Set in Hong Kong during the time of the Vietnam War, Bullet in the head tells the story of three best friends, Ben (Tony Leung) Frank (Jacky Cheung) and Paul (Waise Lee) all with a similar goal in life to get out of the gutter and make something of themselves. But when the three accidentally kill a member of a rival gang in a revenge attack, they flee to Saigon from their family and loved ones, most notably Tony Leungs character Ben that has just been wed that night.
Eventually landing them selves in the hands of a cool and collected hitman played brilliantly by Simon Yam. Jackie Cheung’s character falls for a night club singer, who is being basically held against her will and being plied with dope by a ruthless gangster, whom the Hitman reluctantly works for. But when the three friend’s team up with the hitman they rob the gangster boss of his gold and end up in a shoot out with all of Woo’s usual flair and perfect direction.
Woo’s film carries some powerful messages about greed and friendship. Most notably one of the films most disturbing scenes where Ben is forced to kill American soldiers captured by the Vietcong, but even under an extreme amount of pressure refuses to kill Frank, who has at this point began to lose it completely.
The character of Paul, played frighteningly realistically by Waise Lee, is obsessed with getting away with every single piece of gold intact. And when almost being caught by Vietcong…well I won’t tell you what he does but it goes to show how far a man would go for wealth and power.
An almost too real take on war in itself, Bullet in the head is one of those movies that you almost question yourself after you’ve watched it, where you ask yourself what is more important in life, Money? Or Friend-ship?