#1092: TO, Johnnie: Throw Down (2004)

TO, Johnnie (Hong Kong)

Throw Down (2004)

Spine #1092
Blu-ray

One of the most personal films by the prolific Hong Kong auteur Johnnie To is a thrilling love letter to both the cinema of Akira Kurosawa and the art and philosophy of judo. Amid the neon-drenched nightclubs and gambling dens of Hong Kong’s nocturnal underworld, the fates of three wandering souls—a former judo champion now barely scraping by as an alcoholic bar owner (Louis Koo), a young fighter (Aaron Kwok) intent on challenging him, and a singer (Cherrie Ying) chasing dreams of stardom—collide in an operatic explosion of human pain, ambition, perseverance, and redemption. Paying offbeat homage to Kurosawa’s debut feature, Sanshiro Sugata, To scrambles wild comedy, flights of lyrical surrealism, and rousing martial-arts action into what is ultimately a disarmingly touching ode to the healing power of friendship.

95 minutes
Color
5.1 Surround
Cantonese

2:35:1 aspect ratio

Criterion Release 2021

Director/Writers

Script by Yau Nai-Hoi, Yip Tin-Shing and Au Kin-Yee.

Johnnie To was 49 when he directed Throw Down.

Other To films in the Collection:

#1207a: The Heroic Trio (1993)

The Film

A

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Eight-panel foldout poster featuring an essay by film critic Sean Gilman.

Commentary

None.

Interview

From 2004 with director To.

Interviews

With coscreenwriter Yau Nai-hoi, composer Peter Kam, and film scholars David Bordwell and Caroline Guo.

Short making-of documentary

From 2004 featuring To and actors Koo, Kwok, Ying, and Leung Ka-fai.

Trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

99

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