A Better Tomorrow

A chance to revisit John Woo’s influential Hong Kong film.

Ho and Mark are two successful gangsters in Hong Kong’s triad underworld, specialising in counterfeiting. Ho’s family knows nothing of his criminal career, and his younger brother Kit is about to graduate from the police academy. Ho is working towards becoming a law-abiding citizen and is close to securing enough money and standing to leave the triads. But in the shadows, the ambitious Shing is plotting his rise through the ranks, and Ho stands in his way.

After a series of brutal and tragic events, Ho ends up in prison, Mark is demoted within the organisation, and Shing establishes himself as a ruthless mafia boss without scruples or respect. When Ho is finally released, he decides to live a quiet life outside the triads. But Kit, now an inspector, is determined to put Shing behind bars. Ho is therefore forced back into the violent world he is trying to leave. It all unfolds into a bloody drama that puts loyalty, brotherly love, honour and life itself at stake.

John Woo’s melodramatic gangster epic established him as one of the world’s foremost action directors. The film draws on a range of influences, including Jean-Pierre Melville and Sam Peckinpah, as well as the work of Douglas Sirk.

Leslie Cheung was originally meant to be the star who would draw audiences into cinemas, but he was completely overshadowed by Chow Yun-Fat as Mark. A Better Tomorrow made Chow Yun-Fat an icon on a scale Hong Kong had scarcely seen since Bruce Lee. With a toothpick in the corner of his mouth and sunglasses on, he became a star comparable to Steve McQueen in Bullitt, Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry and Alain Delon in Le Samuraï. According to reports, Chow Yun-Fat received a thank-you letter after the sunglasses manufacturer saw a significant increase in sales of the model he wears as Mark.

Ti Lung, who plays Ho, also received a major career boost. Originally a star of the Shaw Brothers’ kung fu films, he had seen acting offers dry up during the 1980s. After the film’s success, he re-established himself as a serious dramatic actor.

Leslie Cheung became an active and acclaimed actor after the film, appearing in titles such as A Chinese Ghost Story (En kinesisk spøkelseshistorie her hjemme), Chen Kaige’s Palme d’Or winner Farvel min konkubine and Wong Kar Wai’s queer classic Happy Together. Cheung, who struggled with severe depression for much of his life, tragically took his own life in 2003.

A Better Tomorrow is the film that would define Hong Kong action cinema through the 1980s and 1990s. It is a highly influential gangster film, and its DNA can be traced in everything from the John Wick films to Infernal Affairs and Martin Scorsese’s remake The Departed. A Better Tomorrow is one of the key foundations of what became known as “heroic bloodshed”, a distinctive blend of melodrama, loyalty, honour and explosive, stylised violence. The film has lost none of its creative energy since its premiere 40 years ago.