Professional assassin O has resided in an isolated world of killing and loneliness. But his life begins to change once he meets the innocent Chin; hired to clean O's apartment. However, soon the flamboyent and reckless Tok enters Chin's life with a mission to unveil O's identity and usurp his place as the number one sharp-shooting assassin in the game.
Direction
Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai's synchronized chaos.
Cinematography
Glass, rain, and neon — every frame a poster.
Acting
Andy Lau's unhinged showboat vs. Sorimachi's ghost.
Director
Johnnie To
Andy Lau
Lok Tok-Wah
Takashi Sorimachi
O
Simon Yam
Albert Lee
Kelly Lin Hsi-Lei
Chin
Cherrie Ying Choi-Yi
Gigi
Lam Suet
Fat Ice
Teddy Lin Wai-Kin
C7
Patrick Ling Chi-Hung
Bodyguard
Choi Kwok-Keung
Bodyguard
Ching Kwok-Leung
Bodyguard
Ho Hon-Chau
Killer
Rocky Lai Keung-Ken
Bald Thug (uncredited)
Liu Chun-Hung
Man in Jail (uncredited)
Ernest Mauser
Priest (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Fulltime Killer was Johnnie To's attempt to bridge arthouse and commercial cinema, deliberately overloading style to critique the very hitman genre he helped define.
Takashi Sorimachi, a Japanese pop star, spoke no Cantonese — his entire performance was phonetically learned, adding an uncanny detachment that accidentally perfects O's alienation.
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