Tribune staff reporter Robert K. Elder’s new book, “John Woo: Interviews,” has recently been released by the University Press of Mississippi.
Woo started as a director of comedies and kung fu films in Hong Kong during the 1970s, but rose from an auteur of “bullet ballets” (“The Killer,” “Hard Boiled”) to Hollywood action films such as “Broken Arrow,” “Face/Off” and “Mission: Impossible 2.”
Below, in an excerpt from a recent appearance at the Gene Siskel Film Center, the director talks about his influences, his aversion to guns and his dream of directing a musical.
Q. When you were very young, is it true that you actually saw a lot of American movies. As a child you went to the movies a lot, yes?
A. Yes, I’ve seen a lot of great American films like the “Wizard of Oz,” a lot of westerns, cartoons, musicals. And I’m a big fan of musicals. “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” was my favorite. Those are my favorites. And I have also seen a lot of [films by] John Ford, Howard Hawks and Alfred Hitchcock and Sam Fuller. I was also a big fan of Sam Peckinpah. Stanley Kubrick was my idol; [there were] so many.
Q. I think a lot of people are surprised to find out you directed a number of comedies, that you were well known in China for your humor and your comedies. Do you think you might do that again?
A. I wish. I’m big fan of Jerry Lewis. He was my idol. I really want to make a movie like Jerry Lewis . . . I also love Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers and all those great actors. Actually I had made seven or eight comedies in Hong Kong. Some of them were pretty crazy; I really love a couple of them.
Q. We hear that you are going to direct a musical?
A. Yeah, I love musicals, I must say. I got great influence from musicals, as I’m sure a lot of people see in most of my action sequences. Sometimes pretty much it looks like a dance. Actually, I’ve never learned any martial arts, and I have never fired a real gun in my life.
Q. Never, never?
A. And I have never driven a car. So, I just [capture] the musical rhythm and the beauty of action and the beauty of body movement. I use that musical theory to shoot action sequences. I have a project that I [have] wanted to do for so many years. It’s an action musical. It’s not really a musical; it just has a lot of dancing. It’s a gangster film. It’s about a gangster who’s a tough guy but he’s [also] a great dancer. I always wanted to make a movie with a combination of dancing and action. Action pretty much looks like a dance, and dance pretty much looks like action. Also, it’s a love story. In real life, the guy was in love with two women and also that’s a first time for me. I have never been good at love stories in my life.
Q. You were religious as a child, yes, John? As much violence as there is in your movies, there’s also a great sense of right and wrong in them. It’s not random. What’s going on there — can you tell us? Do you mind talking about when you were a child?
A. Well, when I was raised in a slum, we were living in a very bad neighborhood. In our area there were a lot of drug dealers, prostitutes, gamblers and gangs. Almost every day I had to deal with a gang, but fortunately I had very strong parents. They led me to go to the right way, telling me what’s right and what’s wrong.
I also had help from the church. Whenever I got beat up by a gang, I used to run into the church to talk with the priest, and they comforted me and tried to protect me, so I was so grateful. But in the meantime, I learned something: even those people . . . so [few] care about them.
Q. There’s a lot of male bonding going on in your films, and I’m wondering if this is autobiographical?
A. I think there’s some. I will say that most of mymovies are about friendship. I think that’s why [there is] so much interesting in male-bonding movies. I love friendship, and I have so much I appreciation of all my friends. And friendships are very important in my life. [So when] I made “A Better Tomorrow,” “The Killer” and especially “Bullet in the Head,” there was a very strong friendship theme. But I’m also very interested in making a love story. I also want to make a real heroic female hero movie.
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Q. I think it’s funny that you get criticized for your violence. I believe, to me, it’s not violence because it’s in the service of something else. I never feel like I’m in danger. When I watch the movie, I always feel like it’s part of the story or it’s so choreographed, but I always feel it’s almost like painting or music. Is that important to you that it should feel that way?
A. I think it’s important. I like to make everything romantic. I also think, of course, I’m not a violent person. I hate violence. Actually, I also hate war. I hate to see people killing each other; I just do it in movies.
The other thing is that I never try to glorify the violence. I try to never use the violence to please the audience. I like to use the action to send a message or sometimes to try to find meaning from the action sequence. If the fight was about love or revenge, it all has a different kind of treatment. . . . I would like to use the action in the most romantic way. If the scene was about sacrifice — a man sacrificed himself for his friend or his country — I would like to use a very romantic way to do that.
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Elder will sign copies of his book “John Woo: Interviews” Friday at the Gene Siskel Film Center from 6:30-8 p.m., followed by a screening of Woo’s “The Killer.” The reception is free, though tickets ($9, $7 students) are required for the movie. Visit www.johnwoointerviews.com for more information.