Even though
John Woo (Chinese name:
Wu Yusen 吳宇森 in
pinyin: Wu2 Yu3sen1, in
Cantonese Romanization: Ng4 Yu5-sam1) (b.
May 1,
1946) is a Chinese film director known especially for the
ballet-like
violence in his
movies.
When asked about the doves that keep appearing in his films, Woo said:
- "I love doves. I am a Christian. Doves represent the purity of love, beauty. They're spiritual. Also the dove is a messenger between people and God. When I was in high school and I used to draw posters for the church, I would draw a picture of a dove. When I shot The Killer[?], these two men, the killer and the cop, they work in different ways, but their souls are pure, because they do the right thing. In the church scene, I wanted to bring them together. I wanted to use a metaphor of the heart. I came up with doves - they're white. When the men die, I cut to the dove flying-it's the soul, rescued and safe, and also pure of heart. So the dove became one of my habits: I used it in Hard-boiled[?], Face/Off[?], and in Mission: Impossible II[?], at the end of the movie."
Born in China, Woo became a famous director in Hong Kong. He started making films in the United States in the 1990s, most of them action fims[?]. Face/Off was his first film made in Hollywood that critics and other movie-goers equally appreciated, while Mission: Impossible II was also an action flick, and a blockbuster.