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Modern Cinema: Johnnie To

Cops and Robbers

Sunday, July 2 – Sunday, Aug 6, 2017

Hong Kong film director and producer Johnnie To is a master of the contemporary crime film, fusing elements of minimalist French noir (especially the films of Jean-Pierre Melville), the complex narrative structure of Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather trilogy, and the B-movie panache of Seijun Suzuki. Restless and prolific, he has made more than seventy films and has applied his signature style to other genres, including a musical (Johnnie To’s Office). He has shown six films at the Cannes Film Festival and received countless other nominations and awards. His films embody the sociopolitical life, criminal codes, and law enforcement conduct of Hong Kong (and now mainland China), while simultaneously resonating with the greatest films in the genre, many of which are included in this season of Modern Cinema.

Johnnie To will attend the final weekend of the program, August 3–6.

Modern Cinema, co-presented by SFMOMA and SFFILM, is and ongoing film series exploring the dynamic forces interacting between cinema’s past and present.

Modern Cinema’s Founding Supporters are Carla Emil and Rich Silverstein. Generous support is provided by Nion T. McEvoy and the Susan Wildberg Morgenstein Fund.

Header image: (mobile) Johnnie To, Exiled, 2006 (still); photo: courtesy Magnolia Pictures

See all past events
Film
Drug War
Thursday, July 20, 2017, 8:45 p.m.
Man pointing a pistol at someone offscreen
Film
Stray Dog
Thursday, July 20, 2017, 6 p.m.
Two men with guns
Film
Fulltime Killer
Friday, July 21, 2017, 6 p.m.
Man with a shotgun in building
Film
Bound
Friday, July 21, 2017, 8:30 p.m.
Two women sitting on a bed
Film
Lifeline
Saturday, July 22, 2017, 2 p.m.
Two police officers looking at a row of firemen
Film
Heat
Saturday, July 22, 2017, 4:30 p.m.
Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro sitting opposite each other at a diner
Film
Running Out of Time
Saturday, July 22, 2017, 8:30 p.m.
A man and a woman driving at night
Film
Where a Good Man Goes
Sunday, July 23, 2017, 2:30 p.m.
A woman holding a curtain, looking into the camera
Film
The Killing
Sunday, July 23, 2017, 5 p.m.
Three men sitting around a table
Film
Three
Sunday, July 23, 2017, 7:30 p.m.
A man sits in a hospital bed facing another man
Film
Two Men in Manhattan
Thursday, July 27, 2017, 6 p.m.
Two men at night with the New York skyline behind them
Film
Vengeance
Thursday, July 27, 2017, 8:15 p.m.
A man with a gun standing on a street at night
Film
Branded to Kill
Friday, July 28, 2017, 6 p.m.
A woman looking into the camera as she hugs a man
Film
Blind Detective
Friday, July 28, 2017, 8:30 p.m.
Film still of a man pointing a gun and holding a human skull
Film
PTU
Saturday, July 29, 2017, 8:30 p.m.
A female police officer looking down
Film
A Hero Never Dies
Saturday, July 29, 2017, 3 p.m.
Man standing at a shop counter
Film
The Harder They Come
Saturday, July 29, 2017, 5:30 p.m.
Film still from Harder They Come
Film
Johnnie To’s Office
Sunday, July 30, 2017, 4 p.m.
People standing in an office
Film
The Sicilian Clan
Sunday, July 30, 2017, 7 p.m.
Four men sitting around a table
Talks
An Evening with Johnnie To
Thursday, August 3, 2017, 7:30 p.m.
Photo of filmmaker Johnnie To
Film
Election
Friday, August 4, 2017, 6 p.m.
Angry man being held back by police
Film
Triad Election (a.k.a. Election 2)
Friday, August 4, 2017, 8:45 p.m.
Six men sitting in a row
Film
The Mission
Saturday, August 5, 2017, 2 p.m.
​A man wearing sunglasses going up an escalator
Film
The Godfather
Saturday, August 5, 2017, 4:30 p.m.
Marlon Brando in a suit smoking a cigar
Film
Exiled
Saturday, August 5, 2017, 8:30 p.m.
Four gang members standing in a desert
Film
Breaking News
Sunday, August 6, 2017, 2:30 p.m.
Man holding two pistols
Film
The Wild Bunch (Director’s Cut)
Sunday, August 6, 2017, 5 p.m.
Four cowboys walking with guns through a village
Film
Life Without Principle
Sunday, August 6, 2017, 8:15 p.m.
A man holds up a bottle of whiskey