In 1992 John Woo made a film that finally made Hollywood stand up and take notice of him. The film was Hard Boiled. A cop vs triads tale set in Hong Kong with a body count of 300+. While not his masterpiece (that was and always will be The Killer) this was an insanely entertaining slice of nonsense filled with Woo's trademark action and dotted with quieter moments like the one below. Well.....John Woo's version of quiet anyway. Set during the climax of the film, supercop Tequila (Chow Yun-Fat) has snuck into a Triad ran hospital and before long all hell breaks loose. Separated from his partner Alan (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) he fights through the hospital and ends up in a nursery with one weepy little baby left all alone.
It's the juxaposition of gentle jewellery box music and bloody violence that makes this scene so memorable. A moment of calm in the storm. A scene that brings a much needed touch of humanity to a film full of brutality. Blood on a window, and then drool on a baba's chin. The look at Tequila, almost an admiring glance and then that lovely little smile at the end. It's such a perfect pairing of sound and vision that Woo ripped himself off (to much lesser effect) with the 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' scene in Face/Off 5 years later. Jason Statham's version in the Fast & Furious 8 was a fun homage too but none of them compare to this one.
I really want to watch this now.
Previous pairings
8 mile
Wheels On Meals
The Office (UK)
Do The Right Thing
Se7en
Mad Men
The Colour Of Money
Rules Of Attraction
Jackie Brown
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
Deliverance
The Omen
Copland
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
The Mission
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
Deliverance
The Omen
Copland
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
The Mission
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