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International Influences on a John Woo Action Filmic Style
Presentation given on Oct. 9, 1996 by Philip Tracadas for 21L.430
I. Woo-sian slow-mo action style has two distinct characteristics
A. Slow pacing (in editing and movement of sequence before violence)
B. Slow motion action moves
1. used to glamorize the movement
2. slow mo and strobing slow mo create an acceleration of tempo when mixed
with real motion.
C. Has the effect of making a spectacle of masculinity
1. This presentation looks at male/male confrontation scenes.
II. Hitchcock-ian suspense (pacing)
A. Hitchcock perfected the cerebral tension that leads to an action (appreciative manipulation by viewer)
B. Elements of style
1. Slow pacing that focuses on building and releasing tension, not action. Appropriate for his wrong man/ espionage themes.
2. Approach is usually simple shot-reverse shot with cut-ins to where people aren't looking
3. Framing key- horizon at center is empty shot that you search, "upper third" framing is comforting and familiar
C. Clip (North by Northwest, 1959) Crop-duster scene
1. Cary Grant an innocent by-stander embroiled in spy ring. Waiting at bus stop for unknown contact; two cars and truck have already passed.
2. Shot reverse shot as car approaches and "man" gets out. Closer on Grant to read his face, man is small in frame and faceless. Dolly move into man as cautious approach of Grant.
Caption: Upper third framing of the protagonist versus
ambiguous
mid-horizon framing of unknown man.
3. Two confrontations- one false with "man," second started with crop duster sound.
4. No music because aim for realism and isolation of situation
III. Leone-ian epic and operatic pacing
A. Started excessive bloodiness, graphic impact and exit wounds, spaghetti Western
B. Elements of style
1. Slow pacing. Level of ceremony using vast landscapes and intense closeups that are held on the screen for a long time.
2. Epic/ Operatic splendor. Uses music to heighten the emotional portrait of the characters.
a. strings and sopranos to heroicize the action
b. whistles or twangs to mock the confrontation (Eastwood's character)
C. Clip (For A Few Dollars More, 1965) Draw scene
1. Bandit broke from jail, has come to the house of the man who turned him in. Kills his wife and child; man used reward to start family. Tension already high. Starts with bandit saying, "When the music stops, begin."
2. Music (1mb): Simple lullaby in watch (token, significance later) turns into orchestra and then full Beethoven-like pipe organ. Gets at the emotional tension.
3. Shots of on-lookers- realize the epic style of emotions. Makes a ritual of gun confrontation.
4. Movement isolated, notice it because nothing else is moving (lips, hands, eyes of rage vs. eyes of power, God-like).
5. Height of shots- power and omnipotence (low angle) vs. weak and feable (high angle, although these angles are not strictly adhered to)
Caption: God-like pose and framing for the bandit character.
IV. Peckinpah-ian deglamorized violence (slow mo)
A. Makes violence realistically bloody to deglamorize warfare, experience the horrors of the violence. (Peckinpah was in armed forces himself)
B. Elements of style
1. Uses slow mo with graphic blood spurts.
2. Rapid editing and zooms to create chaos and confusion- dislocation.
a. don't know who is shooting, friend or foe firing.
b. more edits than any previous movie (as of 1969)
3. Cut backs to same slow mo sequences to nail viewer with individual moments of death
a. isolates certain actions that would get lost in the chaos
b. at beginning of Wild Bunch, children watch man shot from horse
in slow mo over seven cuts
4. Pre-fight zooms and closeups- heighten tension in beginning.
a. pushes towards an acceleration of motion, like a quick decision being
made.
b. zooms crowd the frame in an intimidating way
5. Sound- no music, usually only guns (gattling guns, pistols, rifles) and grenades plus yelling.
6. In sum, affects same fanatisism as Bruce Lee fights but with memorable images of particularly horrible incidents. From Cohan, "Image of narcissism in moment of disintegration and destruction."
C. Clip (The Wild Bunch, 1969) Agua Verde shootout
1. Bunch led by Pike (moustache and hat), 1914 Mexican Civil War, robbed munitions train for Gen. Mapache but Gen. attempts to get arms without paying, captures one of the bunch, confrontation at Agua Verde
2. Starts with, "Està libre." Pushes you right to the uneasy confrontation as Gen. slits throat of the freed hostage.
3. Then the tension builds with the shot-reverse shot. Going wide to close.
4. The gun battle. Slow motion blood spurts- moment of death magnified.
Caption: Picture from first in a long slow-mo sequence that gets cut back into the action five times, showing this man falling from the roof into the courtyard.
V. Woo-sian usage
A. Aims to magnify the potent masculine energy of his protagonists.
B. Elements of action style
1. slow-mo with rapid cutting at other speeds (Peckinpah-ian)
2. magnifies masculine spectacle traits (Woo-sian)
3. image of narcissism heightened (in Van Damme character)
C. Style usage in Woo's other films
1. in A Better Tomorrow, end scene such as Wild Bunch-
chaotic gun play
2. in The Killer, more hitchcockian usage in Regatta scene combining
slow-mo and slow pacing
3. in Once A Thief (1990 version), slow mo more rudimentary in just
showing particularly spectacular stunts. But one exception is use to show
grace in chandalier-hanging picture theft scene.
D. Clip (Hard Target, 1992) Diner confrontation
1. cuts short tension building for more male spectacle
a. music (1mb) not heroic but cool, machismo, western (twangy like Leone/Ennio Morricone motifs); changes abruptly for fight
b. confrontation is very sexually geared- i.e. between leg framing, "big stick" reference.
c. minimally chaotic like Peckinpah (180 degree rules broken) but Van Damme always in center of frame as a constant
d. acceleration due to slow mo cut-to real mo
e. In class discussion- repeats of particular actions
Caption: Van Damme's kick makes contact in the left frame, then cut to kick swinging towards head (re-showing that moment of impact).
References
Cohan, S., Har, I.R., Screening the Male, Routledge, New York, 1993.
Cook, David, A History of Narrative Film, W.W.Norton & Co., New York, 1981.
Kael, Pauline, Deeper Into Movies, Little Brown and Company, Boston, 1973.
Thompson, K., Bordwell, D., Film History: An Introduction, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1994.
