John Woo

Even though John Woo (Chinese name: 吳宇森 Wu2 Yu3sen1) is known especially for the ballet-like violence in his movies, he is also in a way a Christian filmmaker. When asked about the doves that keep appearing in his films, he said:

"I love doves. I am a Christian. Doves represent the purity of love, beauty. They're spiritual. Also the dove is a messenger between people and God. When I was in high school and I used to draw posters for the church, I would draw a picture of a dove. When I shot The Killer, these two men, the killer and the cop, they work in different ways, but their souls are pure, because they do the right thing. In the church scene, I wanted to bring them together. I wanted to use a metaphor of the heart. I came up with doves-they're white. When the men die, I cut to the dove flying-it's the soul, rescued and safe, and also pure of heart. So the dove became one of my habits: I used it in Hard-boiled, Face/Off?, and in [M:I-2], at the end of the movie."

http://www.premieremag.com/Premiere/Article/New/0,2050,174_3791_5,00.html

Born in China, Woo became a famous director in Hong Kong. He started making films in the US in the 1990s, most of them were rather mediocre action movies. Face/Off? was his first film made in Hollywood that critics and other movie-goers equally appreciated, while [[MI:2]] was - again - a rather lousy action flick - albeit a blockbuster.

Windtalkers? (2001)

[[Mission: Impossible II]] (2000)

[Hong Kong Face-Off]? (1998)

Blackjack (1998) (TV)

Face/Off? (1997)

[[Once a Thief: Brother Against Brother]] (1996) (TV)

[Broken Arrow]? (1996)

[Hard Target]? (1993)

[Lashou shentan]? (1992) English title: Hard-boiled

[Zong sheng si hai]? (1990) Once a Thief (

[Die xue jie tou]? (1990) Bullet in the Head

[Die xue shuang xiong]? (1989) The Killer

[Yi dan qun ying]? (1987) Tragic Heroes

[Yinghung bunsik II]? (1987) A Better Tomorrow II

Ying huang boon sik (1986) A Better Tomorrow

Ying xiong wei lei (1986) Heroes Shed No Tears

Liang zhi lao hu (1985) Run Tiger Run

Xiao jiang (1984) The time you need a friend

Ba cai Lin Ya Zhen (1982) Plain Jane to the Rescue

Hua ji shi dai (1981) Laughing Times

Mo deng tian shi (1981) To Hell with the Devil

Ha luo, ye gui ren (1978) Hello, Late Homecomers

Hao xia (1978) Last Hurrah for Chivalry

Da sha xing yu xiao mei tou (1977) Follow the Star

Fa qian han (1977) Money Crazy

Qian zuo guai (1977) From Riches to Rags

Din?hua (1975) (as Yusen Wu) Princess Chang Ping

Shao Lin men (1975) Hand of Death

Tie han rou qing (1975) Ninja Kids

Nu zi tai quan qun ying hui (1974) Belles of Taekwondo