EAST 350 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Boogie 2Nite, Melodrama, Social Realism
15 May 2018
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Lecture 8
February 27, 2018
8:44 AM
A Better Tomorrow
Directed by John Woo in 1986, a re-make of another movie called 'the story of a discharged
prisoner' made in 1967. In 'the story of a discharged prisoner,' the character of Mark was
originally a female but in the remake the character becomes a man.
A sense of social hierarchy is seen in the film. Jackie is the only female character in the film and
her role is so unimportant that we don't get to care about her or be interested in what she does
or how she feels. Also within the gang, the leader is seen wearing white while the others wear
black, white symbolizes some kind of power here.
Montages
(When Ho is in prison and Kit is training for the police academy)
Ho in prison thinks about starting a better life, Kit is seen filled with revenge and hate towards
his brother. Kit tries to become a strong character because he was unable to protect his father
when he was being attacked.
The film tries to maintain a Chinese quality but still has signs of western influence
(Reunion between Ho and Mark)
They change the film completely to a melodrama whenever they are together, the lack of
female characters in the film makes the male characters more dramatic. The scene slows down,
we get facial close ups and the music changes completely.
(The shooting scene)
• It looks cartoonish, employs close-ups of exaggerated facial expressions, slow motion
movement and shooting in a matrix-style.
This gives the film a light-hearted aspect, according to the reading, the idea of spectacle can be
seen. The kinetic aspect is aligned by the slow-motion, time has not only slowed down but we
see a play by play of emotions on their faces.
John Woo was influenced by musicals and dance aspects as well as martial arts movies.
The color schemes in the play represent social hierarchy and power. The presence of 'red and
'white are also associated with smoking. The red and white contrast could be interpreted as a
duality between crime and law; who is on the right side of the law and who is morally right.
The characters smoking cigarettes are used as transition in the movie, its a tool for ellipses to
show us that time has passed and there's a new chapter in the movie.
Mark is related to oral fixation; he seems to have a dismantle jaw that's very expressive and
exaggerated. He is usually seen eating food and having something hanging from his mouth. Oral
fixation is associated with child-like behavior which could mean Mark can be seen as a child-like
hero. It could also have another meaning
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Document Summary
Directed by john woo in 1986, a re-make of another movie called "the story of a discharged prisoner" made in 1967. In "the story of a discharged prisoner," the character of mark was originally a female but in the remake the character becomes a man. A sense of social hierarchy is seen in the film. Jackie is the only female character in the film and her role is so unimportant that we don"t get to care about her or be interested in what she does or how she feels. Also within the gang, the leader is seen wearing white while the others wear black, white symbolizes some kind of power here. Montages (when ho is in prison and kit is training for the police academy) Ho in prison thinks about starting a better life, kit is seen filled with revenge and hate towards his brother.
