Kar Wai Wong

[meshuggeth]

I have heard a lot of praise for this director. I haven't seen any of his movies, but I will soon.

[captainofbeef]

In the Mood for Love was a very good film. I really want to see Chungking Express and 2046 soon.

[criterionmaster]

Both ItMfL and Chungking were just mindblowing! Chungking being much better in my opinion. ItMfL is alittle pretentious but was still great. Chungking is just way to much fun. I will be seeing more from this man soon.

[PTAhole]

I've seen Chungking Express and In the Mood for Love. Both fantastic. His use of music combined with some of his odd camera techniques is awesome.

[Nomansvally]

I love In the mood for love, and I must see 2046!

[nonfiction]

One of my favourite directors.

Fallen Angels in my second favourite film of all time -- see it if you haven't. I'm pretty sure I've seen all of his movies now.

[agentknight]

I have seen In The Mood For Love and 2046, both of which I adored. I want to see Chunking Expess and Happy Together ASAP!

[nonfiction]

agentknight said:

I have seen In The Mood For Love and 2046, both of which I adored. I want to see Chunking Expess and Happy Together ASAP!

Add Fallen Angels to that list!

[agentknight]

Alright, but it's at #3. None shall beat Happy Together and Chunking Express!

[criterionmaster]

DJ Shadow - Six Days (video by Wong Kar-wai)

Fantastic.

[wkw]

I have seen all of his features except As Tears Go By, which I hear was his weakest film.

One of his most underrated films is Ashes of Time, which takes place in the wuxia genre. Though if you are familiar with Wong's work you know that it isn't a wuxia film, but merely borrows some conventions of the genre. There are also elements from the films of Kurosawa and Leone. There are simply so many themes included that would take most movies much longer to deliver such as identity, value, and memory itself.

Happy Together is another excellent film. Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung give poignant performances. The cinematography is simply stunning. I doubt you will see colors as brilliant and as much lack of color as Happy Together in any other movie.... well except 2046 of course.

Days of Being Wild - the most important film in Wong's career. The film in which Wong introduced his unique style and his common themes. Leslie Cheung's performance nothing less than perfect. The atmosphere of the film is utterly intoxicating.

[criterionmaster]

I really want to see more from this man, what would you recommed? I have seen Chungking Express and In the Mood for Love. What are your thoughts on Chungking by the way?

[wkw]

To me the main theme of Chungking is identity. I say identity in a more general sense that includes values and personal preferences. If you watch it again, think about how identity play a role in the character's actions and motives and how their identities shift. How do one character's identity affect another's? Through what medium do they affect each other's identity? What about the identities of objects like pineapples, wet towels, or uniforms? For example, Tony listens to "What a difference a day makes" - an aspect of his identity that did not originate from him, but from his ex. Later when Faye rests at Tony's place, he puts on "California Dreaming" and says that it's his girlfriend's favorite. The identity of his ex in his mind has changed.

If you like Chungking Express, then Fallen Angels is a excellent companion piece. It's the dark side of Chungking. The brilliant cinematography uses both handheld camera and fisheye lens to perfection. Plus the three I mentioned above are definitely worth seeing. I forgot to mention that Days of Being Wild is the prequel to In the Mood for Love and 2046. I would suggest watching DOBW first because most of the themes WKW would later explore is first summarized beautifully here.

Fallen Angels


Days of Being Wild


Ashes of Time


Happy Together

[criterionmaster]

wkw said:

To me the main theme of Chungking is identity. I say identity in a more general sense that includes values and personal preferences. If you watch it again, think about how identity play a role in the character's actions and motives and how their identities shift. How do one character's identity affect another's? Through what medium do they affect each other's identity? What about the identities of objects like pineapples, wet towels, or uniforms? For example, Tony listens to "What a difference a day makes" - an aspect of his identity that did not originate from him, but from his ex. Later when Faye rests at Tony's place, he puts on "California Dreaming" and says that it's his girlfriend's favorite. The identity of his ex in his mind has changed.

If you like Chungking Express, then Fallen Angels is a excellent companion piece. It's the dark side of Chungking. The brilliant cinematography uses both handheld camera and fisheye lens to perfection. Plus the three I mentioned above are definitely worth seeing. I forgot to mention that Days of Being Wild is the prequel to In the Mood for Love and 2046. I would suggest watching DOBW first because most of the themes WKW would later explore is first summarized beautifully here.

Fallen Angels


Days of Being Wild


Ashes of Time


Happy Together

Wow, nice insight into Chungking. I will definitely think about that next time I watch the film; I have only seen it one and a half times so I really need to see it again. I will probably buy it, although I wish Criterion would just release the film!

Yeah, I have heard great things about Fallen Angels; I will put that towards to top of my queue then. And I didn't even know there was a prequel to In the Mood for Love, surprised I hadn't heard that before. Looks like I will have to see that as well. And then after those two films I will get to the rest of the ones you mentioned. Thanks!

[criterionmaster]

according to variety:

Wong Kar Wai will rework his 12-year-old martial arts pic 'Ashes of Time' for fall fest berths in 2007.

Fortissimo Films has picked up international sales to Wong Kar Wai's reworked and definitive version of "Ashes of Time," the arthouse helmer's venture into the martial arts genre.
Original pic, released 12 years ago, featured a starry cast of Hong Kong talent who've (mostly) survived the slump since the territory's "golden age." Cast includes Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Tony Leing kar-fai, Jacky Cheung, Charlie Yeung, Maggie Cheung, Brigitte Lin -- and the late Leslie Cheung. But it was scarcely released outside Asia.

"Ashes of Time -- Redux" is an end-to-end re-envisioning of the movie about a fallen swordsman driven by greed. Wong is adding new scenes, re-editing others and rescoring the piece. Delivery is skedded in time for the fall festivals in 2007 -- after Wong has completed his first English-language movie, "My Blueberry Nights."

www.variety.com/article/VR111795308...yid=13&cs=1

[wkw]

Yes, this is one film that sorely needs a competent DVD, the current available ones are an embarrassment. Though I don't see why WKW needs to re-edit it, the film is perfect as it is. I guess that's the nature of his work habit. He took forever to edit 2046, which was why it was rushed to Cannes at the last second before the editing was completed.

[ie]

wkw Tackling Lesbian Highschool Sweethearts

They're not interested in you, man! Why are you trying to tackle them!


(Looks like this used the same source as C-Man's post earlier, but there's additional information, and I thought the joke worked.)

[wkw]

lol, sounds like a feminine version of Happy Together, though I doubt it will look nearly as gorgeous without Chris Doyle.

[criterionmaster]

I am watching Happy Together next, is that a good choice? I still haven't gotten it yet, and have a chance to switch it if there is a film I should see instead of it.

[wkw]

Well, they are all worth watching since I've never seen a bad one. I would recommend Ashes of Time if there were a decent DVD out there, but the current ones are terrible. Happy Together is more like In the Mood for Love in terms of pacing and linearity, though with cinematography that surpasses even FA. Chris Doyle makes the sleaziest rooms look like a 5 star hotel. The only problem with the cinematography is that sometimes it's hard to read the subtitles amid the saturated background. It's about a relationship between two gay men living in Argentina, though WKW used that because he wanted to stress the dynamics of any normal couple. The 1st scene will disturb you if you are a homophobe. The soundtrack include Frank Zappa, Astor Piazzola, and Caetano Veloso.

[criterionmaster]

wkw said:

Well, they are all worth watching since I've never seen a bad one. I would recommend Ashes of Time if there were a decent DVD out there, but the current ones are terrible. Happy Together is more like In the Mood for Love in terms of pacing and linearity, though with cinematography that surpasses even FA. Chris Doyle makes the crummiest rooms look like a 5 star hotel. The only problem with the cinematography is that sometimes it's hard to read the subtitles amid the saturated background. It's about a relationship between two gay men living in Argentina, though WKW used that because he wanted to stress the dynamics of any normal couple. The 1st scene will disturb you if you are a homophobe. The soundtrack include Frank Zappa, Astor Piazzola, and Caetano Veloso.

Thanks. I think I will go with it then, if it is more like In the Mood for Love, then I doubt it will be my favorite of his or anything, I like the more fun aspects of WKW films, like Chungking. I do look forward to Doyle's cinematography, on any of his films. I'll come back with my thoughts when I see it, it should be coming in the mail in the next few days.

Oh yeah, I have nothing really against gays. I don't like it, but some of my favorite films ever have to do with gays, so I shouldn't have a problem with that. And I doubt any gay scene with top that of Divine and her son's in Pink Flamingos. *shudders*

[wkw]

Happy Together has grown on me a lot since I first watched it. Now I think it's his most emotionally powerful film. The way he portrays the deterioriating relationship between the male leads allows it to transcend all gender. The film is slow but far from boring due to the mood generated by the experimental visuals and the great soundtrack. Stylistically it is close to that of CE and FA but also hints at his later films. It even has some funny moments that stems from his previous works. Tony Leung's performance might be his best, and that really says a lot about it. When I first saw it, I liked it but felt it was not among his best works, recently I realized how honestly and sincerely portrays a doomed relationship. I think this is even better than In the Mood for Love.2

[criterionmaster]

Now I look even more forward to watching it, but god damn I am swamped with stuff to watch, I will get to it soon though. I can already tell by the trailer that I will dig the soundtrack.

Sorry about not posting anything about Fallen Angels either, I have been sick, and also kinda forgot. Here is my ranking as of now:

1. Fallen Angels
2. Chungking Express
3. In the Mood For Love

So as you can see, I totally loved Fallen Angels. I think it just perfected what was being done in Chungking, the visuals in FA are absolutely perfect, and the relationships and characters even more interesting and deeper. The ending was one of the most perfect I have ever seen. I need to watch them both back to back to see how they look with each other. Wong Kar Wai's films have some of the best angles and cinematography in any new films today. The colors used are always beautiful.

Also, there were some good tunes on the soundtrack, although not anything like "California Dreamin'" in Chungking. Next time I watch it, I will see where it ends up on my list.

[wkw]

New short by Wong:
There's Only One Sun
www.aurea.philips.com/
a few seconds after it loads the "see entire film" option appears on the bottom right. Also I prefer to turn the background ambient light off which is distracting.

[criterionmaster]

i definitely need to watch that soon, i will come back with my thoughts. thanks for sharing. i can't believe he already has a new short film out, with his new film like still in theaters.

[wkw]

criterionmaster said:

i definitely need to watch that soon, i will come back with my thoughts. thanks for sharing. i can't believe he already has a new short film out, with his new film like still in theaters.

It's more of a short that works partly as a commercial, kind of like the short he did for BMW called The Follow. I actually don't like this short that much, compared to The Follow it's not as interesting or meaningful. It looks and sounds too similar to 2046.