Career Tribute: Tony Leung Will Break Your Heart

Tony Leung Will Break Your Heart

by Jen Johans

Soulful, stirring, and often somber, even when he isn’t playing a lover, Tony Leung will break your heart. Famously dubbed by “The Times” in London as “Asia's answer to Clark Gable,” the Hong Kong native (whose full name is Tony Leung Chiu-wai) is one of the most acclaimed and adored actors of his generation.

Routinely reading his scripts at least forty times before – as he confessed to “The Guardian” – possibly calling the writer in the middle of the night with his thoughts, for Leung (who celebrates his birthday on June 27), acting is not so much a profession as it is his addiction . . . as well as his therapeutic recovery.

Giving him an outlet for the feelings he'd been holding onto since he was a shy, repressed child whose gambler father had walked out on the family when Leung was just six-years-old, the ability to exorcise his emotions under the guise of playing someone else hooked him as soon as he signed up for an acting course at the age of nineteen.

Quickly finding stardom on the small screen in the early 1980s as the protagonist of the popular series “Police Cadet” – opposite his soon-to-be frequent leading lady Maggie Cheung – Tony Leung was one of five up-and-coming young male stars who were labeled “TVB's Five Tigers,” which you could liken to Hong Kong television's answer to the Brat Pack.

Making the move to film, Leung found his way into early critically and commercially successful ventures like Taiwanese helmer Hou Hsiao-hsien's Venice Film Festival award-winner “A City of Sadness” in 1989 and John Woo's “Hard Boiled” in 1992.

Reuniting with Woo two years after he worked with the director on his personal opus “Bullet in the Head," in the now contemporary crime classic “Hard Boiled," Leung was cast opposite one of Hong Kong's biggest box office draws, Mr. Chow Yun-fat.

A veteran performer who'd starred in the epic crime series “A Better Tomorrow,” and “The Killer,” both of which had turned him and Woo into huge box office sensations, it was Chow who was given the undisputed lead role in Woo's final Hong Kong “bullet ballet” before the director made the move to Hollywood.

The end result marked a decidedly different outing for the filmmaker. Criticized for glamorizing killers in his earliest films with Chow, in “Hard Boiled” – which underwent copious changes in its 123-day shoot after the death of screenwriter Barry Wong – Woo opted to use the same formula he'd had success with before, only this time with a police officer in the role of the protagonist.

Not playing a hitman or gangster this time but a hard-headed, impetuous cop nicknamed “Tequila” who's eager to bring down the Triads responsible for his partner's death, just as he did in “A Better Tomorrow” and “The Killer,” it's the wildly charismatic Chow Yun-fat who has the showiest role in Woo's film.

Yet, written as a cross between Don Johnson in “Miami Vice” and Bruce Willis in “Die Hard,” as marvelous as he is in “Hard Boiled,” because it's missing the same quiet poetry of his romantic antihero in “The Killer,” the film's soul is found less in Chow's lead than it is in the subtly mesmerizing turn by supporting player Tony Leung. And with this in mind, on repeat viewings, you'll notice that it's Leung who manages to sneak in and – while you're being dazzled by Chow's ability to fend off a hospital full of armed assassins while cradling newborn babies – sails away with your heart. In fact, the first person to acknowledge this was Chow himself who felt like the film's final cut removed some important moments for his admittedly one-dimensional character to show the depth of his feelings, which is why Leung's supporting turn rings so true.

At least partially inspired by Alain Delon's character in Jean-Pierre Melville's crime classic “Le Samuraï,” “Hard Boiled” finds Leung in the type of coolly contemplative role that has since become synonymous with the star while playing a police officer who's been on a deep undercover assignment with the Triads for far too long.

Torn by his allegiance to two father figures on both sides of the law who ask him to kill and protect in equal measure, the only peace Leung finds is from living a solitary life on his boat. Docked in the bay, much like his yacht, Leung is forever waiting to set out for a new life on a new land far away from everything he knows and wants to forget. Making paper cranes as a form of penance and acknowledgment of the lives he's taken, Leung's tragic yet compelling internal struggle adds emotional depth to what is otherwise a completely awe-inspiring work of action filmmaking.

Giving him the more romantic inclinations that wouldn't have been out of place for Chow's killer in “The Killer,” even though it's Chow who's in an on-again, off-again relationship with his superior (Teresa Mo) in “Hard Boiled,” it's Leung who sends her white roses and coded Elvis lyrics when he needs to convey a message to the police department.

And in this respect, Leung's performance in “Hard Boiled” marks a terrific precursor to his staggering turn in Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's 2002 “Infernal Affairs” trilogy, which was remade by Leung's favorite American filmmaker – Martin Scorsese – as “The Departed” in the states with Leonardo DiCaprio in the Leung role.

A top-notch work of Hong Kong cop noir and a great introduction to Leung for new film fans hoping to see something a little more western minded before they venture onto the actor's more daring art films, even though it was made twenty-eight years ago, “Hard Boiled” still feels fresher than most CGI heavy, assembly-line manufactured action movies being released today.

But as great as he is at adding hidden layers to his co-lead or supporting characters in his mainstream Hong Kong fare, it's the lovers that come to mind most when you think of Tony Leung and doubly so when you look back on his heyday in the '90s and early '00s.

So fiercely devoted to his craft that he'll learn anything for the right collaborator, film, and/or role, when it came time to meet up once again with his most frequent director Wong Kar-wai in Argentina for the gorgeous gay love story "Happy Together" in 1997, Leung took up not only the tango but also Spanish. Still, this was not the only time he would adopt a whole new language for a role. Most notably, Leung learned Mandarin for Zhang Yimou's 2002 stunner "Hero," which, despite being dubbed in the final release, paid off for Leung five years later when he spoke Mandarin in Ang Lee's startling film "Lust, Caution."

Yet, regardless of the dialect that Leung takes on in the multilingual "Happy Together," fans of Wong Kar-wai know that his films are truly universal. Dedicated to the human connection we need and crave in others (director Sofia Coppola is a huge fan), Wong's movies speak a language we immediately understand – a language Leung is more than fluent in throughout his filmography – the language of love.

"Let's start over." Habitually said by his “Happy Together” character's flighty lover (played by Leslie Cheung) whenever he hopes to reunite with Leung's romantically drained lead and begin anew, “let's start over” is the refrain that holds the pair in each other's orbit after they venture from Hong Kong to Buenos Aires and break up yet again.

Knowing that he can no longer let himself backslide into a relationship where the two men's affection for one another is outweighed by suspicion and mistrust, by the end of the film that garnered Wong Kar-wai the prize for Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival, Leung's protagonist knows that in order to start over, he's going to have to ignore the “let's” and go it alone.

Watched in quick succession with Woo's “Hard Boiled,” the parallels are obvious between his '92 solitary protagonist and the conflicted one he plays here who's heartbroken by his lot in life and his relationships with others, from his ex-lover to his father to a co-worker with possible romantic potential. And indeed, the double-edged sword of promise and penance wrapped up in the phrase “let's start over” seems to apply not only to his “Happy Together” character in one of Leung's strongest performances to date but to all of the men he's played for Woo, Wong, Zhang, Lee, and beyond.

Yet although his collaborations have been legendary, in the more than half a dozen films they've made together over the past three decades, in the end, it's Wong Kar-wai who seems to best understand how to use Leung's penchant for emotional complexity to disarm viewers and draw them in. Famous for his chaotic productions which find Wong shooting without a script – and often with only a kernel of an idea as to who each character should be which might change multiple times during the improvisational shoot as the actors feel things out with his guidance – the trust and respect the two have for one another is unmatched.

While “Happy Together” marked one of Leung's most soulful performances for the filmmaker, the actor is perhaps most famous for Wong's “Chungking Express” – where he played a lovesick cop so distracted by an ex that he nearly misses the chance at a new love – and the director's 2000 masterpiece “In the Mood for Love.” Starring in the latter as a repressed married man living in 1960s Hong Kong who develops an attraction to the wife of the man his wife is having an affair with (played by Maggie Cheung), "Mood" finally garnered Tony Leung the award for Best Actor from the Cannes Film Festival that everyone assumed would've been his three years before for “Happy Together.”

Skilled at bringing to life his own unique brand of morally and internally beleaguered men who fall in love without trying and want to start over but can't until they figure out what (and who) it is that they truly want, Leung shined exceptionally bright in Zhang Yimou's 2002 film “Hero" as the epitome of this type of role.

Inspired by Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin which took place in 227 B.C., in “Hero,” Jet Li's nameless swordsman regales the king with tales of his successful battles against three of the man's most wanted enemies, including a man named Broken Sword (Leung) who fights alongside his lady love Falling Snow (played once again by Maggie Cheung).

A secondary supporting character whose true motives are uncertain for nearly two-thirds of the stylish wuxia feature, as Li shares his version of the events that brought him to the palace, we see the plot involving Leung's character unfold a handful of different ways as Li's narrative evolves from start to finish.

Is Broken Sword a jealous, possessive lover who acts impetuously and seduces Zhang Ziyi out of brokenhearted spite at Cheung's one-night affair with Donnie Yen? Is he a resigned, peaceful man who's outgrown life as a warrior? Or is he something else entirely – something that exists halfway between the two poles?

Leung's performance in “Hero” is passionate, ponderous, and (once again) predominantly quiet. A subtle turn overall, Broken Sword allows the actor to play both sides of the same solitary, zen-like coin of the man he's embodied for most of his career – a man who's looking to start again but doesn't completely know how to do so.

A gripping, somber, and lushly beautiful epic that found Leung and Cheung hired by Zhang precisely because he loved their chemistry in Wong's “In the Mood for Love,” the fascinating “Hero” questions how history is made and asks whether a sacrifice crafted from love carries just as much weight as one made of sword and blood.

Much like “Hard Boiled,” and “Happy Together,” “Hero” is proof once again that – having perfected silence as a child only to live to manifest his repressed emotions as an adult – Tony Leung plays thoughtful, quietly tormented men better than nearly anyone since Robert De Niro. (Thus, it should come as no surprise that De Niro and Leung are mutual fans of each other's work.) Always ready to learn a new skill and speak a new language besides – of course – love, in his richest and most daring performances, Tony Leung puts everything on the line to break your heart while also risking his own. He's the addiction as well as the cure.

Text ©2020, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. https://www.filmintuition.com  Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited and in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  Also, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases made off my site through ad links. FTC Disclosure: Per standard professional practice, I may have received a review copy or screener link of this title to voluntarily decide to evaluate it for my readers, which had no impact whatsoever on whether or not it received a favorable or unfavorable critique. Cookies Notice: This site incorporates tools (including advertiser partners and widgets) that use cookies and may collect some personal information to display ads tailored to you etc. Please be advised that neither Film Intuition nor its site owner has any access to this data beyond general site statistics (geographical region etc.) as your privacy is our main concern.

Film Movement Blu-ray Review: Heroes Shed No Tears (1986)

Now Available

Imagine starring in a movie so dangerous that it sends you to the hospital twice in one day. You tell yourself you can't quit because you started acting in your thirties and it's your first crack at a decent lead part so now you're more determined than ever to make the film count. Pushing yourself to the limit, you keep running and keep fighting despite live rounds of machine gunfire going off all around you that burns so hot it scars. And that's when you learn that the studio's decided to shelve the film for two years because they just don't think you're a big enough star.

Now imagine you're a well respected, lower rung director who finally gets the chance to make something besides a farce. Although it's not the gangster picture you've been dreaming of crafting for years, you persuade yourself that a war movie is the next best thing. Diving in to make what you consider your "first real film," you rewrite the script and inject it with a surge of emotion. The studio decides however to lead it astray. Seasoning the film with gratuitous nudity and sex, the new material is so against your principles that you refuse to to be involved and eventually, the absurd scenes are helmed by someone else. Miles away from the movie you hoped it would be, although it thankfully frees you up from your contract with the studio, the final cut is so upsetting that you refuse to ever watch the movie again, let alone discuss it.

Not just a game of What Ifs, there are names behind the respective hypotheticals; it's the story of Heroes Shed No Tears, or more specifically, the two men who worked on the picture and took its new title to heart in the form of leading man Eddy Ko and director John Woo.

Pulled off the dusty shelf at Golden Harvest studio in a rush after the smash success of Woo's subsequent effort A Better Tomorrow (which helped put Hong Kong filmmaking on the international map), Heroes Shed No Tears debuted in theaters four weeks after Tomorrow. Riding the cresting wave of Woo mania, although Tears had been shot under the name of Sunset Warrior, it was quickly given a more action oriented title, most likely with Heroes the victor because, as Asian film authority Grady Hendrix has pointed out, it started with the same Chinese character that A Better Tomorrow did when displayed on a marquee.

Working with a cast and crew that included members who spoke at least three languages that Woo did not — necessitating him to use gestures to convey to his Japanese cameraman the type of shots that he wanted — Heroes is an exploitative trashapalooza of over-the-top violence and laughably ridiculous sex awkwardly thrown into the mix.

It's also a major step down in quality for fans of the director's best work from the era as evidenced in A Better Tomorrow or the cult favorite The Killer. However, for patient viewers, there's enough here that you can still see flickers of the type of poetic filmmaking and cinematic storytelling that would soon become synonymous with his name as Heroes foreshadows the masterpieces he would make in the future.

A men on a mission movie, the film follows a group of specially recruited commandos — led by a crackerjack Eddy Ko — who've been hired by the Thai government. Sent to go after a drug lord (Lam Ching Ying) operating out of the Golden Triangle of Burma, Cambodia, and Thailand, which is responsible for 75% of the illicit drug trade around the globe, the operation goes sideways and Ko's Chan Chung ends up taking the kingpin hostage as they travel through the countryside and try to outrun another horrific group. After an attack at his home nearly took the life of his sister-in-law and young son, Chan Chung brings them along for their own protection, making the war on drugs all the more personal.

By adding in these emotional elements and especially in building up the relationship between Ko and his son — who communicate with one another during times of crisis with only their eyes like a visual Morse Code — Woo ensures that we keep watching long after we've been exposed to multiple scenes sure to make our eyes roll. In fact, the father-son relationship is a strong one, not only because it sets up the film's strongest character arc but it's also a precursor to countless movies he would make that center on a bond or "love story" between two men.

Heavily reliant however on ultraviolence and gore, Heroes feels more like the product of '60s Hammer horror and Spaghetti Westerns mixed with '70s Blaxploitation than it does a traditional war picture. Using slow motion and montage effectively to punctuate a devastating standoff or shocking death, audiences can see Woo experimenting with daring visual technique as he develops his own individual filmmaking arsenal. And to its credit, Heroes is filled with flourishes and effects that Woo would fine tune as he moved into the '90s with Hard Boiled and eventually crossed the pond to make his American debut with Hard Target.

Yet as intriguing as Heroes is for longtime fans of the director (like yours truly), there's a reason why Woo hasn't seen the film in over thirty years that goes well beyond his reputation as a perfectionist who's never satisfied with his own work. Frankly, it's just not that good. Worth watching once, if only on a scholarly level for Woo devotees, although it's easy to get caught up in the plot involving Chung's son, when contrasted with moments of extreme carnage, the amped up emotions in the film's final act give off an air of Mystery Science Theater 3000 worthy camp.

Released onto North American Blu-ray for the first time as part of Film Movement's Classics label, Heroes Shed No Tears has been given a barbed wire sharp 2K restoration that cleans up any remaining traces of live M16 gunfire left in the frame. Of particular interest to film buffs, this edition features an eye-opening interview with Eddy Ko as well as a dynamic Heroes essay by Asian film expert Grady Hendrix that is wonderfully informative.

A movie you're honestly better off renting than owning, much like the film served as a stepping stone for Woo to make stronger fare, hopefully the release of Heroes will inspire Film Movement to seek out other Hong Kong movies that fans definitely won't want to leave on the shelf. And who knows, they could always replicate Golden Harvest's favorite 1986 Woo double feature, thereby making us forget about the lackluster Heroes of today while releasing a brand new restoration of the currently out-of-print A Better Tomorrow.

Text ©2019, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited and in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  FTC Disclosure: Per standard professional practice, I may have received a review copy or screener link of this title in order to voluntarily decide to evaluate it for my readers, which had no impact whatsoever on whether or not it received a favorable or unfavorable critique. Cookies Notice: This site incorporates tools (including advertiser partners and widgets) that use cookies and may collect some personal information in order to display ads tailored to you etc. Please be advised that neither Film Intuition nor its site owner has any access to this data beyond general site statistics (geographical region etc.) as your privacy is our main concern.

Blu-ray Review: Paycheck (2003)

Now Available on Blu-ray

Previous Editions on DVD

View a Photo Slideshow from the Film

Bookmark this on Delicious

Print Page





As a technologically gifted wizard who reverse-engineers devices in order to find out precisely what makes them work for his greedily amoral employers, Michael Jennings (Ben Affleck) is used to solving puzzles when all of the pieces have already been assembled and he can relish in taking it apart.

However, when he finishes up his most recent top-secret effort of technological piracy and submits to the requisite short-term memory wipe which deletes all memory of his participation in the event from his brain, Jennings is startled to discover that-- in lieu of a seriously large paycheck-- he’d changed his mind sometime during the process and instead requested that an envelope filled with twenty everyday items be placed in his hands instead.

An odd twist of fate of receiving parts to assemble instead of a whole product to disassemble, Jennings must work backwards trying to build the mystery from the ground up in a way that involves the audience into the quick witted mind of an engineer.



However, after he’s chased by both the authorities as well as ruthless killers-- the Cary Grant likened Michael becomes a Hitchcockian “wrong man” on the run, turning to an Eva Marie Saint style cool blonde in the form of Uma Thurman’s Rachel-- an old flame he doesn’t remember since his involvement with Rachel along with what exactly he did while working for his friend Aaron Eckhart’s company have all been conveniently erased from his mind.



No, this isn’t a play on Christopher Nolan’s brilliant unreliable narrator neo-noir Memento but yet another adaptation of the dangers of technology, the undeniable lure of the almighty dollar, major governmental conspiracy, and psychological paranoia as originally penned in story form by Total Recall, Blade Runner, Minority Report, Next, and A Scanner Darkly scribe Philip K. Dick.

Although it's filtered twice to decidedly different effect, first through the screenplay crafted by Dean Georgaris (Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, the newest version of The Manchurian Candidate, and the underrated Tristan and Isolde). And secondly it's changed again by filmmaker John Woo, who-- despite doing one hell of a great job making us think otherwise with Face/Off--notes on this Blu-ray that he dislikes science fiction. So in response, decided to draw greater inspiration from Hitchcock’s North By Northwest than the Philip K. Dick cinematic landscape with which we’re usually presented.

The results are mixed for the most part for Paycheck as a film overall, but I found myself instantly riveted. For from the start, the brilliant concept of presenting our hero with all of the puzzle pieces he’ll need to survive over the course of the next 118 minute running time is great fun and it works in an effective way similar to David Fincher’s The Game which found Michael Douglas needing to figure out exactly when he had to insert the key into a lock or a handle into a door to escape to safety.

Unfortunately for a movie that’s rooted in an intellectual set-up and—memory wipes aside—a very believable practice of reverse-engineering technology, Paycheck begins to suffer from memory loss fairly on after Jennings only uses one or two puzzle pieces in an in increasingly mindless fashion. And ultimately, we're left understanding that it's a film that cares less about the overall puzzle and pieces involved and more about trying to distract from plot-holes with bravura action sequences and constantly moving, fluid camera work.



Having already succeeded brilliantly at this practice in John Woo’s MI:2 and the cheesy yet ultimately thrilling Broken Arrow, Woo’s attempts here are entertaining from the overall look and retro style of the film (whether it’s in the costuming homage or the fact that just like Hitch, every part of the set was movable and he could shoot in all directions). Likewise, it's a given that his action sequences are first rate but in the end, it’s a dubious and odd work where the actors all seem as though they’d just met each other on the day of filming.

The usual radiance of Thurman is lost here and most likely it’s due to her visibly tired and unhealthily thin physique following her extraordinary turn in Kill Bill 1 & 2. Furthermore Aaron Eckhart and Paul Giamatti’s genuine talent as cerebral actors is wasted in the visual polish and punch of the plot-addled picture, and Ben Affleck isn’t given enough to work with to make Jennings an endearing or likable lead.

In other words, he may be modeled on Cary Grant and Affleck’s movie star looks are well-suited to the production as we discover amusingly that he came highly recommended as the “next” choice when his best friend Matt Damon turned down the script because of its obvious similarities to the Bourne Identity franchise but Affleck is never offered a chance to leave a Grant like impression on a film that isn’t done any favors by its interchangeably bland title.

Overall, one of Woo’s weaker American efforts—Paycheck is additionally one of those films I’ve ended up having to describe to others to remind them that yes, they have seen it since aside from the less than memorable title, in the same token, the film unfortunately drifts from our minds as though we too have had a memory wipe once it’s ended.



A stylishly glossy puzzle that tries to dress itself up with a phony high I.Q. the way a girl puts on high heels to look like her mother and succeeds for thirty minutes or so, Paycheck ultimately stumbles, loses the heels and I.Q. along with its pretense and just tries to deliver on action alone.

However, in the hands of the master who made the incredible Chow Yun Fat picture The Killer, Paycheck keeps you watching with Woo’s trademark motorcycle chases and high impact action sequences but plummets in a ridiculously silly ending that made me hope in earnest that Eckhart’s paycheck was impressive enough to warrant the talented actor’s involvement.



Newly released on Blu-ray—Paramount retains the standard definition presentation of the special features including seven extended and/or deleted scenes, two commentary tracks (one from Woo and the other by Georgaris) and two featurettes that celebrate the Hitchcockian influence and Woo’s work on his Hong Kong features.

And while overall the clarity of the high definition picture impresses indeed and adds a greater depth perception to the work, the balance of the sound is a bit out of whack as the dialogue is barely audible at well past volume level 60 on a high quality LCD television whereas the sound of gunfire and explosions nearly thrusts you out of the chair.

Obviously, with this decision to go for amped up action instead of dialogue—the Blu-ray reaffirms the way that ultimately brains lost out in favor of brawn and the clever little puzzle pieces started to seem like video game pellets to propel Jennings to the next level.

Despite this, it’s a fast-paced Saturday afternoon mindless work of action guaranteed to entertain much, much more than your standard game store cardboard puzzle and looking at Affleck and Eckhart in HD beats looking at a generic postcard landscape any day of the week.