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Johnnie To on his New York film retrospective, Hong Kong of old and why hope is a burden
The director sheds light on the difficulty of making films in Hong Kong, his shooting methods and change in Asia, as MoMA honours his work
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American film distribution company The Criterion Collection is one of the most widely referenced arbiters of taste in world cinema.
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Rummaging through the Criterion “closet” – a fabled space at its headquarters in New York, which houses copies of films in its catalogue – has become a tradition for filmmakers, who pick and choose from shelves overflowing with Blu-ray discs and DVDs.
Fittingly, the closet is where the Post met Hong Kong director Johnnie To Kei-fung recently. “[Akira] Kurosawa, [Sam] Peckinpah, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Jean-Pierre Melville,” he says, pointing to his haul.
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The company recently released a Blu-ray box set of The Heroic Trio, To’s 1993 fantasy action hit, and Executioners, its sequel; more To titles are on the way.
We are here to talk about “Chaos and Order”, a retrospective of To’s films at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Running until October 13, the programme features a variety of To productions, from comedies and romances to his signature thrillers.
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