name	John Woo
tradchinesename	吳宇森
simpchinesename	吴宇森
pinyinchinesename	Wú Yǔsēn
jyutpingchinesename	Ng4 Jyu5 Sam1
origin	Hong Kong
birth date	September 23, 1946
birth place	Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
occupation	Director, Producer, Screenwriter, Editor
spouse	Annie Woo
hongkongfilmwards	Best Picture1986 ''A Better Tomorrow'' Best Director1989 ''The Killer'' Best Film Editing1990 ''Bullet in the Head''1992 ''Hard-Boiled''
awards	Saturn Award for Best Direction1997 ''Face/Off'' }}

John Woo Yu-Sen SBS (born 23 September 1946) is a Hong Kong-based film director and producer. Recognized for his stylised films of highly choreographed action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and use of slow-motion, Woo has directed several notable Hong Kong action films, among them, ''A Better Tomorrow'', ''The Killer'', ''Hard Boiled'' and ''Red Cliff''. His Hollywood films include ''Hard Target'', ''Broken Arrow'', ''Face/Off'' and ''Mission: Impossible 2''. He also created the comic series ''Seven Brothers'', published by Virgin Comics. Woo was described by Dave Kehr in ''The Observer'' in 2002 as "arguably the most influential director making movies today". Woo cites his three favorite films as David Lean's ''Lawrence of Arabia'', Akira Kurosawa's ''Seven Samurai'' and Jean-Pierre Melville's ''Le Samouraï''.

Early life

Woo was born amidst the chaos of the Chinese Civil War in 1946. The Christian Woo family, faced with persecution during Mao Zedong's early anti-bourgeois purges after the communist takeover of China, fled to Hong Kong when he was five. Impoverished, the Woo family lived in the slums at Shek Kip Mei. His father was a teacher, though rendered unable to work by tuberculosis, and his mother was a manual laborer on construction sites. The family was rendered homeless by the big Shek Kip Mei fire of 1953. Charitable donations from disaster relief efforts enabled the family to relocate, however, violent crime had by then become commonplace in Hong Kong housing projects.

At age three he was diagnosed with a serious medical condition. Following surgery on his spine, he was unable to walk correctly until eight years old, and as a result his right leg is shorter than his left leg. Woo went to Concordia Lutheran School and received a Christian education (his Christian background shows influences in his films). As a young boy, Woo had wanted to be a Christian minister. He later found a passion for movies influenced by the French New Wave especially Jean-Pierre Melville. Woo has said he was shy and had difficulty speaking, but found making movies a way to explore his feelings and thinking and would "use movies as a language".

The local cinema would prove a haven of retreat. Woo found respite in musical films, such as ''The Wizard of Oz'' and American Westerns. He has stated the final scene of ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' made a particular impression on him in his youth: the device of two comrades, each of whom fire pistols from each hand, is a recurrent spectacle later found in his own work.

Woo married Annie Woo Ngau Chun-lung in 1976 and has three children. He has lived in the United States since 1993.

Hong Kong career

In 1969, aged 23, Woo was hired as a script supervisor at Cathay Studios. In 1971, he became an assistant director at Shaw Studios, where he was mentored by the noted director Chang Cheh. His directorial debut in 1974 was the feature film ''The Young Dragons'' (鐵漢柔情, ''Tiě hàn róu qíng''). In the Kung fu action genre, it was choreographed by Jackie Chan and featured dynamic camera-work and elaborate action scenes. The film was picked up by Golden Harvest Studio where he went on to direct more martial arts films. He later had success as a comedy director with ''Money Crazy'' (發錢寒, ''Fā qián hàn'') (1977), starring Hong Kong comedian Ricky Hui.

By the mid-1980s, Mr. Woo experienced professional burnout. Several of his films were commercial disappointments. In response, he took residence in Taiwan. It was during this period of self-imposed exile that director/producer Tsui Hark provided the funding for Woo to film a longtime pet project called ''A Better Tomorrow'' (1986).

The story of two brothers—one a law enforcement officer, the other a criminal—the film became a financial blockbuster. ''A Better Tomorrow'' gained prominence as a defining achievement in Hong Kong action cinema for its combination of emotional drama, slow-motion gunplay, gritty atmospherics, and trenchcoat-and-sunglasses fashion appeal. Its signature narrative device of two-handed, two-gunned fire fight within confined quarters—often referred to as "gun fu"—would later inspire American filmmakers such as Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino and the Wachowski brothers.

Woo would make several more Heroic Bloodshed films in the late 1980s and early 1990s, also with leading man Chow Yun-Fat. These violent gangster thrillers typically focus on men bound by honor and loyalty, at odds with contemporary values of impermanence and expediency. The protagonists of these films, therefore, may be said to present a common lineage with the Chinese literary tradition of loyalty among generals depicted in classics such as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

Mr. Woo gained international recognition with the release of ''The Killer'' (1989). Widely praised by critics and audiences for its action sequences, acting and cinematography, ''The Killer'' became the most successful Hong Kong film in American release since Bruce Lee's ''Enter the Dragon'' (1973) and garnered Mr. Woo an American cult following. ''Bullet in the Head'' followed a year later, which Mr. Woo has stated he still considers his most personal work. ''Bullet in the Head'' did not meet financial expectations.

Among the director's American admirers are Martin Scorsese and Sam Raimi (who has compared Woo's mastery of action to Hitchcock's mastery of suspense). Mr. Woo accepted a contract to work in America at a time when the 1997 handover of Hong Kong was imminent.

His last Hong Kong film before emigrating to the United States was ''Hard Boiled'' (1992), the antithesis of his earlier glorification of gangsters. Memorable among its preponderance of action scenes is an approximate 30 minute sequence of gun-play set within a hospital. The director pointedly depicts the vulnerability of patients caught in the crossfire. One particular long take follows two characters for an elapsed time of 2 minutes and 42 seconds as they move between hospital floors. On the Criterion DVD and laserdisc, this chapter is referenced as "2 minutes, 42 seconds." The film climax extols the virtues of its leading man, a law enforcement agent, Chow Yun-Fat, who is seen to comfort an infant with a lullaby while engaged in fire fight with his criminal pursuers. He heroically takes leave of this carnage when he leaps to safety from a window, babe gallantly in arms.

''John Woo: Interviews'' (ISBN 1-57806-776-6) is the first authoritative English-language chronicle of Woo’s career. The volume includes a new 36-page interview with Woo by editor Robert K. Elder, which documents the years 1968 to 1990, from Woo’s early career in working on comedies and kung fu films (in which he gave Jackie Chan one of his first major film roles), to his gunpowder morality plays in Hong Kong.

American career

An émigré in 1993, the director experienced difficulty in cultural adjustment while contracted with Universal Studios to direct Jean-Claude Van Damme in ''Hard Target''. As characteristics of other foreign national film directors confronted the Hollywood environment, Mr. Woo was unaccustomed to pervasive management concerns, such as limitations on violence and completion schedules. When initial cuts failed to yield an "R" rated film, the studio assumed control of the project and edited footage to produce a cut "suitable for American audiences". A "rough cut" of the film, supposedly the original unrated version, is still circulated among his admirers.

A three year hiatus saw Mr. Woo next direct John Travolta and Christian Slater in ''Broken Arrow.'' A frenetic chase-themed film, the director once again found himself hampered by studio management and editorial concerns. Despite a larger budget than his previous ''Hard Target,'' the final feature lacked the trademark Woo style. Public reception saw modest financial success.

Reluctant to pursue projects which would necessarily entail front-office controls, the director cautiously rejected the script for ''Face/Off'' several times until it was rewritten to suit him. (The futuristic setting was changed to a contemporary one.) Paramount Pictures also offered the director significantly more freedom to exercise his speciality: emotional characterisation and elaborate action. A complex story of adversaries—each of whom surgically alters their identity—law enforcement agent John Travolta and terrorist Nicolas Cage play a cat-and-mouse game, trapped in each other's outward appearance.

''Face/Off'' opened in 1997 to critical acclaim and strong attendance. Grosses in the United States exceeded $100 million. As a result, John Woo is generally regarded as the first Asian director to find a mainstream commercial base. In 2003, Mr. Woo directed a television pilot entitled ''The Robinsons: Lost in Space'' for The WB Television Network, based on the 1960s television series ''Lost in Space''. The pilot was not purchased, although bootleg copies have been made available by fans.

John Woo has made three additional films in Hollywood: ''Mission: Impossible II'', ''Windtalkers'' and ''Paycheck''. ''Mission: Impossible II'' was the highest-grossing film of 2000, but received mixed reviews. ''Windtalkers'' and ''Paycheck'' fared poorly at the box office and were summarily dismissed by critics.

Recently, John Woo directed and produced a videogame called ''Stranglehold'' for games consoles and PC. It is a sequel to his 1992 film, ''Hard Boiled''. He also produced the 2007 anime movie, ''Appleseed: Ex Machina'', the sequel to Shinji Aramaki's 2004 film ''Appleseed''.

Return to Hong Kong

In 2008, Woo returned to Asian cinema with the completion of the epic war film ''Red Cliff'', based on an historical battle from ''Records of Three Kingdoms''. Produced on a grand scale, it is his first film in China since he emigrated from Hong Kong to the United States in 1993. Part 1 of the film was released throughout Asia in July, 2008, to generally favourable reviews and strong attendance. Part 2 was released in China in January, 2009.

John Woo was presented with a Golden Lion award for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival in 2010.

Future film projects

His future film on Mighty Mouse will either be animated or live-action with CGI. He will also direct a remake of ''Papillon''. There are persistent rumours that Woo will direct a film version of the videogame ''Metroid''. He had optioned the rights at one point, but the option has long since expired.

Woo's next projects are ''The Divide'', a western concerning the friendship between two workers, one Chinese, the other Irish, on the transcontinental rail-road, while ''The Devil's Soldier'' is a biopic on Frederick Townsend Ward, an American brought to China in the mid 19th century by the Emperor to suppress rebellion. ''Rendezvous in Black'' will be an adaptation of the drama/thriller novel of the same name, and ''Psi-Ops'' is a science fiction thriller about a telepathic agent, a remake of ''Blind Spot''.

In May 2008, Woo announced in Cannes that his next movie would be ''1949'', an epic love story set between the end of World War II and Chinese Civil War to the founding of the People's Republic of China, the shooting of which would take place in China and Taiwan. Its production was due to begin by the end of 2008, theatrical release planned in December 2009. However, in early April 2009, John Woo's 1949 is cancelled due to script right issues. Also reports indicate that Woo may be working on another World War II film, this time about the American Volunteer Group, or the Flying Tigers. The movie is tentatively titled "Flying Tiger Heroes" and Woo is reported as saying it will feature "The most spectacular aerial battle scenes ever seen in Chinese cinema." Whether this means that John Woo will not be directing the rumoured Romeo and Juliet war film, or it has been put on the back burner. Woo has stated that Flying Tiger Heroes would be an "extremely important production" and will "emphasise US-Chinese friendship and the contributions of the Flying Tigers and the Yunnan people during the war of resistance." Woo has announced he will be using IMAX cameras to film the ''Flying Tigers'' project. ''“It has always been a dream of mine to explore shooting with IMAX cameras and to work in the IMAX format, and the strong visual element of this film is incredibly well-suited to the tastes of cinemagoers today [...] Using IMAX for Flying Tigers would create a new experience for the audience, and I think it would be another breakthrough for Chinese movies.”''

In popular culture

In ''Jackie Brown'', the gun-runner Ordell (played by Samuel L. Jackson) references ''The Killer'' as the reason his clients want two guns instead of one, in imitation of the Woo film's eponymous protagonist.

In the anime series, ''R.O.D the TV'' which features three girls named after real life Hong Kong action stars, "John Woo" is the name of a mysterious carrier pigeon.

In another anime series, ''FLCL'', two characters can be seen watching the climactic end sequence of an action film. Although the screen in not visible, it can be surmised that it is indeed a John Woo film, as one of the film's characters exclaims, "What are all these pigeons doing in here?" and a multitude of flapping wings heard. The screen was then broken, and a flock of white doves flew out of the TV set. Also the episode uses gun fu and frequent slow motion, as common in John Woo films. Also in the preview of the above mentioned episode (a preview of the next episode is always shown at the end of the previous, as with most anime series), the character Haruko mentions humorous things to keep in mind when seeing a John Woo film.

Japanese professional wrestler Suwa, of the promotions Dragon's Gate and Pro Wrestling Noah, utilises a seated dropkick that frequently sends its victim flying back-first into the corner. As a fan of Hong Kong action cinema, he calls this move the "John Woo", as an homage to the impact of shotgun blasts on the human body in Woo's films.

In the video game ''Max Payne'' there are many homages and references to John Woo. For example, the black suit and tie Max is seen wearing at the beginning, as well as the dual guns and jumping and shooting in slow motion. One of the game's difficulty levels is named Hard Boiled, and John Woo's name is mentioned as a password for entering into a gangster hideout, Also a quote by the main character when he is ambushed is "I made like Chow Yun Fat".

In the PC game ''F.E.A.R.'', the developers admitted that they been inspired by John Woo action movies, in that they wanted the game's action sequences to play out as dramatic and elegant gunfights.

On ''The Simpsons'' episode "Half-Decent Proposal", Homer sternly tells Artie Ziff his terms for "selling" the billionaire a weekend with Marge: "No hand holding, kissing, or misdirected Woo...which is pretty much any John Woo movie." Ironically, this statement came in February 2002 when Woo had run off several successful Hollywood films, but in the following years Woo's American films were disappointments.

On the television drama ''ER'', Jeanie Boulet bonds with Dr. Anspaugh's sick son by asking him if he liked John Woo movies. The son asked her if she meant his Hong Kong or American entries, and they began talking.

The Christian rock band Newsboys has a song "John Woo" which makes reference to the religious symbolism he often employs in his films.

"I've got more action than my man John Woo" is a lyric from the Beastie Boys song "Sure Shot" from ''Ill Communication''.

In one of the versions of the PC game ''Unreal Tournament'', when a character is killed by another wielding dual pistols, the deceased character is listed by the kill readout as having been "John Woo'd" by the victor.

Picking up a second sub-machine gun in the PC game ''Shadow Warrior'' causes the player's avatar Lo Wang to quip "Be proud, Mr. Woo!"

Comedian Daniel Tosh references John Woo in a joke on both his CD ''True Stories I Made Up'' and his DVD ''Completely Serious''. ("I want to be rich enough to release a dozen doves every time I walked into a room. Everyone would be like 'Did you see that guy come out of the bathroom? The one with doves!' 'I bet that's John Woo's kid.'")

In the animated TV series ''American Dad!'' episode "Homeland Insecurity", Stan describes what an argument with Francine is like and says "...and we have our little John Woo stand off..."

Mathcore band Botch has a song, "John Woo".

In "The Greatest Adventure in the History of Basic Cable", an episode of the USA Network television show ''Psych'', Shawn Spencer comments in the middle of a Mexican stand-off, "If there were doves flying around, this would be a John Woo movie."

In the comic book series ''Kick-Ass'' the vigilante superhero Big-Daddy quizzes his sidekick/daughter Hit-Girl on military and gun related trivia while she kills criminals. One of his questions is "What was John Woo's first English language film?"

In "Moving Day", a Season 2 episode of the TV series ''How I Met Your Mother'', Ted asks Robin if she owns any movies "not directed by John Woo."

During the Season 1 finale of the animated television series ''The Venture Bros.'', there is an entire scene devoted to smashing as many John Woo references as humanly possible into 30 seconds.

In "Maurice Gets Caught", an episode of Adult Swim's show ''Robot Chicken'', a scene involving a remake of ''Gone with the Wind'' has a fight scene featuring a slow-motion action sequence in which three doves fly by, referencing Woo's love of doves and slow motion.

In the video game Borderlands, there is a pistol with unlimited ammo called "The Dove", possibly referring to Woo's doves and gunfights.

Woo is referenced many times in conversations between Jean-Claude Van Damme and his captor in the film ''JCVD''.

There are many references to John Woo's films in the animated series ''The Boondocks'', in one episode we see Thugnificent showing off his statue of Chow Yun Fat in ''The Killer'', Riley mentions John Woo in another episode and in the episode "Home Alone", when Huey and Riley are shooting at each other with BB guns, some of the shots are references to ''Hard Boiled'', ''The Killer'' and ''Face/Off''.

Filmography

Directed

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="3" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#BOC4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#BOC4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#BOC4DE;" | Notes |- |align="left" rowspan="2"|1968 |''Dead Knot'' | Also Writer |- |''Ouran'' | |- |1974 |''The Young Dragons'' | Also Writer |- |1975 |''The Dragon Tamers'' | Also Writer |- |align="left" rowspan="2"|1976 |''Princess Chang Ping'' | Also Writer |- |''Hand of Death'' | Also Writer |- |1977 |''Money Crazy'' | Also Writer |- |align="left" rowspan="2"|1978 |''Hello, Late Homecomers'' | Also Writer |- |''Follow the Star'' | |- |1979 |''Last Hurrah for Chivalry'' | Also Writer |- |1980 |''From Riches to Rags'' | |- |align="left" rowspan="2"|1981 |''To Hell with the Devil'' | Also Writer |- |''Laughing Times'' | Also Writer |- |1982 |''Plain Jane to the Rescue'' | |- |1984 |''The Time You Need a Friend'' | Also Writer/Producer |- |1985 |''Run, Tiger, Run'' | Also Producer |- |align="left" rowspan="2"|1986 |''Heroes Shed No Tears'' | Also Writer/Producer |- |''A Better Tomorrow'' | Also Writer/ProducerHong Kong Film Award for Best FilmNominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best DirectorNominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Screenplay |- |1987 |''A Better Tomorrow II'' | Also Writer/Producer |- |align="left" rowspan="2"|1989 |''Just Heroes'' | |- |''The Killer'' | Also WriterHong Kong Film Award for Best DirectorNominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Screenplay |- |1990 |''Bullet in the Head'' | Also Writer/ProducerNominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director |- |1991 |''Once a Thief'' | Also WriterNominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director |- |1992 |''Hard Boiled'' | Also Writer |- |1993 |''Hard Target'' | Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Direction |- |align="left" rowspan="2"|1996 |''Broken Arrow'' | |- |''Once a Thief'' | TVAlso Executive Producer |- |1997 |''Face/Off'' | Saturn Award for Best Direction |- |1998 |''Blackjack'' | TVAlso Executive Producer |- |2000 |''Mission: Impossible II'' | |- |2001 |''Windtalkers'' | Also Producer |- |2003 |''Paycheck'' | Also Producer |- |2008 |''Red Cliff: Part I'' | Also Writer/ProducerHuabiao Award for Best Foreign DirectorNominated - Asian Film Award for Best Director |- |2009 |''Red Cliff: Part II'' | Also Writer/ProducerHuabiao Award for Best Foreign DirectorNominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best FilmNominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director |- |2010 |''Reign of Assassins'' | Also Producer |}

Producer

Peace Hotel (1995)

Somebody Up There Likes Me (1996)

The Replacement Killers (1998)

The Big Hit (1998)

Red Skies (2002)

Bulletproof Monk (2003)

The Glass Beads (2005)

Blood Brothers (2007)

Appleseed Saga: Ex Machina (2007)

My Fair Gentleman (2009)

Reign of Assassins (2010)

A Better Tomorrow (2010)

Second Sight (2011)

The Killer (2012)

Writer

Hello, Late Homecomers (1978)

A Better Tomorrow (2010)

Television Work

Once a Thief

Other works

''Airport '98'' (Nike commercial) (1998)

''Hostage'' (branded content short film for BMW) (2002)

''7 Brothers'' (graphic novel) (2006–2007)

''Stranglehold'' (video game) (2007)

''Power Up Hong Kong'' (TVB promotion clip/station campaign) (2009)

See also

Cinema of China

Cinema of Hong Kong

References

Further reading

In English

Bliss, Michael. ''Between the Bullets: The Spiritual Cinema of John Woo''. Filmmakers series, no. 92. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2002. ISBN 0-8108-4110-X.

Brown, Andrew M. J. ''Directing Hong Kong: The Political Cinema of John Woo and Wong Kar-Wai''. Political Communications in Greater China: the Construction and Reflection of Identity. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2001. ISBN 0-7007-1734-X.

Crawford, Kevin R. "Mixing violence and religion in 'The Reckoning' : The Scripting of a Postmodern Action Thriller inside the John Woo-film noir Paradigm". Digital Dissertation/Theses, 2007. .

Fang, Karen Y. ''John Woo's A Better Tomorrow''. The New Hong Kong Cinema. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2004. ISBN 962-209-652-2.

Hall, Kenneth E. ''John Woo: The Films''. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1999. ISBN 0-7864-0619-4.

Heard, Christopher. ''Ten Thousand Bullets: The Cinematic Journey of John Woo''. Los Angeles: Lone Eagle Publishing Co., 2000. ISBN 1-58065-021-X.

Woo, John, and Robert K. Elder (ed.). ''John Woo: Interviews''. Conversations with Filmmakers Series. Jackson, Miss.: University Press of Mississippi, 2005. ISBN 1-57806-775-8, ISBN 1-57806-776-6.

In other languages

Berruezo, Pedro J. ''John Woo y el cine de acción de Hong Kong''. Biblioteca Dr. Vértigo, 23. [Barcelona]: Ediciones Glénat, 2000. ISBN 84-8449-043-2. Bertolino, Marco, and Ettore Ridola. ''John Woo: la violenza come redenzione''. Recco, Genova: Le mani, 1998. ISBN 88-8012-098-0. Gaschler, Thomas, and Ralph Umard. ''Woo Leben und Werk''. München: Belleville, 2005. ISBN 3-933510-48-1. Nazzaro, Giona A., and Andrea Tagliacozzo. ''John Woo: la nuova leggenda del cinema d'azione''. Contatti, 199. Roma: Castelvecchi, 2000. ISBN 88-8210-203-3. Spanu, Massimiliano. ''John Woo''. Il castoro cinema, 203. Milano: Castoro, 2001. ISBN 88-8033-192-2. Vié-Toussaint, Caroline. ''John Woo''. Paris: Dark star, 2001. ISBN 2-914680-01-5.

External links

A Better Tomorrow Review at subtitledonline.com

John Woo at HKcinema.net

Hardboiled.de (via Internet Archive)

A John Woo Retrospective

John Woo - The Independents

John Woo Interviews

Ten HARD BOILED Moments - The Best of John Woo

Allegory and symbolism in John Woo's cinematic arts : themes and aesthetics

Director John Woo to direct WWII fighter epic in China based on Flying Tiger's exploits.

John Woo interview with Underground Republik

Interview by Aynne Kokas Asia Pacific Arts, 19 November 2009

Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:Chinese film directors Category:American film directors of Hong Kong descent Category:Hong Kong film producers Category:Hong Kong screenwriters Category:American Lutherans Category:Chinese Lutherans Category:Best Director HKFA Category:Chinese expatriates in the United States Category:Chinese people with disabilities

an:John Woo ca:John Woo da:John Woo de:John Woo es:John Woo fa:جان وو fr:John Woo ko:오우삼 id:John Woo it:John Woo sw:John Woo hu:John Woo nl:John Woo ja:ジョン・ウー no:John Woo pl:John Woo pt:John Woo ro:John Woo ru:Ву, Джон fi:John Woo sv:John Woo th:จอห์น วู uk:Джон Ву vi:Ngô Vũ Sâm zh-yue:吳宇森 zh:吴宇森

birth date	October 03, 1964
birth place	Coventry, England, UK
spouse	2 daughters
occupation	Actor
yearsactive	1987–present }}

Clive Owen (born 3 October 1964) is an English actor, who has worked on television, stage and film. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for portraying the lead in the ITV series ''Chancer'' from 1990 to 1991. He then garnered critical acclaim for his work in the film ''Close My Eyes'' (1991) before getting international notice for his performance as a struggling writer in ''Croupier'' (1998). In 2005, Owen won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his appearance in the drama ''Closer'' (2004). He has since played leading as well as supporting roles in films such as ''Sin City'' (2005), ''Inside Man'' (2006), ''Children of Men'' (2006), and ''The International'' (2009).

Early life

The fourth of five brothers, Owen was born in Coventry, in the English Midlands, a son of Pamela (née Cotton) and Jess Owen, a country and western singer. His father left the family when Owen was three years old, and despite a brief reconciliation when Owen was nineteen, the two have remained estranged. Raised by his mother and stepfather, a railway ticket clerk, he has described his childhood as "rough." While initially opposed to drama school, he changed his mind in 1984, after a long and fruitless period of searching for work. Owen graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1987 with a class that included Rebecca Pidgeon, Serena Harragin, Mark Womack, and Liza Tarbuck. After graduation, he won a position at the Young Vic, performing in several Shakespearean plays.

Career

Initially, Owen carved out a career in television. In 1988 Owen starred as Gideon Sarn in a BBC production of ''Precious Bane'' and the Channel 4 film ''Vroom'' before the 1990s saw him become a regular on stage and television in the UK, notably his lead role in the ITV series ''Chancer'', followed by an appearance in the Thames Television production of ''Lorna Doone''.

He won critical acclaim for his performances in the 1991 Stephen Poliakoff film ''Close My Eyes'' – in which he has a full frontal nude scene – about a brother and sister who embark on an incestuous love affair. He subsequently appeared in ''The Magician'', ''Class of '61'', ''Century'', ''Nobody's Children'', ''An Evening with Gary Lineker'', ''Doomsday Gun'', ''Return of the Native'' and then a Carlton production called ''Sharman'', about a private detective. In 1996, he appeared in his first major Hollywood film ''The Rich Man's Wife'' alongside Halle Berry before finding international acclaim in a Channel 4 film directed by Mike Hodges called ''Croupier'' (1998). In ''Croupier'', he played the title role of a struggling writer who takes a job in a London casino as inspiration for his work, only to get caught up in a robbery scheme. In 1999, he appeared as an accident-prone driver in ''Split Second'', his first BBC production in a decade.

He then starred in ''The Echo'', a BBC1 drama. He starred in a film called ''Greenfingers'' about a criminal who goes to work in a garden, before appearing in the BBC1 mystery series ''Second Sight''. In 2001, he provided the voice-over for a BBC2 documentary about popular music through the years called ''Walk On By'', as well as starring in a highly-acclaimed theatre production called ''A Day in the Death of Joe Egg'', about a couple with a severely handicapped daughter.

He became well known to North American audiences in the summer of 2001 after starring as ''The Driver'' in ''The Hire'', a series of short films sponsored by BMW and made by prominent directors. He then appeared in Robert Altman's ''Gosford Park'', alongside an all-star cast including Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Kristin Scott Thomas and Ryan Phillippe. He appeared in the 2002 hit ''The Bourne Identity''. In 2003, he teamed up with Hodges again to make ''I'll Sleep When I'm Dead''. He starred in ''Beyond Borders'' and took on the title role in ''King Arthur'', for which he took riding lessons.

Owen appeared in the West End and Broadway hit play ''Closer'', by Patrick Marber, which was produced as a film, and was released in 2005. He played "Dan" in the play, but was "Larry" the dermatologist in the film version. His portrayal of Larry in the film version earned him a lot of recognition as well as the Golden Globe and BAFTA award and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He noted that the expectations of him since the Oscar nomination have not changed the way he approaches film-making, stating "I try, every film I do, to be as good as I can and that's all I can do."

After ''Closer'', he appeared in ''Derailed'' alongside Jennifer Aniston, the comic book thriller ''Sin City'' as the noir antihero Dwight McCarthy and as a mysterious bank robber in ''Inside Man''. Despite public denials, Owen had long been rumoured to be a possible successor to Pierce Brosnan in the role of James Bond. A public opinion poll in the United Kingdom in October 2005 (SkyNews) found that he was the public's number one choice to star in the next installment of the series. In that same month, however, it was announced that fellow British actor Daniel Craig would become the next James Bond. In an interview in the September 2007 issue of ''Details'', he claimed that he was never offered or even approached concerning the role. In 2006, Owen spoofed the Bond connection by making an appearance in the remake of ''The Pink Panther'' in which he plays a character named "Nigel Boswell, Agent 006" (when he introduces himself to Inspector Clouseau, he quips that Owen's character is "one short of the big time").

In 2006, Owen starred in the highly acclaimed ''Children of Men'', for which he received widespread praise. The film was nominated for various awards, including an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay; Owen worked on the screenplay, although he was uncredited. The next year he starred alongside Paul Giamatti in the film ''Shoot 'Em Up'' and appeared as Sir Walter Raleigh opposite Cate Blanchett's Elizabeth I of England in the film ''Elizabeth: The Golden Age''. He appeared in the Christmas special of the Ricky Gervais show ''Extras'', as revealed in the video podcast teaser. Owen starred in ''The International'' (2009), a film which he described as a "paranoid political thriller". He then played the lead in ''The Boys Are Back'', an Australian adaptation of the book ''The Boys Are Back In Town'' by Simon Carr.

In April 2010, he was cast as the lead in Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's horror-thriller ''Intruders''.

In June 2010 it was announced that Owen and Nicole Kidman will star in an HBO film about Ernest Hemingway and his relationship with Martha Gellhorn entitled ''Hemingway & Gellhorn''. James Gandolfini will serve as executive producer to the film written by Barbara Turner and Jerry Stahl. The film will be directed by Philip Kaufman and will reportedly begin shooting next year.

Clive is currently shooting 'Shadow Dancer' joint Irish UK production about a young mother who is heavily involved with the Irish republican Movement. She is arrested in London following an aborted bombing attempt and must either choose to inform on her family or spend the rest of her life behind bars. The Film also stars Andrea Riseborough, Gillian Anderson and Aidan Gillen and is being directed by James Marsh.

Personal life

In an incident he later described as "very schmaltzy", Owen met his future wife, actress Sarah-Jane Fenton, when they performed the leads in ''Romeo and Juliet'' at the Young Vic. The couple married on 6 March 1995 and live in Highgate, London and Wrabness, north Essex, with their two daughters – Hannah and Eve.

In November 2006, he became patron of the Electric Palace Cinema in Harwich, Essex, England and launched an appeal for funds to repair deteriorating elements of the fabric.

He enjoys the music of indie rock band Hard-Fi and has been seen at two of their concerts, Brixton Academy, 15 May 2006 and Wembley Arena, 18 December 2007. He is also an avid Liverpool F.C fan.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
	''Vroom''	Jake
	Geoff	Boon – TV Series 3 – Episode 8 "Peacemaker"
1989	''Precious Bane''	Gideon Sarn
	''Chancer''	Stephen Crane/Derek Love	TV series: 20 Episodes
''Lorna Doone''	John Ridd	TV Movie
1991		Richard
	''Class of '61''	Devin O'Neil	TV Movie
	Paul Reisner
''The Magician''	Det. Con. George Byrne	TV Movie
	''The Return of the Native''	Damon Wildeve	TV Movie
''Doomsday Gun''	Dov	TV Movie
''An Evening with Gary Lineker''	Bill	TV Movie
''Nobody's Children''	Bratu	TV Movie
''The Turnaround''	Nick Sharman
1995	''Bad Boy Blues''	Paul	TV Movie
	''Privateer 2: The Darkening''	Ser Lev Aris	Video game
''The Rich Man's Wife''	Jake Golden
	Nick Sharman	TV series: 4 Episodes
		Jack Manfred
	Max
1998		Michael Deacon	Television series
	''Split Second''	Michael Anderson	TV Movie
	DCI Ross Tanner	Television series
	''Greenfingers''	Colin Briggs
''Second Sight'' series two	DCI Ross Tanner	Television series
	''The Hire''	The Driver
''Gosford Park''		Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best CastFlorida Film Critics Circle Award for Best CastOnline Film Critics Society Award for Best CastSatellite Award for Best Cast – Motion PictureScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureNominated – Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
''Walk On By''	Narrator	TV documentaryVoice Only
2002		The Professor
	''Beyond Borders''	Nick Callahan
	Will
		Larry	BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting RoleGolden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion PictureLas Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting ActorNew York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting ActorNational Board of Review Award for Best CastToronto Film Critics Association for Best Supporting ActorNominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best CastNominated — London Film Critics Circle Award for British Actor of the YearNominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion PictureNominated — Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
		Charles Schine
	Dwight McCarthy
	''Children of Men''		Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award Best ActorNominated — Saturn Award for Best Actor
''Inside Man''	Dalton Russell
	Nigel Boswell/Agent 006	Uncredited Cameo
	''Elizabeth: The Golden Age''	Sir Walter Raleigh
''Shoot 'Em Up''	Smith	Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
		Louis Salinger
	Ray Koval
	Joe Warr	Also Executive Producer
		Will Cameron
	Spike	post-production

References

External links

Category:1964 births Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor Category:Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:English film actors Category:English stage actors Category:English television actors Category:Living people Category:Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:People from Coventry

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name	Natsume Sōseki
birth date	February 09, 1867
birth place	Tokyo, Japan
death date	December 09, 1916
death place	Tokyo, Japan
occupation	Writer
genre	novels, short stories, poetry
notableworks	''Kokoro'', ''Botchan'', ''I Am a Cat''
influenced	virtually all subsequent Japanese novelists, Karatani Kōjin }}

, born , is widely considered to be the foremost Japanese novelist of the Meiji period (1868–1912). He is best known for his novels ''Kokoro'', ''Botchan'', ''I Am a Cat'' and his unfinished work ''Light and Darkness''. He was also a scholar of British literature and composer of haiku, Chinese-style poetry, and fairy tales. From 1984 until 2004, his portrait appeared on the front of the Japanese 1000 yen note.

Early years

Born as Natsume Kinnosuke in the town of Babashita in the Edo region of Ushigome (present Kikui, Shinjuku), Natsume began his life as an unwanted child, born to his mother late in her life, forty years old and his father then fifty-three. When he was born, he already had five siblings. Having five children and a toddler had created family insecurity and was in some ways a disgrace to the Natsume family. In 1868, a childless couple, Shiobara Masanosuke and his wife, adopted him until the age of nine, when the couple divorced. He returned to his family and was welcomed by his mother although regarded as a nuisance by his father. His mother died when he was fourteen, and his two eldest brothers died in 1887, intensifying his sense of insecurity.

Natsume attended the First Tokyo Middle School (now Hibiya High School), where he became enamored with Chinese literature, and fancied that he might someday become a writer. His desire to become an author arose when he was about fifteen when he told his older brother about his interest in literature. However, his family disapproved strongly of this course of action, and when Natsume entered the Tokyo Imperial University in September 1884, it was with the intention of becoming an architect. Although he preferred Chinese classics, he began studying English at that time, feeling that it might prove useful to him in his future career, as English was a necessity in Japanese college.

In 1887, Natsume met Masaoka Shiki, a friend who would give him encouragement on the path to becoming a writer, which would ultimately be his career. Shiki tutored him in the art of composing haiku. From this point on, he began signing his poems with the name Sōseki, which is a Chinese idiom meaning "stubborn". In 1890, he entered the English Literature department, and quickly mastered the English language. Natsume graduated in 1893, and enrolled for some time as a graduate student and part-time teacher at the Tokyo Normal School.

In 1895, Natsume began teaching at Matsuyama Middle School in Shikoku, which became the setting of his novel ''Botchan''. Along with fulfilling his teaching duties, Natsume published haiku and Chinese poetry in a number of newspapers and periodicals. He resigned his post in 1896, and began teaching at the Fifth High School in Kumamoto. On June 10 of that year, he married Nakane Kyoko.

In the United Kingdom, 1901–1903

In 1900, the Japanese government sent Natsume to study in Great Britain as "Japan's first Japanese English literary scholar". He visited Cambridge and stayed a night there, but gave up the idea of studying at the university because he could not afford it on his government scholarship. He studied instead at University College, London (UCL). He had a miserable time of it in London, spending most of his days indoors buried in books, and his friends feared that he might be losing his mind. He also visited Pitlochry in Scotland.

He lived in four different lodgings, only the last of which, lodging with Priscilla and her sister Elizabeth Leale in Clapham (see the photograph), proved satisfactory. Five years later, in his preface to ''Bungakuron'' (''The Criticism of Literature''), he wrote about the period: :The two years I spent in London were the most unpleasant years in my life. Among English gentlemen I lived in misery, like a poor dog that had strayed among a pack of wolves.

He got along well with the Leale sisters, who shared his love of literature (notably Shakespeare—his tutor at UCL was the Shakespeare scholar W. J. Craig—and Milton) and spoke fluent French, much to his admiration. The Leales were a Channel Island family, and Priscilla had been born in France. The sisters worried about Natsume's incipient paranoia and successfully urged him to get out more and take up cycling.

Despite his poverty, loneliness, and mental problems, he solidified his knowledge of English literature during this period and returned to Japan in 1903.

After his return to the Empire of Japan, he replaced Koizumi Yakumo (Lafcadio Hearn) at the First Higher School, and subsequently became a professor of English literature at Tokyo Imperial University, where he taught literary theory and literary criticism.

Literary career

Natsume's literary career began in 1903, when he began to contribute ''haiku'', ''renku'' (''haiku''-style linked verse), ''haitaishi'' (linked verse on a set theme) and literary sketches to literary magazines, such as the prominent ''Hototogisu,'' edited by his former mentor Masaoka Shiki, and later by Takahama Kyoshi. However, it was the public success of his satirical novel ''I Am a Cat'' in 1905 that won him wide public admiration as well as critical acclaim.

He followed on this success with short stories, such as ''Rondon tō'' ("Tower of London") in 1905 and the novels ''Botchan'' ("Little Master"), and ''Kusamakura'' ("Grass Pillow") in 1906, which established his reputation, and which enabled him to leave his post at the university for a position with ''Asahi Shimbun'' in 1907, and to begin writing full-time. Much of his work deals with the relation between Japanese culture and Western culture. Especially his early works are influenced by his studies in London; his novel ''Kairo-kō'' was the earliest and only major prose treatment of the Arthurian legend in Japanese. He began writing one novel a year until his death from a stomach ulcer in 1916.

Major themes in Natsume's works include ordinary people fighting against economic hardship, the conflict between duty and desire (a traditional Japanese theme; see giri), loyalty and group mentality versus freedom and individuality, personal isolation and estrangement, the rapid industrialization of Japan and its social consequences, contempt of Japan's aping of Western culture, and a pessimistic view of human nature. Natsume took a strong interest in the writers of the ''Shirakaba'' (White Birch) literary group. In his final years, authors such as Akutagawa Ryūnosuke and Kume Masao became close followers of his literary style.

Major works

Natsume's major works include: ''Wagahai wa Neko dearu'' ''Rondon Tō'' ''Kairo-kō'' 坊っちゃん ''Kusamakura'' ''Shumi no Iden'' ''Nihyaku-tōka'' 虞美人草 坑夫 ''Yume Jū-ya'' ''Sanshirō'' それから 門 ''Omoidasu Koto nado'' 彼岸過迄 ''Kōjin'' こころ ''Watakushi no Kojin Shugi'' 道草 ''Garasu Do no Uchi'' 明暗

Year	Japanese title		! English title	! Comments
rowspan="3"	1905	吾輩は猫である	|	''I Am a Cat''
倫敦塔	|	''The Tower of London''
薤露行	|	''Kairo-kō''
rowspan="4"	1906	|	''Botchan''	''Botchan''
草枕	|	Kusamakura (novel)>The Three Cornered World''(lit. ''The Grass Pillow'')	latest translation uses Japanese title
趣味の遺伝	|	''The Heredity of Taste''
二百十日	|	''The 210th Day''
1907 in literature	1907	|	''Gubijinsō''	''The Poppy''
rowspan="3"	1908	|	''Kōfu''	''The Miner''
夢十夜	|	''Ten Nights of Dreams''
三四郎	|	''Sanshiro''
1909 in literature	1909	|	''Sorekara''	Sorekara>And Then''
rowspan="2"	1910	|	''Mon''	The Gate (novel)>The Gate''
思い出す事など	|	''Spring Miscellany''
rowspan="2"	1912	|	''Higan Sugi Made''	''To the Spring Equinox and Beyond''
行人	|	The Wayfarer (novel)>The Wayfarer''
rowspan="2"	1914	|	''Kokoro''	''Kokoro''
私の個人主義	|	''My Individualism''	A famous speech
rowspan="2">1915 in literature	1915	|	''Michi Kusa''	''Grass on the Wayside''
硝子戸の中	|	''Inside My Glass Doors''	English translation, 2002
1916 in literature	1916	|	''Mei An''	''Light and Darkness, a novel''	Unfinished

See also

Anglo-Japanese relations

Japanese literature

List of Japanese authors

Natsume Fusanosuke – Natsume's grandson

Mizumura Minae – finished Natsume's last, unfinished novel, ''Light and Darkness''

Sources

Bargen, Doris D. ''Suicidal Honor: General Nogi and the Writings of Mori Ogai and Natsume Sōseki''. University of Hawaii Press (2006). ISBN 0824829980

Brodey, I. S. and S. I. Tsunematsu, ''Rediscovering Natsume Sōseki'', (Kent: Global Oriental, 2000)

Doi, Takeo, trans. by W. J. Tyler, ''The Psychological World of Natsume Sōseki''. Harvard University Asia Center (1976). ISBN 0674721160

Gessel, Van C. ''Three Modern Novelists: Soseki, Tanizaki, Kawabata.'' Kodansha International, 1993

Keene, Donald. ''Dawn to the West: Japanese Literature of the Modern Era: Fiction,'' Chapter 12. 2nd Revised Edition, Columbia University Press, 1998.

Milward, Peter. ''The Heart of Natsume Sōseki: First Impressions of His Novels''. Azuma Shobo (1981). ASIN: B000IK2690

Olson, Lawrence. ''Ambivalent Moderns: Portraits of Japanese Cultural Identity''. Savage, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield (1992). ISBN 0847677397

Ridgeway, William N. ''A Critical Study of The Novels of Natsume Sōseki, 1867–1916''. Edwin Mellen Press (January 28, 2005). ISBN 0773462309

Yu, Beongchoeon. ''Natsume Sōseki''. Macmillan Publishing Company (1984). ISBN 0805728503

References

External links

natsumesoseki.com

Natsume Sōseki at かまくら GreenNet, the website of Kamakura City

Natsume Souseki at Meisaku Live

Video: House of Ogai Mori & Soseki Natsume

Natsume Souseki at Amazon Kindle Store

Sōseki page including links to the entire text of ''Kokoro''

Natsume Sōseki on aozora.gr.jp (complete texts with furigana)

Tohoku University: Natsume Soseki Library

Natsume Sōseki's grave

Category:1867 births Category:1916 deaths Category:Writers from Tokyo Category:People in Meiji period Japan Category:Japanese novelists Category:Japanese poets Category:Japanese short story writers Category:Japanese expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:University of Tokyo alumni Category:Pseudonymous writers

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