Die xue jie tou (1990)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

John Woo

Writers:

Janet Chun (writer)
Patrick Leung (writer)

Release Date:

17 August 1990 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | History | Thriller | War

Plot:

In 1967, on the way to the wedding of a friend a young man is accosted by a local gang member. Later...

Plot Keywords:

Friend | Escape | Hong Kong | Friendship | Criminal

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Tony Leung Chiu Wai	...	Ben / Ah Bee
Jacky Cheung	...	Frank / Fai
Waise Lee	...	Paul / Little Wing
Simon Yam	...	Luke
Fennie Yuen	...	Jane
Yolinda Yam	...	Sally Yen
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yue Ding
Shek Yin Lau	...	Fatso
Chung Lin	...	Y.S. Leong
Hee Ching Paw	...	Ben's mother
Hang Shuen So	...	Jane's mother
Chang Tseng	...	Paul's father
John Woo	...	Police inspector

Also Known As:

Bullet in the Head (Hong Kong: English title) (USA)
Bloodshed in the Streets (Hong Kong: English title) (literal title)
Dip huet gaai tau (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)

Runtime:

136 min | Australia:126 min | New Zealand:125 min | Germany:97 min (video version) (heavily cut)

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | English | Vietnamese | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Germany:18 (re-rating) (uncut) | Germany:18 (video rating) (heavily cut) | Netherlands:16 | Brazil:18 (DVD rating) | Hong Kong:III (video rating) | Malaysia:18SG | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | USA:R | Australia:R | Czech Republic:15 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:18 (video premiere) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:(Banned) | UK:18 | Japan:R-15 | Italy:VM14 | Ireland:18 | Hong Kong:IIB

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Golden Princess Film Production Limited

Trivia:

After the breakup with his partnership with Hark Tsui, John Woo was having trouble finding backing for his films; stories have circulated that Tsui (one of the most powerful men in Hong Kong cinema) said Woo was hard to work with, and this led to a virtual blacklisting of Woo. At any rate, Woo financed almost all of the cost of the movie out of his own pocket.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When the action moves to Vietnam the movie posters ('Dien Bien Phu', etc.) shown are films that came out well after the Vietnam war was over.

Quotes:

Ben: In Vietnam Fai was like a wild animal, you know why? A bullet in the head... why couldn't you shoot straight? Why make him suffer so much?

Movie Connections:

References Ying hung boon sik (1986)

Soundtrack:

I'm a Believer

The best written HK movie ever

Crouching Tiger set the standard that HK and Taiwan were able to produce films that were at the same, perhaps even higher caliber than american films. I have always felt that their films were better even before this. One film that convinced me that HK films could reach out further than american films was this film, John Woo's Bullet in the Head. To sum this film up, its basically John Woo's take on Vietnam, but it really hits you harder than any Nam film ive ever seen. Woo pours alot of thought and emotion into the script and characters, making it more than his shootout/gangster outings. the film never pretends to have a positive connotation, and the ending is absolutely one of the best endings in HK cinema. An absolute masterpiece, see it, or you may never understand how a good action/drama should be done.