"Heroic Grace" catalog - UCLA Film & Television Archive

LAST HURRAH FOR CHIVALRY [HAO XIA]
Hong Kong 1979 Director: John Woo
John Woo has often said that the self-sacrificing gangsters in A BETTER TOMORROW (1986) and THE KILLER (1988) were really wuxia (chivalrous
knights) in modern drag. And this absorbing 1979 costume picture proves his point. Strongly influenced by the films of Woo’s directorial
mentor, Zhang Che, LAST HURRAH is a mournful meditation on the decline of the old swordfighterly virtues, which live on only as the
cherished illusions of a few high-minded weirdoes.
The central action unfolds in an almost totally cynical, mercenary world. “You don’t keep your promises,” one character complains, and
his rival cheerfully agrees: “That’s the secret of my success!” A key subplot centers upon a single-minded glory-seeking fighter, Fung Hakon’s
Pray (“If you touch my sword, you better pray”), who is so fixated on demonstrating his prowess that he attacks a celebrated knight’s
family just to draw him out of hiding. The pivotal character, Gao (Lau Kong), is duplicity personified: when he tries to recruit a couple of
idealistic fighters, Zhang (Wai Pak) and Green (Damian Lau Chung-yan), for a mission of revenge, Gao is dismayed to learn that they can’t
be bought. His only hope is manipulating the rueful “blood brothers” into doing this dirty work for (misguided) reasons of their own.
The production values may be scrappy (threadbare studio exteriors, shiny plastic wigs) but this is recognizably a movie with a modern
sensibility. There’s an effort to make the characters talk and behave naturally, and the emotions feel authentic—as does the grim sense of
a fog of amorality settling over the jiang hu.
—David Chute
Studio: Golden Harvest. Producer/Screenplay: John Woo. Cinematography: Yu Qing, Zhu Zhangyao. Martial Arts Directors: Fung Hak-on, Huang
Ha, Alan Chui Chung-san. Editor: Peter Cheung Yiu-chung. Cast: Wai Pak, Damian Lau Chung-yan, Lau Kong, Wei Qiuhua, Fung Hak-on.
35mm, in Mandarin with English subtitles, 107 min.
Print Source: FORTUNE STAR Entertainment (HK) Ltd.
JOHN WOO (Wu Yusen)
John Woo joined Cathay studios as a production assistant in 1969. Two years later
he moved to Shaw Brothers and became an assistant director to martial arts master
Zhang Che. Woo made his directorial debut in 1973 with THE DRAGON TAMERS, and
later tried his hand at opera and wuxia revival in films such as PRINCESS CHANG
PING (1976) and LAST HURRAH FOR CHIVALRY (1979)—early efforts which display hints
of the sweeping camera work, heroic pathos and sophisticated action choreography
that would become the elements of Woo’s signature style. In 1983 the director
began a collaboration with actor Chow Yun-fat on an acclaimed series of contemporary
gangster films, including A BETTER TOMORROW (1986), THE KILLER (1989) and
HARD-BOILED (1992). Woo relocated to Los Angeles in 1992. He continues to create
with his business partner Terence Chang through their production company Lion
Rock Productions. His most recent credits are FACE/OFF (1997), MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE
II (2000) and WINDTALKERS (2002).
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FRIDAY MARCH 14