Assassin (film)

Professional killer Jeffrey accidentally blinds singer Jenny during a task, firing close to her face. In an attempt to save her eyes, he wraps her face with his white scarf. Jenny goes to the hospital, where she is informed that her vision can be returned by transplanting the cornea .

It takes some time. Jeffrey is sitting in a bar where blind Jenny sings, but the killer at first does not recognize her. On the street, a couple of hooligans attack Jenny, but Jeffrey saves Jenny from them and escorts her home. There he sees on a hanger his scarf stained with blood and realizes that he is guilty of the fact that the girl lost her sight. Jenny herself sees too poorly and does not know who saved her from the attack.

Jeffrey often visits Jenny and realizes that he has fallen in love. In order to raise money for the operation, he agrees to the latter case. He must kill the Mafia boss Wang Dongyuan (licensed in the Cinema Prestige - Wong Yu) during a sporting event. The police suspect that Wong may be killed and sends two policemen as inspectors - Inspector Li Ying (Cinema Prestige - Lee Inga) and Sergeant Zeng E (Cinema Prestige - Tsang E). Geoffrey comes to the competition site by boat and kills Wang with a sniper rifle . He throws a weapon into the water and swims away, but Li and Zeng rush in pursuit.

A-Zhuang (Cinema Prestige - A-Jeong) escapes from the chase on the island, but he has already come to the attention of the police and the organization that sent him immediately decides to remove the killer. Jeffrey is attacked, a shootout begins, in which Li and Zeng come to the rescue. As a result, the little girl was injured by a stray bullet and Geoffrey drove her to a local hospital. There, he came face to face with Inspector Lee, but, making sure that the girl was alive, Jeffrey safely escapes.

Lee becomes obsessed with the idea of ​​catching a killer. He learns that a few months ago there was a case with a blinded singer and a similar hitman. Lee decides that since the sentimental killer saved the girl on the island, he was supposed to help this casual victim. He awaits Jeffrey's arrival at Jenny's house and the opponents freeze again, pointing pistols at each other. Lee introduces Jenny as an old friend of Jeffrey. He says that in childhood Jeffrey had the nickname "Mickey Mouse," and Lee himself had the nickname "Dumbo." Jeffrey supports Lee's game and escapes without picking up Jenny. After his departure, Lee tells the truth about Mickey's personality and about his.

At home, the killer waits for payment for the murder of Wang and Fung Sei comes to him. This man had handed over tasks to Jeffrey for many years, and the killer already considered him his friend. But Fung Sei comes without money and, grabbing a gun from Geoffrey, points the barrel at him. He pulls the trigger with difficulty, but Geoffrey is trickier and there are no bullets in the gun. Then he defends himself against several killers who came after Say and kills them. When asked by Say why Geoffrey had not escaped from the city, the killer replies that he did not receive money for the work, and this is not according to the rules of the mafia. He leaves Fung Sai alive and wants to leave, but Say asks if Jeffrey has any ammunition left. Killer replies that he always leaves one for himself if things go wrong, or for the enemy if the situation develops well. Say thanks Jeffrey for saving his life.

The killer comes directly to the mafia base and witnesses a scene in which Fung Sei kneels before the new boss Wang Hai (Cinema Prestige - Wong Hoi) and asks to give Jeffrey the money owed to him. The killer starts a shootout and, having killed several people of Hai, leaves. Fung Sai follows, and a heated debate takes place between them on the side of the road. Jeffrey says that if Fung Sei considers him his friend, then he should not kneel. Say declares that honor is not an empty word for him and promises to return Geoffrey his money. Reconciled, they drive home to Fung Sai.

The next day, with the help of a trick, Jeffrey manages to meet with Jenny. While Say was pretending to be a killer, Geoffrey safely left with Jenny. Sai was arrested by Lee, but could not show him anything. Sei left the police station and drove to his home, but Wang Hai and Sergeant Zeng began to chase him on the road. As a result, Sei safely disappeared, and the seriously wounded Zeng was taken to the hospital. There, he soon died and Lee promised that he would definitely arrest Jeffrey.

Lee gets to Fung Sai’s house and points a gun at Jeffrey, but the people of Haya immediately attack the house and the opponents join forces for a while. Having got out, they go to church, where this man promises to come with money, and talk about how they could become friends. Arriving at the place, they see that Jenny is almost blind and can no longer hesitate. Jeffrey asks Lee in case of death to take his body to the hospital so that Jenny will have his cornea transplanted or, if not, use the money.

Meanwhile, Fung Sei is demanding Wang Hai money from Jeffrey. Disassembly begins, Say kills several opponents, but he is disarmed and beaten. Wang Hai calls Sei a dog and an angry mafia manages to take his weapon and take Hai hostage. When asked if he still had ammunition, Say replied that he always left alone. He gets the money and wants to kill Khai, but there are no rounds. Then Say stuns the Mafia boss and leaves. The whole gang led by Chai sets off in pursuit.

Say comes to church. Seeing a battered friend, Geoffrey says that you should not go into the lair of the mafia for money, because friends always forgive each other's debts. But Say says that he did what he had to, and is ready to die, only he has no bullet left. A tear flows down the killer's cheek and he kills Fung Sai. Soon the whole large gang comes to the church and Mickey Mouse with Dumbo, armed, ready to meet them.

As a result of this bloody skirmish, two friends receive many wounds and kill countless enemies. There was only one left - High, hiding behind Jenny. Jeffrey reminds Lee of his request, and the inspector realizes that Mickey is going to sacrifice his life for Jenny. But the ending is more tragic. Jeffrey loses his eyes from Huy's bullet. Completely blinded, Jenny crawls on the ground in search of a loved one, and he freezes without moving and, apparently, dies. Huy runs out to the police around the church and surrenders, knowing that now they will not kill him. But he is mistaken: Survivor Lee, who is still alive, forgets about the policeman’s duty and avenges the head of the mafia for the death of a friend.

• Chow Yunfat - Jeffrey / "Mickey Mouse" (in the original version - A Zong ) (translated by Cinema Prestige - A Jeong )
• Danny Lee - Inspector Lee Ying / Dumbo (translated by Cinema Prestige - Lee Ying )
• Sally E - Jenny
• Kenneth Zeng Jiang (Chiang Gong) - Sergeant Zeng E (translated Cinema Prestige - Tsang E )
• Zhu Jiang (uncredited - Kon Chu) - Fung Sei
• Cheng Kui'an (Sing Fuyon) (as Fui-On Sin) - Wang Hai (translated by Cinema Prestige - Wong Hoi )
• Ye Rongzu (Yip Wingjou) (as Yip Wing Cho) - Wang Dongyuan (translated by Cinema Prestige - Wong Yu )

John Wu wrote the script for the film, influenced by directors such as Jean-Pierre Melville and Martin Scorsese, and, in particular, their films Samurai ^[1] and Evil Streets . ^[2] And his “Hired Killer”, in turn, influenced the then-beginning directors: Luke Besson , Robert Rodriguez , Quentin Tarantino and Johnny To . This influence is not difficult to notice in such films as “ Leon ” and “ Nikita ” by Besson ^{[3] [4]} , “ Musician ” and “ Desperate ” by Rodriguez ^{[5] [3]} , “ Heroes do not die ”, “ The Way of a Good Man ” and " Profession killer " That ^{[6] [7]} . In addition, the style of the “Assassin” is used by Tarantino in the films “ Reservoir Dogs ” and “ Pulp Fiction ”, as well as in Tony Scott 's film “ True Love ” ^{[8] [9]} .

• 1989 - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director (John Woo) and Best Actor (Kun Wing Fan)

• Elder, Robert K. John Woo: Interviews . - University Press of Mississippi, 2005 .-- 194 p. - ISBN 1578067766 .
• Hall, Kenneth E. John Woo: The Films . - Hong Kong University Press, 2009 .-- 125 p. - ISBN 9789622099562 .
• Mazdon, Lucy. Encore Hollywood: Remaking French Cinema . - British Film Institute, 2000. - 169 p. - ISBN 0851708005 .
• Rodriguez, Robert. Rebel Without a Crew . - Plume, 1996 .-- 285 p. - ISBN 9780452271876 .
• Woo, John. Exclusive Interview with Director John Woo (DVD) . - Dragon Dynasty, 2010. Archived February 25, 2012. Archived February 25, 2012 on Wayback Machine

• The Hired Killer on the Internet Movie Database
• Hired Assassin on allmovie  
• Hired killer on the poster of the poster