Once a Thief 1990

views updated

Once a Thief ★★ Zong Heng Si Hai 1990 (R)

Minor Woo. Three orphaned children are raised to be thieves by crime boss/surrogate father Chow (Tsang). As adults, Joe (Chow), Jim (Cheung), and Cherie (Chung) have just completed an other successful art heist and Cherie thinks it's time they retire. Instead, they agree to one last job—stealing a painting from a heavily guarded French villa. But it turns out to be a set-up and Joe is apparently killed. He returns, in a wheelchair, two years later—seeking revenge against Chow, who betrayed them. Chinese with subtitles. Woo went on to use a variation of this premise for his TV movie/series of the same name. 108m/C VHS, DVD . HK Chow Yun-Fat, Leslie Cheung, Cherie Chung, Kenneth Tsang; D: John Woo; W: John Woo.