Four action masterpieces from the legendary Hong Kong director John Woo are presented on ultra-rare 35mm prints, in a program exclusive to the Australian Cinémathèque.

Few filmmakers have been as influential on the genre of action cinema as Hong Kong filmmaker John Woo. Renowned for his ‘heroic bloodshed’ films – potent blends of high operatic drama and hyper-stylised gunplay – Woo integrated elements of wuxia cinema and religious iconography in his redefinition of the form. From his breakthrough A Better Tomorrow 1986 to the balletic violence of The Killer 1989, as well as the bloody melodrama of Bullet in the Head 1990 and the breathtaking transcendence of Hard Boiled 1992, Woo reached new levels of cinematic invention that inspired countless subsequent filmmakers, from Quentin Tarantino to the Wachowskis.

Tied up in legal limbo, many of the films from his key Hong Kong years have not been available to screen for many years. After the recent acquisition of the Golden Princess studio catalogue, these titles are finally re-emerging for audiences to appreciate once again. While they have recently received new digital restorations, this program screens each film from a unique 35mm print, showcasing Woo’s big screen visions in a way that can only be experienced in cinema.

John Woo Bullet Ballets
21 – 29 November 2025
Gallery of Modern Art, Cinema A, Brisbane
www.qagoma.qld.gov.au

With John Woo’s name attached to Silent Night as director, things were looking good and other than the occasional overabundance of doves his sentimentality usually runs red. Not Santa Red either. With Joel Kinnaman (Suicide Squad and For All Mankind) named as lead actor, things also looked good in the action stakes.

Kinnaman plays Godlock a man so tormented by horrendous events in his past that when he seeks revenge on the perpetrators, you know he is going to be all in. With Woo helping to paint the canvas behind him things will certainly be over the top and should be far from route holiday histrionics. In the action stakes things live up to expectations, surprise-wise not so much.

The storyline is extremely predictable and features few surprises but this does little to stifle the fun. It’s like the relative that always brings sub-par dishes to family affairs but never lets you down in regards to fluids that are inebriant. The connection to that major of major holiday is tenuous at best and that is just the way we like them around here.
Rob Hudson
www.rialtodistribution.com