Hanging on the Vitaphone

Lisl Ponger

Happy 79th, Lisl Ponger.

A Better Tomorrow was released in Hong Kong on 2 August 1986.

John Woo had directed a number of kung fu films and comedies since 1974, but had become frustrated with the material and his lack of creative control. Woo convinced the studio to allow him to make his own film. Heavily inspired by The Story of a Discharged Prisoner (1967) - Woo even borrowed the film's title (in Chinese they are the same) and The Brothers (1979), along with the work of Jean-Pierre Melville, Woo (along with Chan Hing-ka and Leung Suk-wah) wrote the screenplay with a desire to reflect modern day Hong Kong.

Woo's choice of casting Chow Yun-Fat was met with resistance by the studio. While Chow was a popular TV star, his films were not successful. Woo thought that the actor exemplified his idea of the "a modern knight." The enormously popular actor/singer Leslie Cheung was cast to convince the studio that the film had audience appeal. The studio was unconvinced - comedies, not crime films, were popular at the box office, and they had little enthusiasm for A Better Tomorrow.

Fanny och Alexander (Fanny and Alexander) | Ingmar Bergman | 1982

"What a day. You ever seen such a glorious day?"

The Swimmer (1968)