Johnnie To
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Johnnie To Kei-fung (杜琪峰) (born April 22, 1955) is a Hong Kong film director and producer.
An assistant TV director in the Shaw Studios era, Johnnie To became famous when his 1989 film The Story of Ah Long, starring Chow Yun-Fat, became one of the biggest box office hits in that year.
Although he has directed extremely popular comedies and rom-coms like Justice, My Foot, Needing You and Love On a Diet, his more serious works are mostly about masculinity and male bonding (The Mission, and Running Out of Time), or simply about guns (again, The Mission). Another theme is fate and the our life which could not be controlled by oneself - PTU, Expect the Unexpected and Running On Karma.
He has won many awards, both at home and internationally and most recently, his latest film, Breaking News, is one of the official section of the Cannes Film Festival.
Trivia
- Frequently collaborates with Wai Kar Fai, another TV crew-member turned film director
- Frequently casts newcomers in minor but significant roles in his films (e.g. Cheung Shiu Fai in Running On Karma)
Partial filmography
- Election (2005)
- Throw Down (2004)
- Breaking News (2004)
- PTU (2003)
- Running on Karma (2003)
- Turn Left, Turn Right (2003)
- Fat Choi Spirit (2002)
- Fulltime Killer (2001)
- Needing You (2000)
- The Mission (1999)
- Running out of Time (1999)
- Expect the Unexpected (1998) (Producer)
- The Longest Nite (1998) (Producer)
- The Heroic (1992)
- The Story of Ah Long (1989)
External link
- IMDB page (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0864775/)fr:Johnnie To