John Woo's Bullet in the Head

Tony Williams

• $17.95s paperback (9789622099685) Add to Cart
• hardcover not available

• Published: July 2009
• Subject Listing: Film Studies, Asian Studies
• Bibliographic information: 144 pp., 5.5 x 7.5 in.
• Territorial rights: North American rights only
• Distributed for: Hong Kong University Press
• Series: The New Hong Kong Cinema Series
• Contents

Though underappreciated in contemporary film criticism, Bullet in the Head is a landmark in John Woo's career as a film director. Featuring strong early work by Hong Kong stars such as Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Simon Yam, the film functions both as a modern Jacobean revenge tragedy and as an allegory of fears surrounding the Tiananmen Square incident for Hong Kong residents facing reunification with China. Detailing the circumnstances surrounding production and the role of leading stars, Tony Williams argues for the film's central importance as a major triumph of dynamic Asian cinema and assesses its significance both for Hong Kong cinema and Woo's later career.

Tony Williams is professor of Englisn and area head of film studies at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. His recent books include The Cinema of George A. Romero: Knight of the Living Dead and Body and Soul: The Cinematic Vision of Robert Aldrich.