Chun Gwong Ja Sit / Happy Together (1997) - Starting Anew while Facing Struggles - 7/10 (17/10/24)

Happy Together, originally known as Chun Gwong Ja Sit, is Wong Kar-Wai's sixth full length feature film that was released just a month before British Hong Kong was transferred to the People's Republic of China. This movie remains faithful to some of the director's typical trademarks such as experimental camera work, a profound focus on character development and an eclectic soundtrack. However, this film also walks off the beaten path since it has been filmed in Argentina, Hong Kong and Taiwan, its two protagonists form a homosexual couple and the story doesn't involve any gangster movie elements.

This film tells the story of a homosexual couple consisting of ambitious and hard-working Lai Yiu-Fai as well as spontaneous and free-spirited Ho Po-Wing. They have decided to leave British Hong Kong to give their unstable relationship a fresh start in Argentina. The protagonists initially embrace the energy of football, the feeling of the Spanish language and the techniques of tango. However, they soon grow apart again. While Lai Yiu-Fai gets different jobs and works hard to pay for a plane ticket back home, Ho Po-Wing gets involved with a series of lovers who are abusive and leave him mentally and physically scarred. The protagonists try to reunite time and again but fail to be on the same wavelength. Things get even more complicated when Lai Yiu-Fai falls in love with dynamic Taiwanese work colleague Chang who wants to travel the world.

Happy Together convinces in several departments. First of all, this movie is shot in black and white with only a few segments shot in colour. This provides much atmospheric depth and also tells viewers that the film takes place in the time when British Hong Kong still existed in the last millennium. Up next, the idea to portray the struggles of a homosexual couple living abroad was courageous, innovative and surprising in the mid-nineties and shows perspectives many viewers might not yet have been aware of. By doing so, it also spreads a wonderful inclusive message that is still on the pulse of time. The acting performances are so credible that one could think that Tony Leung, Leslie Cheung and Chang Chen are simply being themselves. The settings in Argentina are intriguing, new and unique. The fact that simple living quarters, busy nocturnal downtown areas and sinister slaughterhouses are shown adds to the film's serious atmosphere. These locations are intertwined with wonderful shots of the famous Iguazú Falls and the southernmost lighthouse on continental America located close to Ushuaia. The settings might truly make viewers want to visit Argentina.

However, Happy Together isn't without several flaws. The film's pace is particularly slow throughout and it takes much dedication, focus and patience to enjoy this movie from start to finish. The story remains simple and several plot devices are repeated on too many occasions, such as the frequent arguments between Lai Yiu-Fai and Ho Po-Wing. The film's ending leaves numerous questions unanswered as viewers are tasked to imagine the rest which could frustrate spectators who might have been hoping for a thorough conclusion. Several scenes that have additionally been shot in Argentina and that can be viewed in the making-of segment, haven't made it into the final version of this film or into any other feature film by Wong Kar-Wai. Some promising potential has thus been wasted as especially Shirley Kwan's participation as a stunning actress would have deserved some recognition. Perhaps viewers will one day get an extended cut or a sequel made out of scenes shot in those chaotic days in the mid-nineties.

At the end of the day, Happy Together shows much promise with remarkable acting skills, excellent camera work, a beautiful inclusive message, wonderful plot elements and diversified settings. This film however suffers from its slow pace, unused additional scenes and vague ending sequences. Many parts of this movie have been randomly put together. Some viewers might praise this spontaneity while others might criticize its directionlessness. Even though I appreciate Wong Kar-Wai exploring new elements with this courageous film, its bothersome downsides lead to this movie being the worst in his filmography up to that point in his career. Happy Together is thus only recommended to adamant fans of his filmography and viewers interested in romantic dramas revolving around homosexuality.

Do lok tin si / Fallen Angels (1995) - A Nocturnal Portrayal of the Confusing Ways of British Hong Kong's Underworld - 8/10 (15/10/24)

Fallen Angels, originally titled Do lok tin si, is a gangster drama from British Hong Kong and the fifth feature film released by renowned director Wong Kar-wai. This movie is sometimes described as a sequel to much more light-hearted comedy drama Chungking Express, originally known as Chung Hing sam lam. However, only a few locations in downtown Hong Kong are the same. The contents are generally unrelated and both movies can thus be enjoyed independently.

The story revolves around hitman Wong Chi-ming who lives in a chaotic apartment and has taken on a fake identity with a fake wife and a fake child. He starts a fragile relationship with a delusional young woman with eccentric behaviour named Blondie. He starts thinking about changing his life and wants to terminate his business relationship with his female partner who secretly has a crush on him. She is shocked to hear that he wants to change his career and sends him on a last dangerous mission.

This movie is Wong Kar-wai's strongest film up to this point in his career. The story comes around with multiple twists and turns, some evoking negative and others leading to positive reactions. The characters have much depth and go through profound changes such as the sad hitman and his disappointed partner. This personal drama is intertwined with violent action scenes portraying the rough jobs and lifestyles of the main characters. The entire film takes place at night which adds much atmosphere and shows how the characters live separately in the underworld from regular citizens living in a legal manner.

The only elements that keep this film from being excellent are a rather slow start that requests much patience from its audience and the fact that a few too many sub-stories and side characters are included in this film. Wong Kar-wai could have easily made three movies of about seventy-five minutes each out of this one single film of ninety-six minutes.

Thanks to its creative details, Fallen Angels deserves to be watched time and again and analyzed in depth if you favour melancholic gangster dramas. Wong Kar-wao remains faithful to his unique style but executes all elements with much creativity, drive and experience. Fallen Angels is the director's greatest film up to this point in his career and also serves as an excellent introduction to his fascinating filmography to potential new fans.

Chung Hing sam lam / Chungking Express (1994) - Lonesome Lovers Meeting in the Big City Life - 7/10 (11/10/24)

Chungking Express, originally known as Chung Hing sam lam, is Wong Kar-wai's third feature film to be released and fourth feature film to be made. This romantic drama has been critically acclaimed and can be considered the director's international breakthrough. This movie includes numerous characteristic elements of his previous films such as a strong focus on character development, slice-of-life elements combining different genres and overlapping storylines that don't necessarily have clear beginnings and endings.

It would be most appropriate to call this film a romantic drama. The first story revolves around young police officer He Qiwu who is dumped by his girlfriend. He decides to wait an entire month to see whether she changes her mind. When this doesn't happen, he approaches a mysterious woman in a blonde wig in a girlie bar who turns out to be a drug dealer who has been set up by a drug baron.

The second story revolves around a cop who is about ten years older than his colleague and who also has to deal with a difficult breakup. His former girlfriend is a flight attendant who values her profession over her relationship. When she leaves a letter with a key to his apartment at his favourite restaurant, a new employee starts developing feelings for the cop and secretly visits his apartment to clean and decorate it. When the two finally decide to go on a date, the young employee suddenly decides to leave for California to become a flight attendant.

This movie impresses for several reasons. First and foremost, the characters are detailed, profound and unique as viewers will easily empathize with them. It's fascinating to observe their developments and relations. Since we are not told everything by the director, this movie invites us to figure out the rest by ourselves. It's refreshing to get such a unique script that takes its viewers seriously.

The settings are also memorable. Once again, Wong Kar-wai manages to bring British Hong Kong in the mid-nineties to life. We get to observe the location's big city life where lives of human beings of many different backgrounds intertwine. The titular restaurant, the girlie bar and the second cop's apartment are locations that any viewer could possibly discover which makes it easy to empathize with the two stories that are being told.

Last but not least, one has to point out the excellent acting throughout the movie and I have to point out Faye Wong who plays the restaurant's employee in particular. Her curious, mild and naive manners strike a chord with viewers. Her passion for animals, food and music is inspiring. The way she behaves, dresses and takes care of herself and others shows a unique human being with much depth. The fact that Faye Wong contributed to the soundtrack of this film makes the connection between the artist and the audience even greater. Faye Wong truly shines in this movie and I would recommend watching this film just for seeing an excellent artist at work.

As usual, even this critically acclaimed romantic drama isn't without its flaws. The first story only covers about one third of the movie and should have been developed further in my humble opinion. This story line ends without a proper conclusion and the two interesting characters would have deserved to be fleshed out even further.

The second story on the other hand slightly overstays its welcome. Especially its middle section includes some unnecessary repetition. The movie is thus a tiny little bit too long. It would work even better if it had been cut by about twenty minutes.

At the end of the day, Chungking Express offers Wong Kar-wai's typical trademarks and stands out thanks to Faye Wong's astonishing participation as a gifted actress and a unique singer. I wouldn't go as far to say that this is Wong Kar-wai's greatest feature film. It rather underlines the director's consistency as this movie has the same very good quality as the preceding As Tears Go By, Days of Being Wild and Ashes of Time. It truly is a matter of detailed personal preferences whether you appreciate this movie most or any other of the three films shot beforehand. My best advice would be to watch all four movies if you are interested in realistic dramas set in British Hong Kong of the late eighties and early nineties.

Dung che sai duk / Ashes of Time (1994) - Solitary Soul(s) on a Quest for Redemption - 7/10 (15/01/16)

Ashes of Time, originally known as Dung che sai duk, is a unique arthouse film which is loosely bound upon Jin Yong's wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes. Despite two blurry action sequences, this movie however can't be considered a martial arts movie. Due to its philosophical content, its numerous metaphors, its examples of symbolism and its calm episodic script, this movie could best be categorized as a drama. The movie is separated into five sections according to the four seasons with the spring season representing both introduction and coda of this piece of art. Director Wong Kar-wai doesn't offer any conclusion to the film's vague story and instead challenges the audience to make sense of this film on its own.

The only guiding lines of the movie are the changes of season, the transformation of colourful landscapes and the topic of unrequited love and how to deal with that depressing fate. Each character has faced, currently faces or will face a desperate romantic relationship and everyone of them tries to find a different solution: one of them simply tries to forget the past, another one seeks refuge in isolation and another one wants to assassinate the one who causes all the emotional and mental suffering. In the end, none of the characters can find a satisfying answer on their quest for redemption. Despite the depressing tone, the beginning of the movie can be interpreted as the origin of a quest for redemption while the coda might be seen as an optimistic attempt at renaissance.

This film can be interpreted in at least two ways. One possibility is that the main location in form of a bare cabin in the desert is a meeting point for solitary souls who feel outcast from society and who are absorbed by their mental problems. The main character listens to their different stories and often manages to find solutions for them but he is still unable to solve his own problems. Another possibility is that this movie is only about the main character and that the side characters only exist on his confused mind and represent different sides of his shattered soul looking for salvation.

Despite its colourful journey, inspiring philosophical content and revolutionary visual component, this courageous piece of art is not appropriate for mainstream audiences and might even be hard to digest for passionate cineasts. The movie's pace is extremely slow and it contains several noticeable lengths towards the middle. While the few fight choreographies could have spiced things up a little bit, they happen to be rather redundant, slow and unspectacular.

In the end, you should absolutely watch this movie if you have an open mind for philosophical arthouse experiments that request your intellectual participation. You should avoid it if you are expecting a vivid wuxia movie or a tense martial arts film because your expectations won't be met and you will end up being disappointed.

Ah fei jing juen / Days of Being Wild (1990) - Desperate Characters Are Chasing Dreams in British Hong Kong and the Philippines - 7/10 (08/10/24)

Days of Being Wild, originally known as Ah fei jing juen, is the second feature film of renowned director Wong Kar-wai. While his first movie explored the identity of British Hong Kong's underworld, this movie takes place in the early sixties and is set in Hong Kong as well as in the Philippines. The genre categorization is much simpler than in his first film as Days of Being Wild is a drama.

The same can't be said about the script. Several stories intertwine in this particular movie. The central character is smooth-talking playboy Yuddy who looks attractive but has a shallow character. He wants to meet his birth mother who lives in the Philippines but she refuses to even see him. This movie also explores the life of his best friend Zeb who has a heart of gold but ends up being underestimated as he can't compete with Yuddy's physical appearance. We also explore the life of Li-zhen who does a series of odd jobs and dreams of a successful mariage inspired her cousin but her potential relationships never materialize. The movie also introduces us to vivacious cabaret dancer Mimi who is judged by her beauty but longs for a serious long-term relationship. Lastly, we have lonesome policeman Tide who takes care of his sick mother and dreams of becoming a sailor. The element that all these characters have in common is that they are all chasing dreams to change their lives.

This movie convinces on several levels. First and foremost, the different characters are memorable, profound and unique. Most viewers might find one or several characters they can empathize with. The character I identified with most is helpful policeman Tide who values his family but finds the courage to organize changes in his life to make his biggest dream come true.

Another strong element of this film are the settings that bring the early sixties back to life. It's interesting to explore both the impoverished and luxurious elements of British Hong Kong and to explore the contrast of big city life and vast landscapes in the Philippines. The director has paid much attention to use appropriate cars, clothing and telephones that give this movie a most realistic vibe.

My favourite scenes from this movie are those that take place in the Philippines. The film quickens up the pace a little bit when cineasts discover locations such as a sinister hotel frequented by prostitutes, a gigantic mansion in the wilderness and an elegant train station filled with a set of dangerous criminals.

Days of Being Wild is however not without several flaws. This movie is best described as a slice-of-life with some stories that are truly interesting while others aren't explored in depth. For instance, Zeb's gentle character isn't fully developed to exploit its full potential.

Another significant issue is the low quality of the cinematography. The images in the opening sequence for instance look dark and lifeless. The film's remastered version looks slightly better but can't fully hide that significant flaw. A more luminous location and better camera equipment would have rated that slow opening sequence up.

At the end of the day, Days of Being Wild is recommended to fans of director Wong Kar-wai, people who are interested in life in Hong Kong and in the Philippines in the early sixties and cineasts who appreciate slow-paced personal dramas that need some patience to be fully appreciated.