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Daniel Eagan

American film distribution company The Criterion Collection is one of the most widely referenced arbiters of taste in world cinema.
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.
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.
“Johnnie To is simply unmatched,” MoMA curator La Frances Hui tells the Post. “His films encompass so many genres, and his love of cinema is total. His filmography is a record of Hong Kong life and culture – in fact, he is the only established director still committed to Hong Kong, to Cantonese language and culture.”
To introduced films like The Mission to sold-out audiences at MoMA, and took part in question-and-answer sessions where he told jokes about his productions and complained about New York.
Life is about the chance of change, the choices that will affect your next life
Johnnie To
At the Criterion offices, he asks: “This very big city, so much money, why are the roads in such a mess? This city doesn’t compare with Tokyo.”
To says he was impressed to see such diverse audiences at MoMA, “you know, given my age and all that”.
He adds that there was “this eternal question of ‘When are you going to make Election 3?’”, in reference to a much anticipated follow-up to his two acclaimed gangster epics from 2005 and 2006 – something that would be difficult to pull off in Hong Kong’s current political climate.

The films in the retrospective series were chosen by MoMA curators Hui and Dave Kehr. To points out the difficulty of locating certain prints and clearing their rights, which prevented more movies being included.
Asked if he responds to his films differently over the years, To replies: “I actually haven’t watched my films [recently]. Even with the passage of time, I don’t think there has been enough distance for me to reassess them.
“Clearly, over 20 years there has been a lot of change. I’ll raise two things: triad societies and the police.
“Because of the evolving political environment over [the past] 20 years, triads have changed. And where we were once pretty trusting of the police, if you asked me today to make a film about the police being fair and just, I would hesitate.”
To points to 2012’s Drug War, a film he says he could not make today. “I had a freer hand back then.”

To attributes the religious themes in films like My Left Eye Sees Ghosts and Running on Karma to his frequent collaborator Wai Ka-fai. “He has a unique personal view of Buddhism,” he says, “although he’s since converted to Christianity.
“These films about Buddhist beliefs have to do with karma,” To continues. “Cause and effect. Basically, life is about the chance of change, the choices that will affect your next life.
“Personally, I don’t believe in an afterlife. I believe you do the best you can now, because you don’t know what the future will bring.”
For me the picture is much more important than the words. It’s not a good method, but it’s my method
Johnnie To on his approach to filming
The director agrees that at heart, gangster films such as The Mission and Exiled are about redemption.
“In all of our lives, there are things we hold to our heart that trouble us. Things we need to express, to get rid of. Things that have a hold of us. That’s how you make stories.
“You have to find a way to understand what is holding you back. If you can, you have the chance to make choices about your life.”

In a 2023 Post interview, To mentioned starting a film about the British handover of Hong Kong to China, adding that its theme would be “Hope is a burden”.
Asked to elaborate now, To says: “If I constantly bear with me the hope that Hong Kong will return to an older, earlier state, that would be a very, very hard and bitter experience. As time goes by, that hope becomes more and more distant. Maybe if I were 20, but now I’m almost 70.”
To started shooting the handover film, but stopped after two days. “I could not concentrate somehow,” he confides. “I was trying to finish it for the Chinese New Year, but now I don’t know if I can do it.
“I didn’t abandon it, but I want to make a happy film. Happy. It’s easy enough to do if you compromise.”

It may or may not help that the director is also famous for working without completed scripts.
“I am very precise in my work,” he says. “When a script is complete, done, I don’t have much interest in making a film out of it. I want it to be fresh. Basically, I have bullet points, major dialogue, but that’s all.
“For me the picture is much more important than the words. It’s not a good method, but it’s my method.”

Wouldn’t that process be difficult for actors? “My responsibility when it comes to filming is getting all the details,” he replies.
“I pay a lot of attention to details. My style is to shoot scene by scene, to concentrate on the moment. Don’t worry about what happened before and don’t worry about what happens after.
“I look through the camera, and if I can accept the shot, I know the actor has done it right.”
To is generally positive about the Hong Kong film industry, and “satisfied” with his body of work, he says.

As to the future, he asks: “What should the younger generation of filmmakers do?”
He continues: “Over the past two or three years, I’ve observed that the platforms for presenting films have changed. It used to be that Japan had the best cinema, then Hong Kong, then Taiwan. You didn’t really consider Southeast Asia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand.
“Now it’s different. Young people in those countries, they’re making more TV series than movies.”
According to To, Hong Kong film has a strong technical foundation and a spirit recognisable around the world.
“Is there the possibility of taking that spirit and collaborating, cooperating with other Asian countries? Helping with the financing? If you take a filmmaker in Thailand or the Philippines, add some influence from Hong Kong, it might help.

“I’m willing to talk with them, do some matchmaking. Whether that would work depends on how clever their young filmmakers are. Look at Indonesia, with its huge population. There might be a path there.”
The director agrees that the infrastructure for filming in those countries needs to be developed.
But he adds: “You know, I remember a time when Hong Kong directors would go to China. The Chinese weren’t familiar with the Hong Kong style of making movies. Now that they’ve learned it, suddenly Hong Kong filmmakers aren’t good enough for them.”
“Chaos and Order: The Way of Johnnie To” is at MoMA until October 13.
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Johnnie To on his New York film retrospective, Hong Kong of old and why hope is a burden

Hong Kong film director Johnnie To at the Criterion Collection while in New York for his Chaos and Order retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. He talks to the Post about once having “a freer hand” in Hong Kong, and the future of the Asian movie industry. Photo: Daniel Eagan

Johnnie To in a Polaroid taken during his visit to the Criterion closet in New York in September 2024. Photo: Instagram/@criterioncollection

(From left) Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung and Anita Mui in a still from The Heroic Trio (1993). Photo: Janus Films

A still from Drug War (2012). Photo: Well Go USA Entertainment

Lau Ching-wan in a still from Mad Detective (2007). Photo: IFC Films

Anthony Wong in a still from Exiled (2006). Photo: Magnolia Pictures

(From left) MoMA curator La Frances Hui, To and translator Joanna Lee at a sharing session at MoMA. Photo: To Kei-chi

Simon Yam in a still from Sparrow (2008). Photo: iQIYI

Nick Cheung (left) and Louis Koo in a still from Election (2005).

Production house brought Johnnie To acclaim as a director. 5 of its early films recalled

Tony Leung Chiu-wai in a still from The Longest Nite, a 1998 Milkyway Image production.

A still from Too Many Ways to Be No. 1, one of the early films released by production company Milkyway Image, formed by Hong Kong filmmakers Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai in 1996.

Wu Chien-lien and Lau Ching-wan in a still from Beyond Hypothermia (1996).

Filmmakers Johnnie To Kei-fung (left) and Wai Ka-fai, co-founders of Milkyway Image, at an interview with the Post in 2011. Photo: SCMP

Francis Ng in a still from Too Many Ways to Be No. 1 (1997).

Takeshi Kaneshiro and Carman Lee in a still from The Odd One Dies (1997).

Tony Leung Chiu-wai in a still from The Longest Nite (1998).

Simon Yam (left) and Lau Ching-wan in a still from Expect the Unexpected (1998).

Johnnie To’s judo film with Aaron Kwok and Louis Koo, Throw Down, Chow Yun-fat playing against type in Wild Search: 3 neglected Hong Kong action movies

Aaron Kwok (top) and Louis Koo in a still from Throw Down, Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To’s movie about judo that was his loosely scripted tribute to Akira Kurosawa. It’s one of three forgotten classics of Hong Kong action cinema we highlight. Photo: China Star Entertainment Group

Chow Yun-fat and Cherie Chung in a still from Wild Search. Photo: handout

Ringo Lam pictured in 1990. Photo: SCMP

Wong Yu (left) and Lin Chen-chi in a still from The Spiritual Boxer.

Lau Kar-leung at the Golden Bauhinia Awards ceremony in Hong Kong in 1996. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Cherrie Ying, Louis Koo and Aaron Kwok in a still from Throw Down. Photo: handout

Johnnie To at an interview with the Post in 2004. Photo: SCMP

Stunning action, Hollywood production values: how Johnnie To’s PTU and Breaking News changed the game for Hong Kong crime movies in the 2000s

Simon Yam in a still from PTU.

Simon Yam (right) in a still from PTU, one of two game-changing Johnnie To films made in the early 2000s that stood out for their action sequences, taut storytelling and Hollywood production values. Photo: SCMP 

Simon Yam as sergeant Mike in a still from PTU.

Johnnie To at an interview with the Post in June 2004. Photo: SCMP

Nick Cheung in a still from Breaking News.

Johnnie To (left) directs Kelly Chen and Richie Jen on the set of Breaking News.

Richie Jen (left) and Kelly Chen in a still from Breaking News.

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Roy Cheung in a still from “The Mission” (1999).

Lau Ching-wan in a still from the movie “Lifeline” (1997), directed by Hong Kong action film auteur Johnnie To. Photo: Shaw Brothers Studio

Johnnie To at an interview with the Post in 1999. Photo: SCMP

Lau Ching-wan in a still from “Lifeline” (1997). Photo: Shaw Brothers Studio

Simon Yam (centre) in a still from “The Mission” (1999).

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Cecilia Cheung at the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards in 2004. The actress’ personal life garnered a lot of attention in the 2000s, with tabloids covering scandals and her high-profile romantic life. Photo: SCMP

Cheung in 1999. Photo: Oliver Tsang

Cheung speaks after receiving the award for best new performer, as veteran actors Liza Wang and Danny Lee look on, at the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2000. Photo: Martin Chan

Cheung and Nicholas Tse in 2001. Photo: Reuters

Cheung in a still from Lost in Time (2003), for which she won best actress at the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards. Photo: China Star Entertainment Group

Cheung and Tse at the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2011, the year they filed for divorce. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Cheung and Stephen Chow in a still from King of Comedy (1999). Her feature-film debut remains one of her most memorable roles. Photo: The Star Overseas

Cheung and her three sons. Photo: Weibo

Cheung in a photo she posted on her Weibo account in 2023. Photo: Weibo

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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


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.


Johnnie To on his New York film retrospective, Hong Kong of old and why hope is a burden

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}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

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