo, où la violence se transforme en ballet et les héros en tragédiens modernes. Julien Sévéon vous présente l’esthétique visuelle révolutionnaire par laquelle le réalisateur aborde les thèmes qui lui sont chers : l’honneur et la rédemption. De The Killer à Face⁄Off, observez comment Woo a marqué l’histoire du cinéma.

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