A soundtrack of gentle island surf music brings a tropical euphoria to this otherwise strangely desolate vision of Hong Kong, marked by outpours of heavy rain and recurring images of a clock stuck in time. His dreamy, floating camerawork blurs each lucid scene into the next, as a bottle-green tint creates deep, verdant hues amongst great jungle canopies and dilapidated dwellings. His striking visual style here would effectively guide the direction of Wong’s canon in the years that followed. The original Cantonese title for the film was the same as was used for James Dean classic Rebel Without a Cause – and this 60s-set drama makes for a fitting parallel.ĭays of Being Wild was his first to involve long-time collaborator and cinematographer Christopher Doyle. So where does one even start with a cinematic universe as vivid as this? AnOther dived in to pick five sensuous Wong Kar-wai features that show why he remains Hong Kong’s most enduring independent filmmaker.ĭays of Being Wild follows Leslie Chung’s York (or ‘Yuddy‘) – a rebellious young beatnik who yearns for the love of his mother but can only find shallow romances with various disposable girlfriends.
It’s clear that Wong’s boundless vision of Hong Kong as a multi-faceted metropolitan wonderland still resonates powerfully today. In March 2021, Criterion celebrates Wong’s career with the release of a seven-film restoration titled The World of Wong Kar-wai – it comes just a month after the BFI screen their own career-retrospective of the director online. His ascendency is no better exemplified than by his constant presence at the Hong Kong Film Awards, where every natively-produced feature of his has been nominated for both Best Film and Best Director. Wong – who often acts as writer, director and producer – would always be the guiding force. Hong Kong is often the most vivid character of them all brought to life by the stellar craftsmanship of master cinematographer Christopher Doyle, whose giddy camera movements are only amplified by the kinetic editing and exquisite set and costume design of William Chang. These vivid themes are embodied by a revolving cast of complex, Godardian characters, whose personalities are revealed through voiceover monologues, imbuing a sense of noir-ish mystery amidst nostalgia-soaked settings.
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Once labelled Hong Kong’s enfant terrible for his tendency for time-wasting, re-shooting and budget-spending, Wong would become a darling of the international film festival scene with a series of cerebral, solipsistic dramas centred on love, crime and passion. His vision of the city caught the imaginations of audiences around the world in the 90s – and in 2021 that allure remains just as magnetic. Civil unrest has been a predominant image of Hong Kong in recent years, but in the films of Wong Kar-wai, it’s an insatiable melting pot where romance, style and swagger can be found around every corner.
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