Celebrity Biographies
Johnnie to
He is one of the most prominent oriental filmmakers in the world. His stories are characterized by hidden violence, the fascination for the image and the peculiar use of narrative time.
Like other great Hong Kong filmmakers, such as Wong Kar Wai ( In The Mood For Love ) or John Woo ( The Killer ) his films are full of wonderful shots, with his trademark photography and use of colour, so that his cinema is eminently visual, although it deals with very modern and attractive themes.
Born in Hong Kong in 1955, don’t think that he is a first-time director, since he has more than forty films to his credit. He made his debut in 1980 with The Enigmatic Case , but practically did not become known in Europe until the most recent Breaking News (2004), a peculiar action film in which he shows his great skill in filming, with spectacular camera movements and a 9 minute sequence shot. Later came Election (2005) , and little by little the rest of his cinema. Since then his prestige in the West has only grown. Johnnie To is closer to being an “author”, in the style of Japanese Takeshi Kitano, than a mere commercial director, although in fact less interesting titles abound in his filmography. He himself explains that “sometimes in order to continue working I have to make more commercial types of films, more for the general public. That investors see and think that I can make very profitable films, like the comedies that I have made. It’s important, thanks to these films I can later make others like Election ”.