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42 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
MoodPlayr · trivia#01
The Time You Need a Friend
1984 1h 31m ZH
🤯
9.0
MASTERPIECE
★9.0TMDB · 1
DramaComedy
Synopsis
Spoiler shield
John Woo's melodramatic tragicomedy The Time You Need a Friend (1985) stands at the crucial crossroads in the director's career. Woo had been churning out innocuous comedies for more than a few years, and after establishing the "heroic bloodshed" genre, he'd never look back. But this tale of two comedians - estranged former pals who bury the hatchet for one last show together - blends the pathos and male-bonding of Woo's later dramas with the silliness and pratfalls that marked his early works. At their peak, Ku Ren and Shem Bien were an unstoppable screen comedy team, the undisputed stars of the silent era. But a major falling out has kept the duo offstage for decades. Despite the urgings of family and friends, Ku and Shem refuse to reconcile. As both men approach their twilight years, one last chance for a reunion presents itself in the form of a televised charity benefit. Ku Ren and Shem Bien struggle to come to terms with years of bitterness, and bring the house down once again.
“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”
Cast
Sun Yueh
David Tao
Linda Jui-Chi Liu
Hsiao Hou Tao
Kuan Kuan
Chiang Hsia
Chu Feng-Kang
Meng Yen Liu
Credits
Behind the camera
- Director
- John Woo
- Languages
- Mandarin
- Countries
- Hong Kong, Taiwan
Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.
Did you know?
Fun facts 🍿
Cinephile deep dive
The take
John Woo directs. Chow Yip-Hing behind the camera. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Hong Kong, Taiwan. Dialogue in Mandarin.
Trivia
Things worth knowing
- 142 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
- 2International production across 2 countries: Hong Kong, Taiwan.
- 3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
- 4Directed by John Woo, shot by Chow Yip-Hing. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
- 5Sun Yueh and David Tao and Linda Jui-Chi Liu carry the top of the cast.
- 6IMDB entry: tt0088421 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
- 7Only 1 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
The technical file
- Cinematography
- Chow Yip-Hing
- Runtime
- 91 min · 1h 31m
- Status
- Released
- Original language
- ZH
Also by
John Woo
Production companies
Who made it
Cinema City Company Limited
HK
Key crew
- PresenterDean Shek Tin
- PresenterKarl Maka
- ProducerEric Tsang
- ProducerRaymond Wong
Release history · US
When it landed
- Theatrical1985-01-10
- Theatrical1984-08-23
