Cinematheque: Johnnie To - Hong Kong Action Master

Johnnie To’s eccentric style came into full flower with this spare masterpiece. After a boss escapes an assassination attempt, his brother hires a motley group of thugs as amateur bodyguards. The clan works with efficient ruthlessness until one starts sleeping with the boss’s wife. In virtuosic, minimalistic set pieces, To flexes his knack for dwelling on incidental moments without stalling the action, creating a gangster film that privileges precision over bombast. (35mm, 81min., subtitled.)