| A Better Tomorrow | |||||||||||||||||
| Director: | John Woo | ||||||||||||||||
| Music: | Joseph Koo | ||||||||||||||||
| Cinematography: | Wong Wing-hang | ||||||||||||||||
| Distributor: | Golden Princess Amusement | ||||||||||||||||
| Runtime: | 95 minutes | ||||||||||||||||
| Country: | Hong Kong | ||||||||||||||||
| Language: | Cantonese | ||||||||||||||||
| Gross: | HK$34.7million (US$4.8million)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Native Name: |
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A Better Tomorrow is a 1986 Hong Kong action film[2] directed, co-written and co-produced by John Woo, co-produced by Tsui Hark, and starring Ti Lung, Leslie Cheung and Chow Yun-fat.[3] The film had a profound influence on Hong Kong action cinema, and has been recognised as a landmark film credited with setting the template for the heroic bloodshed genre,[4] with considerable influence on both the Hong Kong film industry and Hollywood.[5]
Produced with a tight budget and released with virtually no advertising, A Better Tomorrow broke Hong Kong's box office record and went on to become a blockbuster in Asia. The film is highly regarded, ranking #2 in the Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures. Its success led to a sequel, A Better Tomorrow II, also directed by Woo, and A Better Tomorrow 3: Love & Death in Saigon, a prequel directed by Hark. It has been remade several times.
The film was Chow Yun-fat's breakout role and launched him as one of the top superstars in the Hong Kong film industry. Chow's character "Mark Lee" has been imitated by many fans even decades after the film's release.[6] Following this film, Chow went on to make several more notable films with Woo.
Sung Tse-Ho is a senior member of a powerful Hong Kong triad, managing a lucrative printing and distributing operation that produces counterfeit American bank notes. Ho is a respected member of the organization, entrusted with the most important transactions. Mark Lee[7] is his best friend, bodyguard, and business partner. The prologue follows a day in the life of Ho and Mark as they watch a fresh batch of counterfeit notes being printed and meet with foreign clients to trade their product for counterfeit Hong Kong dollar notes.
Meanwhile, Ho's younger brother, Kit, has just graduated high school and is currently training to join the police. Ho hides his criminal life from his brother and encourages Kit's career choice, while their ailing father pleads for Ho to leave his life of crime. Ho agrees, deciding that he will retire from the triad after his next deal in Taiwan. Shing, a low-ranking triad member, joins Ho after he agrees to mentor him. However, they are ambushed by the Taiwanese triads, leading to a shootout in which Ho and Shing flee into a sewage tunnel entrance, pursued by local law enforcement. Ho tells Shing to run and surrenders to the police in order to buy time for him to escape, leading to a three-year prison sentence.
After learning of the deal, the triads attempt to kidnap Ho's father as leverage to ensure Ho's silence in prison; Ho's father is fatally stabbed before Kit and his girlfriend Jackie manage to subdue the attacker. With his dying breath, he pleads Kit to forgive his brother for his criminal actions, and an enraged Kit blames Ho for their father's death. Later, Mark travels to Taiwan to get answers from the Taiwanese triad. He visits a restaurant where the gangster who planned the ambush is dining and kills him following a shootout with his bodyguards. However, Mark's leg is injured in the process, leaving him crippled and requiring a leg brace.
After Ho is released from prison, he is approached by a corrupt policeman, who offers to take him back to triad headquarters so he can rejoin his old organization. Ho, determined to start a new life, declines the offer and instead begins working for a taxi company run by another ex-con named Ken. During one of his shifts, Ho encounters Mark, and he discovers that his old friend is now a bitter, broken shell of his former self after Shing stripped him of his position in the triad and cast him aside in his rise to power. When they reunite, Mark urges Ho to confront Shing, but Ho refuses. Ho then seeks out Kit, now a police officer, in hopes of reconciling.
However, Ho is harshly rebuffed by Kit, who still blames Ho for their father's death and because his relation to Ho is preventing him from advancing his career. In an effort to prove himself and further distance himself from his brother, Kit becomes obsessed with bringing down Shing, despite Ho's warnings. Shing, hearing of Ho's return to Hong Kong, tries to persuade him to return and help expand their triad into drug trafficking, but Ho refuses. Shing then has his men attack the taxi company, severely beat Mark, and lure Kit into a trap that leaves him critically wounded. Though Ho is still hesitant to take action, Mark is eventually able to persuade Ho to retaliate.
Mark steals a computer tape containing printing plate data from the counterfeiting business and they then discover that it was Shing who set up the ambush three years prior. Meanwhile, Shing sets up triad leader Yie and shoots him dead; the witnesses are told to lie to the police that Ho was the killer. Ho and Mark then use the tape to blackmail Shing in exchange for money and an escape boat. Ho ensures that the tape is passed to Kit as proof of Shing's crimes. Using Shing as a hostage, Ho and Mark take the money to a pier, where Shing's men await. There, Ho implores Mark to escape by himself in the boat, and Mark hesitantly agrees.
After Mark's departure, Kit arrives on the scene intending to arrest Shing, but ends up being taken hostage. A deal is made to exchange Shing for Kit, but the negotiation spirals into first a standoff and eventually a shootout. Ho and Kit work together against Shing's men, and are overwhelmed. Mark, hearing the sounds of gunfire, quickly returns to the scene. Ho, Kit and Mark kill several of Shing's henchmen, but also suffer injuries in the process. During a lull in the gunfight, Ho attempts to make peace with Kit but is rebuffed again. Mark then reprimands Kit, telling him that Ho's present actions have atoned for the past. As the three are distracted however, Mark is fatally shot in the back by Shing.
As the police approach, Shing mocks Ho and Kit, proclaiming that once he enters police custody, his money and power will ensure his swift release. Kit then hands Ho his gun, allowing him to fatally shoot Shing. As Kit watches Shing's body fall to the ground, Ho suddenly handcuffs himself to Kit. The two brothers then begin walking together towards the gathered crowd of police.
The film is an uncredited remake of the 1967 film The Story of a Discharged Prisoner.[8] It was also partially inspired by The Brothers, a 1979 Hong Kong crime film, plot elements of which were reimagined for A Better Tomorrow.[9] The Brothers had a similar plot about two brothers on opposing sides of the law, the elder brother a mobster and the younger brother a cop.[10] In turn, The Brothers was a remake of Deewaar (1975), an Indian crime drama written by Salim–Javed.[11]
The scene in which Mark Lee tells the story of being forced to drink urine is apparently based on a real incident involving Chow Yun-fat and director Ringo Lam. This scene was recreated in Woo's Bullet in the Head, which was originally scripted as a prequel to A Better Tomorrow, before being changed to a standalone film.
The English title likely originates from the song Tomorrow Will Be Better, written by Lo Ta-yu, which is traditionally sung during New Year's Eve, and is featured in the film.
While Woo had experienced success with a number lighter comedic films, Woo had long aspired to direct a gangster film similar to those made by Jean-Pierre Melville.[12] Tsui Hark and his then spouse Nansun Shi had started their own film production company Film Workshop and as Harkhad been friends with Woo and knew he was experiencing frustration and battling alcoholism having lost enthusiasm for making the films he was expect to, Hark invited him to write and direct a film for his company which would end up being A Better Tomorrow.[12] The relationship between Woo and Hark during production was contentious due to Hark's hands on producing style and Woo's independent directing process.[12]
A Better Tomorrow grossed $34,651,324 HKD at the Hong Kong box office.[13]
In 2009, Empire Magazine named it #20 in a poll of the 20 Greatest Gangster Movies You've Never Seen* (*Probably)
| Award | Year | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong Film Award | 1987 | Best Film | Tsui Hark, John Woo | |
| Best Director | John Woo | |||
| Best Screenplay | ||||
| Best Actor | Chow Yun-fat | |||
| Ti Lung | ||||
| Best Supporting Actor | Waise Lee | |||
| Best New Performer | ||||
| Best Original Film Score | Joseph Koo | |||
| Best Cinematography | Wong Wing-hang | |||
| Best Editing | Kam Ma | |||
| Best Art Direction | Lui Chi-leung | |||
| Golden Horse Awards | 1986 | Best Narrative Feature | John Woo | |
| Best Director | ||||
| Best Leading Actor | Ti Lung | |||
| Chow Yun-fat | ||||
| Best Supporting Actor | Waise Lee | |||
| Best Original Film Score | Joseph Koo | |||
| Best Cinematography | Wong Wing-hang | |||
| Best Film Editing | Kam Ma |
The success of A Better Tomorrow spawned two follow-ups. A direct sequel, A Better Tomorrow 2, was released the following year. John Woo returned to direct, as did most of the main cast, with Chow Yun-fat playing Mark's hitherto-unmentioned twin brother Ken. A prequel, , was released in 1989, with Chow returning to play Mark. Woo was not involved in the prequel, due to a falling-out with Tsui Hark, so Hark directed the film himself. Woo's unproduced screenplay draft was later made as Bullet in the Head (1990).
The film has two official remakes. A Better Tomorrow (2010) was produced in South Korea, directed by Song Hae-sung, with John Woo serving as executive producer. A Better Tomorrow 2018 (2018) was produced in Mainland China, directed by Ding Sheng.