Johnnie To

The name of Hong Kong director Johnnie To resonates strongly with fans of hard edged gangster films and cop stories. For years already he has delivered time and time again with some of the most vivid, gritty and viscerally charged films which populate the genre. His more recent output has occasionally diverged from the action dramas he built his name on, mainly with 2008’s cape flick Sparrow and 2011’s Don’t Go Breaking my Heart with which he branched out into romantic comedy.

Drug War begins on an impromptu note: a man foaming at the mouth and barely in control of his vehicle thunderously crashes into a local restaurant after fleeing from a drug house. This is followed by a highway sting where a few low level drug traffickers are caught; one man exchanges furious obscenities with his police captor, which are immediately closed off with a response of “I didn’t betray you; I busted you.” Drug War succeeds in never backing off this initial thrust and heightened interplay. The story of cops and criminals predates most, but master director Johnnie To’s latest plays out like an innovative trailblazer and modern spectacle all at once.

Motorway Written by Joey O’Bryan Directed by Cheang Pou-soi Hong Kong, 2012 Hong Kong director Johnnie To isn’t just prolific; he’s a brand unto himself. To’s IMDB entry lists 55 movies that he’s directed, but he’s also a powerful producer of 67 other films and television projects. The work he produces has a great deal …

Life Without Principle Written by Kin-Yee Au, Ka-kit Cheung, Ben Wong, Nai-Hoi Yau and Tin-Shing Yip Directed by Johnnie To Hong Kong, 2011 Just one of the ever-prolific Johnnie To’s latest efforts, Life Without Principle weaves together a triumvirate of stories, each concerned with the effects of the current global economic crisis. Its English title …