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“Told you sparrows bring bad luck.”

Every director has a passion project of his or her own. Although every project is one they had always been planning to do or were interested in doing, the difference to other project, sometimes is quite huge, which, of course, is not necessarily a positive aspect. Directors like Stanley Kubrick or Terry Gilliam have worked on their individual projects for many years, sometimes with no conclusion in sight, as in the case of the former and his “Napoleon” project.

In the case of Chinese director Johnnie To, “Sparrow” (2008) definitely qualifies as a passion project in the body of the work of the director. For a director and producer, who sometimes released three to four different films per year in his career, “Sparrow” is quite the oddity. Shooting took place over a period of three years during which he released many famous entries of his body of work,...

One of the the most prolific directors in Hong Kong, let alone the world, Johnnie To is a filmmaker who I’m surprised has never been asked to join the Criterion Collection with any number of his films. Until now, perhaps. Not only did IFC Films pick up his critically acclaimed film Vengeance (which was put out by Mpi Home Video) but they also recently asked him what his 10 favorite Criterion films were, which you can see right here. He’s very short and sweet as to why he loves these films, but while perusing the list, one can see his influence and how he crafts his films.

So we here at the Criterion Cast like to play guessing games and are wishful thinkers, so here’s a top 10 Johnnie To films that we wish could enter the Criterion Collection. Remember, a lot of hands are on these films, in...

Sparrow is a weird little movie. It's an obvious pet project by director Johnnie To that moves in its own breezy rhythm, no doubt an aftereffect of its lax shooting style. Over a period of three years, To and his tight crew—which includes usual faces like Simon Yam and Lam Ka Tung—would shoot scenes for Sparrow in-between their big projects. It's obvious that it's not one of To's best, but it's a very loose and fun film nonetheless.

You can tell it's a To film by its quartet of male anti-heroes. Simon Yam plays Kei, the leader of a quartet of "sparrows" (Hong Kong slang for pickpockets). A beautiful woman (the luminous Kelly Lin) from mainland China enters all their lives separately, and soon they are tangled in a dangerous game against the woman's husband, an old and powerful gang boss. A pretty lady wants to escape a...