ONCE A THIEF – Shout! Review: Chow, Chung And Cheung Are A Triple Threat In Woo’s Caper Classic
It’s been a minute since I’ve touched on a John Woo classic. I’m inclined to get back on board with it though considering the Shout! Studios release of Once A Thief on 4K/Blu-Ray currently in my possession, and this is my first viewing of it as well; My earliest exposure to the IP was actually Woo’s 1996 remake which I barely remember, which effectively makes this essential viewing.
This particular iteration trots around the French locales as it follows the story of lovers Joey (Chow Yun-Fat), Cheri (Cherie Chung), and fellow pointman James (Leslie Cheung), a trio of thieves who’ve come up from orphaned hardship as pickpockets under the harsh tutelage of Chow (Kenneth Tsang) and later raised by godfather, Chu (Chu Kong). Their latest travails befall them when ahead of their post-thieving aspirations, James goes maverick and takes on infiltrating the facility of a high-valued painting. Swiftly, Joey moves in and the heist is a near success, until a doublecross surfaces and Joey and James are forced to reckon with a former father figure with his own criminal ambitions.
The story plays out across a few years and belts out a medley of different tones to its varying tambre. It’s different to a lot of what you might be familiar with when it comes to Woo’s work at this point, unless you’re possibly familiar with his resumé of earlier comedies. I’m not, so I won’t completely go there, but it does feel like Woo went for something a little different with Once A Thief. It’s got melodrama, laughs, and highjinks of a Wong Jing variety, and it culminates with the kind of stylish action befitting a Woo flick, and illustrious and scenic set pieces and scope to boot.
The romantic triangle that sets in motion is played handsomely by our cast, written with cohesion and continuity that allows for our characters to be agreeable and digestible, even at some moments of discomfort. Chow’s charisma is plain as day on screen in proper leading man form with Joey, no matter how silly the characterization gets there. His romance with Chung is central to the drama when James points out Joey’s often dismissive and cavalier demeanor, an aspect that amplifies especially on the evening of the pivotal heist and the explosive twist that occurs midway in the film.
Cheung’s role oozes all kinds of cool as well from the moment he appears on screen, black leather jacket, motorcycle and all, and again, the brotherhood between him and Joey is preserved tactfully through apt writing from Woo and co-writers Janet Chun and Clifton Ko. Theirs is a great partnership to watch as well following their roles on Woo’s explosive Hong Kong hit, A Better Tomorrow in which Tsang also appeared, as is the involvement of Chu with Chow after 1989’s remarkable rollout of The Killer. Tsang brings his usual remarkable aura to the screen as a discernible antagonist with an axe to grind.
The core action is placed prominently in two key areas of the film with the second occurring in the late latter half of the film. The action throughout the film otherwise is signature Woo through and through, while this director certainly took it upon himself to have Chow tossing in a humdinger of an action sequence, and I’m doing my best here not to write too much about it so as to preempt revealing anything on the count that you’re as relatively new to this movie as I am.
Regardless if it impresses you or not, I’m certain it’ll entertain you. Woo’s knack for stepping outside of his comfort zone is precisely what makes him a director worth celebrating and not just for the fact that he delivers some of the best that Hong Kong cinema has to offer, namely for this action fan and film critic. Such is what he accomplishes with Once A Thief, a film that steals your eyes and rewards your attention accordingly.
Indeed, if you go into the extras included on the Blu-Ray disc, you’ll see that this production’s creative choices actually make sense. The biggest factor behind this was the box office reception to Woo’s 1990 thriller, Bullet In The Head, a conceptual rework of what would’ve been Woo’s third direct entry into the A Better Tomorrow trilogy had things panned out better at the time between him and fellow production cohort, Tsui Hark.
Woo discusses this and a lot more in his interview titled “Handling A Heist,” followed by a word from co-scribe Clifton Ko in “Thoughts About Thievery” in which he discusses how he met Woo and the chaos mitigation of writing Once A Thief between several hands both on and off set. We also hear from cinematographer Poon Hang-Seng who goes into what it took to accomplish Woo’s vision in “Stealing Some Shots,” followed by a quick insert with Woo’s partner Terence Chang in “Heists And Lows,” and editor David Wu in “Art Of The Steal”.
Author Grady Hendrix chimes in to lend his own touch for a summarized history of Once A Thief in his “Hong Kong Confidential” series for Shout!, followed by Frank Djeng who delivers a touching tribute to the life and legacy of headliner, the late Leslie Cheung in “Once A Star, Always An Icon”, spotlighting a celebrated career that saw its share of highs and lows amid a life of internal struggle amid success.
Topping the Blu-Ray extras is a four-part Archival Interview with Kenneth Tsang, and a theatrical trailer. Both discs come with their share of original Cantonese and English tracks along with commentary by James Mudge of easternKicks. It’s enough to warrant a handy purchase of this longstanding classic if you love Hong Kong Cinema and all things Woo.
Buy it now at GRUV.
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!
