Short Reviews of Wong Kar Wai Films

As Tears Go By, 1988

Wong Kar Wai showed his rebellious intention of unwilling to compromise to commercialized HK film industry with this feature debut wrapped up cleverly in an audience favorite gangster-themed subject. Though the filmmaking was very rough, you can still tell that this is a very unconventional HK movie. Even Maggie Cheung once said it was Wong who enlightened her acting talent. But I believe it was Jacky Cheung who got the showiest role. The repeating Cantonese cover of "Take My Breath Away" by Sandy Lam still sounds so classic in the film.

Days of Being Wild, 1990

A massive leap for Wong from "As Tears Go By," he proved himself the most daring and worthy HK director with this deeply nostalgic piece about people can never find a substitute comfort if they never had a root where they feel belonging to in the first place. Even so, they would still be obsessed with finding that root which they may never find. The film was so beautifully made with the big name cast to celebrate the born of a new master together. A great first chapter of what I call the "Nostalgia for the 60's" trilogy.

Chungking Express, 1994

The most stylish modern urban tale ever made, and Wong only took a very short time to make it. It contains two parts, the first part is an opposite-attraction story with a double meaning, the second part is a hide-and-seek, lost-and-found story. The characters from different parts passed by each other which I think responded to Kieslowski's chance theme. It seems like borrowing from "The Double Life of Veronique," but this is what makes it even more interesting to me. Faye Wong's film acting debut was unforgettable with her cool Cantonese cover of the Cranberries's "Dreams."

Ashes of Time, 1994

After so many years, it hasn't gone with the wind like its title. Instead, the film gradually became a cult's favorite. Wong was probably the only director who insisted to film a martial art piece in actual locations instead of in the studios. He was notorious for the endless spending and delaying, but he is ironically esteemed now for his insistence, especially after the huge success of Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger." Even it's loosely based on the favorite wuxia novel "The Eagle Shooting Heroes" by Louis Cha, the film continues Wong's constant theme of the regrets and loss of love.

Fallen Angels, 1995

The originally-planned third act of "Chungking Express" is actually very far from the delightful tone. This more experimental piece by Wong is a daring mix of film-noir and black comedy. It also can be seen as a modern extension of "Ashes of Time" with a contract killer, a killer's agent, a woman who seeks revenge and a deaf guy who tries to get attentions. All of them found nowhere out tragically, but after the depressing and self-destructing process, Wong still gave us a brighter ending.

Happy Together, 1997

Wong made this film with a multiple meaning. As HK people tried to get away to the other side of the world because of the return to China in '97, Wong took them there with two gay characters who were inspired by Rainer Werner Fassbinder's themes of loneliness and isolation. "Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves" which was composed by Peer Raben in Fassbinder's "Querelle" can be used to describe the relationship of the leading roles perfectly. But instead of actually leading them to death as originally planned, he gave them a chance to be reborn or to regret and atone which everyone should get as well.

In the Mood for Love, 2000

The long anticipated Wong Kar Wai film didn't fail everyone's expectation. It continues the simple two-character act of "Happy Together" and surrounds them through out the entire film. This following chapter of the "Nostalgia for the 60's" trilogy arrived 10 years later with the character who showed up at the very end of "Days of Being Wild" and finally became a real part. To me, it inherits the suspenseful atmosphere in Michelangelo Antonioni's "Eclipse" which keeps the audience hanging and craving for more after the end.

2046, 2004

The final chapter of the "Nostalgia for the 60's" trilogy is Wong's most ambitious work to date. It went back to the multiple storyline of "Days of Being Wild" and "Ashes of Time" with a big name cast again. Though it was nothing like "In the Mood for Love" which everyone anticipated, it's still very fascinating and full of Wong's trademark signatures. To many people, it shows Wong's self-indulgence. To me, it proves that Wong is still the same person who is unwilling to compromise as he was when he released his debut back in the 80's.

Eros, 2004

This whole project was to celebrate Antonioni, but his part was ironically the least favorite of all three parts. But the collaboration by three of the most celebrated filmmakers alive is still very much worth to celebrate. Wong's part is acknowledged as the best with a simple story surrounds a young tailer and a high-class prostitute which has rich metaphors. Soderbergh's part is very experimental and playfully interesting. The master's part is mostly about the presentation of the erotic images, but it either shows it all or nothing depends on different perspectives.

My Blueberry Nights, 2007

Wong's first English feature returned to the delightful with a slightly sentimental tone of "Chungking Express." Regrets, loss and heartbreaking characters, Wong mixed all his old materials and make it into a collaged road film as a homage to the classical American genre. Norah Jones feels like an extension of Faye Wong without the mysterious and careless. David Strathairn and Rachel Weisz's part was a reprise of "Happy Together." Natalie Portman's gambler responds to Gong Li in "2046." As for Jude Law, he's the delicious blueberry pie that no one orders except for Jones.

To Each His Own Cinema, 2007

Another collection of short films which gathered the 33 distinguished directors/co-directors in the world to express each of their point of views about their passion, cinema. It is a feast for movie buffs but too few of the segments can actually impress the audience. Wong Kar Wai's part was poetic as always but not as memorable as his other short films. The most impressive ones were still from the provoking directors such as Cronenberg, Polanski and von Trier. Lynch strangely became an Easter egg in the DVD.

Ashes of Time Redux, 2008

The martial art classic was finally restored which it definitely deserves to be. Instead of made only for a new DVD/Blu-ray release, Wong decided to re-edit and re-score it to make it a re-release to the theaters. But Wong's director's cut is even shorter without ever picking up the footages on the editing room floor. The quality is for sure enhanced, but the presentation of this redux apparently doesn't satisfy all the die-hard cult fans.

Cinematized Eileen Chang

I finally watched "Love in a Fallen City" directed by Ann Hui and released in 1984 a few days ago and witnessed what people said was over-carved about it. In fact, there wasn't any problem with the words in it. The problem was Hui's method, especially as a female director, wasn't as good as Stanley Kwan's or Ang Lee's later on. Of course, some people would say Kwan can't be put in the comparison because he's gay, and Lee is famous for being incredibly anal. But I saw a few interesting resemblances and connections from these Eileen Chang adaptations.

The Hong Kong and Taiwanese audience probably knows more that Chow Yun-Fat was a acclaimed actor in realistic and romantic genres before he became the hero in John Woo's movies. Hui was naturally one of his benefactors. The leading role in "Love in a Fallen City" made his unrestrained but affectionate image. Mabel Cheung's "An Autumn's Tale " was even one of his representative works. But everyone took him as an action figure for granted after Woo until Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" which dug the romanticism out of him again. But he was in fact the second choice after Jet Li passed on it. Comparing to the delicate quality and face features of Rene Liu who portrayed Eileen Chang herself in a bio-TV series, the leading actress Cory Miu in "Love" might fit Chang's traditional yet resolute quality better. Though she was criticized for not being traditional enough and plainly acted, I, however, think she presented the most vivid character out of Chang's writings to date, but she didn't fully develop her acting skill shamefully.

Wu Chien-Lien, who played a major part in Lee's "Eat Drink Man Woman," was casted as the female leading role in Ann Hui's "Eighteen Springs" later on. It was an interestingly interactive interlude. Joan Chen, who was originated in Shanghai, is fully westernized and naturally the best choice for the Red Rose in Stanley Kwan's "Red Rose White Rose." Winston Chao, who was discovered by Ang Lee, was transformed from the modern gay yuppie in "The Wedding Banquet" to the womanizer in early twentieth century Shanghai in "Red." He was also casted as Eileen Chang's first husband Hu Lan-Cheng later on. Ang Lee also casted Joan Chen in "Lust, Caution" as Tony Leung's wife. There seems to be also some sort of a Eileen Chang curse to end acting careers. The White Rose in "Red" Veronica Yip was married and retired soon after it. Anita Mui in "Eighteen Spring" died at a young age. Tang Wei in "Lust, Caution" was casted away by the Chinese government after playing the instantly classic role. But she seems to be benefited from Chang again by getting a role in a newly released HK film. Maybe she'll play another role in another adaptation of Chang's someday later. Tony Leung and Joan Chen won their Golden Horse Awards together twice coincidentally, Ge You in "Eighteen" was already a Cannes Best Actor winner, and Leon Lai in the same film also won his Golden Horse Award later on. The late Taiwanese director Fred Tan's "Rouge of the North" is the only film adapted from Chang's fully-English-written novel to date. It also won a supporting actress a Golden Horse Award then and is the only film adaptation I haven't watched yet.

From "Love" to "Lust," besides Chang Zheng for "Rouge" and Lee Pin-Bing for "Eighteen," the rest of the dps were all westerners. It makes me wonder if it fits Chang's taste more by looking through a westerner's eye. Tony Hope for "Love" only shot five films in HK, and "Love" was the last one. There seems to be no record of showing his latter works. Christopher Doyle was naturally chosen for "Red" after his famous retrospective work in "Days of Being Wild," and the cinematography did make the film look outstanding. It didn't look like the same case for "Lust" but more like Lee's preference of recruiting the well-collaborated crews from previous works. For example, Frederick Elmes, who joined the film industry with David Lynch, worked with Lee in three of his films, "The Ice Storm," "Ride with the Devils" and "The Hulk." He is also Jim Jarmusch's preferable cinematographer. Rodrigo Prieto, who was nominated for an Oscar for "Brokeback Mountain," was firstly noticed for Alejandro González Iñárritu's "Amores Perros," which was beaten by "Crouching Tiger" at the Oscars in the Foreign Film Category. He must be given loads of reference films by the constant homework-giving Lee. His outstanding effort won himself a grand technical award at Venice Film Festival.

Lee recruited Lai Pan, the double Golden Horse Award winner for "Red," as the production and costume designer for "Lust." He, as a Korean, seems to know better about the period than the other HK and Taiwanese professionals. As for the score, the score of "Love" by the HK pop music godmother Lam Man-Yee still couldn't get rid of the cheesiness of HK pop music. The score of "Red" by the Taiwanese musician Johnny Chen has the surprisingly international momentum. Lee got the currently famous French composer Alexandre Desplat for "Lust." The continuously coiling melody distributes an epic spirit. The score of "Rouge" was by the late distinguished Taiwanese musician Peter Chang. I'm looking forward to its performance in the film.

Adapting Chang is of course a great challenge for screenwriters. "Love"'s Fengcho, "Rouge"'s Tan and "Red"'s Edward Lam all did it as a fan, but they didn't have much experience in screenwriting. HK blockbuster writer Chan Kin Chung showed his literate skills in "Eighteen" but fell average unfortunately, but his screenplay for Johnnie To's "Sparrow" two years ago won himself some reputations instead. As usual, Lee handed the work to his teammates Wang Hui-Ling, who wrote the teleplay for Chang''s bio-TV series, and James Schamus. The collision of east and west made the sparks that matched Lee's big picture once again and also brought Chang's adaptation to a whole new level. In fact, Hou Hsiao-Hsien's "Flowers of Shanghai" is related to Chang as well. Apart from Heng Bangqing's original chapters from Ching Dynasty, it also took references in Chang's English translations necessarily. It boldly casted the modern figures such as Tony Leung, Carina Lau and Michelle Reis, Jack Kao was the only actor who got in touch with another Chang's adaptation "Rouge" before. Chiu T'ien-Wen's delicate adaptation, Huang Wen-Ying's exquisite artwork and Lee Pin-Bing's thoughtful shots all delivered Chang's infiltration of the story.

I have a not-so-unique imagination. If Wong Kar Wai filmed "Love" and "Eighteen" instead of Hui, the result would definitely be much better. He, as a representative director for romanticism of HK cinema, is good at making atmosphere that brings extra points to a film singly. I believe anyone who have seen "Days of Being Wild" and "In the Mood for Love" would agree with me. I also believe that Tony Leung got the part in "Lust" must had something to do with his work in "In" which made him a Cannes Best Actor winner. Kwan in fact considered Maggie Cheung as the Red Rose in "Red," but that's more related to "Yuen Ling Yuk" than Wong's films.

Postscript: the film adaptations of Chang's literature works

1984 Love in a Fallen City (Ann Hui, HK)

1988 Rouge of the North (Fred Tan, Taiwan)

1994 Red Rose White Rose (Stanley Kwan, HK)

1997 Eighteen Springs (Ann Hui, HK/China)

1998 Flowers of Shanghai (Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Taiwan)

2007 Lust, Caution (Ang Lee, Taiwan/China/US)