"Do you believe in God?"

- "Never seen in face"

Directed by John Woo, with Chow Yun-Fat, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh, Chu Kong, Tsang Kong

(Hong Kong, 1989, col., 110')

A killer, Jeffrey, interpreted by an unsuperable Chow Yun Fat, feels remorse because he has blinded a singer (Sally Yeh) during an action. Regreted, he decides to take care of her, without telling her about his violent life. But, on his footsteps, there are some Mafia's Killers who have decided to kill him. Helped by the policeman Lee Yong (Danny Lee), the unforgettable final battle  will take place inside a church.

Have written:

" The swan's sing of heroism, friendship and sense of honour: Woo accepts until the end noir and melodrama's rules, but  he picks out  the most pessimistic solutions and do not offers any way of escape or redemption. Genre's cinema is quickly surpassed, characters are in the round, full of contradictions and nuances but, at the same time, Woo runs over the audience with a sense of action and rhythmic that   have made epoch. Violence, as hundreds told, is put on scene yes as a ballet but it has also a bodily quality that you would search invane in American's movie. Mythical  is the final in Peckinpah's style, that  evokes and twists "Duel in the Sun". A Masterpiece up to its fame " (free translation from: Paolo Mereghetti, Dizionario dei Film, 1998 Baldini e Castoldi)

" Among so many news, "The Killer" shows  an   unmistakable characteristic of Woo's lexicon, later on literally  sacked by the whole cinema world. It is the so called "Mexican stand off", that is the moment where the actors speak to each other while  pointing at one centimeters from each one face, their respective guns. The imitators are so many: it can be said that in every modern action movie, a "Mexican stand off" never lacks (free translation from: Maurizio Colombo, Almanacco del giallo di Nick Raider, 1998, Sergio Bonelli editore).

"In substance John Woo' movie is three things. The first, foundamental: it is the masterpiece of  Hong Kong's action movie. The second, in which take place  more personal views, concerns the formal aspect: "The Killer" is a sort of geometrical ballet around the aesthetics of excess, starting from the numbers of   bullets ... The third is a general replacement of the perspective axis, that  makes unique John Woo's masterpiece: among a cinematography of clonations, as the Hong Kong ones, his films are a rare and well done example of quotation's cinema... (free translation from: Bruno Vecchi, tratto dall'opuscolo all'interno della videocassetta di The killer, edito da L'U multimedia - L'Unita cult n. 16)

The movie was distributed in Italy by "U multimedia" in the home video collection "Gli Introvabili" number 16: besides a beautiful package,  it contains a very interesting booklet written by  Bruno Vecchi, where it can be found not only a movie's crticism, but also history, cinematographycal influences and reflections about actors and music related by Woo himself.

A Better Tomorrow - A Better Tomorrow II - The Killer - Hard Boiled - Hard target - Broken Arrow - Face/Off - Mission Impossible II - Filmography - Woo on the web