Wong Kar Wai Retrospective - DAYS OF BEING WILD

Continuing with our sporadic Wong Kar Wai retrospective, we come to his 1991 feature, DAYS OF BEING WILD. A critical success but a commercial failure, the movie has all the hallmarks of Wong Kar Wai's particular brand of cinema: love-lorn urban men; women unable to move on from heart-break; the beautiful, evocative camera-work of Christopher Doyle; kitsch American popular music; and a plot that is less event-driven than an exploration of character and mood.

We are Hong Kong in the 1960s. It's monsoon season and the colour-scape of the film is lush green and brooding blue. Tragic pop-star Leslie Cheung takes on the lead role of Yuddy - an emotionally jaded young man who seems unable to maintain a stable relationship with the many girls who fall in love with him. The first of these is a naive, whimpering girl called Su Lizhen, played by Wong Kar Wai regular, Maggie Cheung in a "typical" role. The second is a ballsy show-girl called Leung Fung-Ying, played brilliantly by Carina Lau. Possibly a third is Yuddy's controlling, intimidating, ex-whore mother (Rebecca Pan). In some ways, she is the most interesting character, given her decision to cruelly reveal to Yuddy that she is actually his adoptive mother, and that his real mother is living in the Philippines.

In contrast to Yuddy, Wong Kar Wai presents one of his classic policeman characters. Andy Lau plays a decent neighbourhood copper, who comes across Su Lizhen stalking Yuddy's apartment. He takes pity on her, and is so emotionally affected by their encounters that he leaves Hong Kong for the Philippines. There he will come across Yuddy, who is now searching for his birth-mother.

DAYS OF BEING WILD is far from a masterpiece and viewers not familiar with Wong Kar Wai's patient mood pieces may be frustrated by its longueurs. However, it's a rewarding film for fans not least because it takes us further on the journey to the most perfect expression of Wong Kar Wai's style - IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE - a movie presaged by the brief, irrelevant and yet lovely little cameo of Tony Leung at the end of the film.

DAYS OF BEING WILD played Berlin and Toronto 1991 and was released that year. It is available on DVD.

Wong Kar Wai Retrospective - CHUNG KING EXPRESS

CHUNG KING EXPRESS is a wonderful film from Wong Kar Wai. Originally released in 1994 to critical acclaim, it foreshadowed much of the thematic material of IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE and 2046 and some of the stylistic mannerisms of the disastrous MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS.

The movie takes the form of two loosely connected stories set in contemporary Hong Kong. As in later films, Wong Kar Wai takes us into cheap diners in dingy, crowded cities. Bus terminals have lockers that are dented and covered in grafitti and the floor is strewn with litter. The protagonists live in cluttered filthy apartments with mould in the shower and subsist on canned food bought in grubby 7-11s. The great thing about this film is, however, that it doesn't judge any of this. Indeed, it rather revels in the accidental beauty of such scenes. The key to these films is to uncover the romantic leanings of the ordinary people who inhabit these locales - the people one might pass on the street and assume, rather patronisingly, were leading drab uninteresting lives. So, in sharp contrast to his later films, the characters in the film look "normal". They aren't dressed to perfection, hovering in a state of delicate beauty: girls wear normal clothes, but even when they dress up, it's in a rather grubby mac and blonde wig.

But there are other elements that form a straight line through to MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS. The use of popular, almost cheesy, Western pop songs on almost continuous loop; the love of neon signs; a femme fatale; a camera that follows its prey with a voyeuristic, intimate glee; and in the first section the use of slow-mo and distorted vision to try and capture the frenetic pace of city life.

My preference is for the scenes where the camera is fluid but not "interefered with" in the style so irritating in the first scenes of MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS. And it's hard to know whether my weaker response to the first story is due to the shooting style. Still, even apart from that, the story is lyrical, compelling and beautiful. A lonely police officer (Takeshi Kaneshiro) is mourning a failed relationship, creating bizarre little rituals involving out-of-date canned food to focus his mind. He runs across a mysterious blonde, who turns out to be a drug smuggler. (Note the fantastically fast-paced, beautifully edited scene in which she suits up and organises the Indian mules.) As we come to expect in a Wong Kar Wai film, when the two finally meet their relationship is fleeting and muted - and is valued mostly for the memories it will generate.

The second story takes similar material. Another lonely cop (a very young Tony Leung) is mourning another failed relationship, in another cramped apartment. He strikes up a bizarre relationship with another quirky girl, who expresses a desire for intimacy by secretly cleaning his flat! It sounds bizarre and it is bizarre but it's never cheap or crudely funny. Rather, it's sweet, strange and wonderfully fresh. This is largely down to Tony Leung's superbly melancholy presence and a rightly award-winning performance by Faye Wong - the stand-out actor in this film. It just goes to show how important it is to cast actors and indeed locations that can make the most surreal and unabashedly romantic material seem real and natural. That is the key difference between a pantheon film like CHUNG KING EXPRESS and a disappointment like MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS.

Wong Kar Wai retrospective - 2046

After the perfection of IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE came the sequel, 2046 - a reflexive, rambling film that was ultimately a failure despite its ravishing visuals. Tony Leung reprised his role as Chow, now living in the Hong Kong of the late 1960s. He lives in a seedy hotel, next to room 2046 - a metaphor and focus for all his regrets and sexual yearnings. At the same time, he's writing a sci-fi novel set in 2046 - a place where you can relive your dreams in perpetuity. In this strange world of past, present and future, Chow meets a parade of beautiful, mysterious women, each dressed to perfection and photographed in a state of heightened beauty. If all these themes and striking images had been harnessed to empathetic characters and a proper story, Wong Kar Wai might have given his fans a film to treasure. Instead, the movie feels self-indulgent and unsatisfying. And, to paraphrase an interview with DP Christopher Doyle during a retrospective at the National Film Theatre, somewhat redundant. Wong Kar Wai said everything he needed to in IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE.

2046 played Cannes and London 2004 and is widely available on DVD.

Pantheon movie/Wong Kar Wai retrospective - IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE/FA YEUNG NIN WA

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE is one of the most beautiful and touching movies of recent years. It is quite simply a story of unconsummated love between a man, Chow, and a woman, Li-zhen, who decide to rise above the pettiness of the world that surrounds them. They first meet in the cramped apartment building that they share - surrounded by nosy neighbours and the noise and fast pace of Hong Kong in the 1960s. Tony Leung plays Chow as a weary, hard-bitten newspaper man. The emotional range he conveys and the empathy he evokes in the audience won him the Best Actor prize at Cannes in 2000. Though a married man, he becomes transfixed by his glamourous new neighbour. They spend time together and the sexual tension is evident. The discovery that his wife and her husband are having an affair changes everything. At once, the tension is heightened as they play-act the roles of their spouses - indulging in dialogue they would so dearly love to be for real. And yet, they cannot now consummate their relationship because that would be as cheap as the world that surrounds them.

The story is reminiscent of BRIEF ENCOUNTER, but the resulting film couldn't be more different. The movie feels like a lament to a lost age. Wong Kar Wai delights in the fashion, interior decor and music of the 1960s. The movie is quite self-consciously retro, whereas BRIEF ENCOUNTER is delightful because it is so definitely of its time. The feeling of self-indulgence in IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE is heightened by the fact that Wong Kar Wai seems content to meander through his sets and linger in places he has no business being. So, Christopher Doyle's camera will gently move through corridors, into bedrooms and cramped kitchenettes. Sometimes, the action will be off screen or reflected in mirrors. The whole movie seems to live in a world where colours are brighter, movement is slower and emotions are inescapable. And that's what transforms a basically simple story into an unforgettable tragedy, making IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE a true pantheon movie.

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE was released in 2000 and won Best Actor and the Technical Prize at Cannes. It is widely available on DVD, but if you ever have the chance to see it on the big screen you should definitely avail yourself of the opportunity.

LUST, CAUTION/SE, JIE - beautiful tragedy but less substantial than BROKEBACK

Pantheon director Ang Lee's new film LUST, CAUTION is a beautiful, erotic thriller set in war-threatened Hong Kong in 1938 and Japanese-occupied Shanghai in 1941. A student activist leads his amateur dramatics group in a plot to assassinate a high-level collaborator, Mr Yee. The group transforms a shy actress, Wong Chia Chi, into a sophisticated honey-trap called Mrs Mak. The movie unfolds at a leisurely pace, with Rodrigo Prieto's camera lingering over the luxuriant recreation of pre-occupation Hong Kong and war-torn Shanghai. The camera also lingers over the student leader Kuang as he gazes with admiration upon his creation. Wong Chia Chi slips easily enough into her new role. She takes a cigarette against her better judgement because she is told that is what actresses do. Almost as easily, she resigns herself to losing her virginity to a man she doesn't love, because that will make her experienced enough to deal with Mr Yee. The first hour of the movie slips by very quickly. Mr Yee falls for Mrs Mak, but it too cautious to act upon his lust. And then, all of a sudden Mr and Mrs Yee leave Hong Kong for Shanghai, and the plan has apparently come to nothing. Wong Chia Chi has sacrificed her virginity - and the students their political innocence - for nothing. Three years later and a mournful Wong Chia Chi is in occupied Shanghai. The resistance take her up as a means to get to Mr Yee once more. The relationship is facilitated easily enough but this only brings more problems. Mrs Mak has successfully broken Mr Yee's resistance, but he has also broken hers. They use each other completely in sex scenes that are depicted graphically and, I think, necessarily. As in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, two people have found a certain freedom with each other away from the strictures of social pressures and political risk. When Wong Chia Chi graphically describes her relationship with Mr Yee to an embarassed resistance leader, she is forcing him to confront the emotional danger she is. All of which leads to the ultimate question: will Mrs Mak and Mr Yee have the strength to betray each other - as their political roles require.

Ang Lee has crafted a beautiful movie of long lingering looks that lead to passionately expressed desires. The production is sterling. But, unlike BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, I think that the substance of the film - the dilemma at its heart - is insufficient to sustain the run-time and the weight of expectation generated by the slow build-up to the final act. Wei Tang certainly gives a subtle and convincing performance as Wong Chia Chi/Mrs Mak, but I've seen Tony Leung give more memorable performances - not least in IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE. He also starred in INFERNAL AFFAIRS, which I thought better handled the issue of finding truth and forging relationships when under-cover.

LUST, CAUTION is a beautiful, tragic film and certainly worth watching. But the central relationship didn't capture my imagination and I certainly felt a little short-changed when I left the cinema. Would LUST, CAUTION have changed my Best Of 2007 had I seen it last year? Probably not.

LUST, CAUTION played Venice, where Ang Lee won the Golden Lion and Director of Photography, Rodrigo Prieto, won the Golden Osella. LUST, CAUTON also played Toronto, London and Vienna 2007. It was released in Taiwan, Hong Kong, the US, Singapore, Germany, the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea, China, Turkey, Greece, Russia, Thailand and Spain in 2007. It is currently on release in the UK and Italy and opens in France, Australia, the Czech Republic, Iceland, Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium later in January. It opens in Denmark, Sweden, Argentina, Finland and Norway in February.

INFERNAL AFFAIRS/MOU GAAN DOU - untouchably brilliant Hong Kong thriller

I'm writing a review of INFERNAL AFFAIRS to get the movie out of my system before writing up the Martin Scorsese remake, THE DEPARTED. Like most people in Europe, I saw INFERNAL AFFAIRS on DVD rather than at the cinema, and it impressed me as one of the most genuinely mind-bending thrillers I had ever seen. The set-up is simple. The Hong Kong triads plant a young mole, played by the director Andy Lau, in the Hong Kong police department. The police do the same, getting a guy played by the superlative actor Tony Leung (2046 & IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE) to infiltrate the triads. Over time these men achieve success in the new roles, earning the respect and camaraderie of their new "friends". So, when each organisation suspects it has become infiltrated, each man has to ask himself who he really is and to whom his loyalty lies. It's a conventional thriller - will they be uncovered? - but it's also a remarkably thoughtful and emotional movie.

Very emotional. Tony Leung is the absolutely perfect actor for the role of the cop turned thug. He has a screen presence that invites you to empathise with him. His situation is truly hellish - he can see that he is a good crook but he wants to get back to "reality". Only a couple of cops know his true identity and he is reliant on them to bring him back. He becomes increasingly desperate, realising that his boss has little incentive to bring in his best source of information on the enemy. Like all pawns through history - the movie references Rome - Leung is an increasingly unwilling sacrificial lamb. Andy Lau's character is a different kettle of fish. Lau is a big action star in Hong Kong and he plays this role with the cool of Schumacher. He is expert at keeping things hovering just above the surface - an expertise that neuters his ability to have a serious emotional connection with his girlfriend.

What else can I say about this movie? The cinematography has a harsh, unsettling feel - all muted, drained colours and clever inter-cutting. Christopher Doyle - the best cinematographer currently working - was the visual consultant and it shows. But perhaps the real success of the film is down to the fact that Andy Lau also photographed, scripted, directed and starred in the movie. Perhaps what we are benefiting from is the single-minded vision of one man seen through to the end with no compromise?

All in all, for me, INFERNAL AFFAIRS redefined how much you could do with crime thriller genre - it broke the boundaries. It's one of those rare films where you just can't find any fault with it - like Dr STRANGELOVE or IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE. If you haven't seen it, you should DEFINITELY check it out, preferably before seeing the Scorsese remake.

INFERNAL AFFAIRS was released in Hong Kong in 2002 and opened in the UK and US in 2004. It is available on DVD.

DUMPLINGS/GAAU JI - abortions are yummy

I think it's fair to say that this film is all about eating aborted foetuses. Because it is. But it's not a gore flick, or a horror flick, or some awful and tasteless B-movie from the vaults of Japan. Rather director Fruit Chan, aided by a powerful and capable cast, has created a movie that challenges our preconceptions and our hypocrisies on several hitherto taboo subjects.

The basic plot follows Mrs Li (Miriam Yeung Chin Wah), an ex-actress and glamourous star, who enlists Mei's (Bei Ling) help in recapturing her youthful looks to regain the (sexual) attention of her philandering husband Mr Li (Tony Leung Ka Fai) - who's fucking everything but the kitchen sink, because, put simply, he likes a fresh piece of ass.

Unfortunately, Aunt Mei's miraculous youth restoring therapy involves eating chinese dumplings made out of chopped up and stewed aborted foetuses. Mei herself was an abortionist in China, before her discovery of the healing properties her patented cannabalistic practice. Bai Ling is stunning as Mei - her performance is as witty as it is serious - she manages to inject comedy and drama where none seemed possible - give the girl an Oscar.

So the plot's a bit grim, and make no mistake about it, there's nothing hidden in this film. That's the wonderful thing about it, it's honest. It graphically depicts a second trimester back-street abortion - it shows the chopping up and preparation of food using first trimester foetuses - the sex scenes are as explicit as they need to be without erring into pornography. This film, cinematographically, is not for the faint hearted. And, just as Argentina's display today against Serbia and Montenegro was a masterclass in fluid, attacking football - DUMPLINGS is a masterclass in film-making. The shots are perfect - it's shocking without being overly graphic - it employs clever tricks like reflections in knives, subverted camera angles, and wonderful wonderful sound effects. The munching of dumplings. The cracking of bones. The plop of a baby into a bowl of water. Marvellous.

But as well as being graphically and thematically captivating and shocking, the film is also genuinely challenging. It passes social comment of the societal pressures on women (and men) to look young, and the lengths we will go to to achieve this goal. It shows us what we are spared by the closed walls of the termination of pregnancy centres - the full horror of a second trimester abortion. It deals with incest, rape, and cannabalism. And it does all these things realistically, without passing too much insulting or obvious editorial comment.

Is this an anti-abortion film? Not in the traditional sense, no. It shows abortion as it is, not as we like to think of it - and it does criticise the horror of the "one child, one family" law in China. But at the same time, it displays the reality of what can happen if we make abortion illegal, following tangentially the drama of a young mother seeking an abortion from Mei. It was a thought provoking experience, one that was moving and uncomfortable all at once. It elevates the debate on abortion above the level of crude, trans-atlantic bickering onto a plain of real intellectual debate. While we cannot deny the homologous nature of the second trimester foetus and the neo-nate and the tragedy of it's death, and the awful sterility of the Chinese abortion clinic - we are confronted with the equally tragic and horrifying notion of the back-street, black-market abortionist, and the tough moral challenges that are faced in some exceptional circumstances.

This really is a great film - one that I can wholeheartedly recommend. While it doesn't stir its audience the the heights of passion and back - or claim frights or adventure - it captivates the viewer in a story that it proves impossible to take ones eyes off. It will provide charming if inappropriate dinner-time conversation for afterward - and will have you chewing over the concepts late into the night, even after Match of the Day has ended. All in all, another fine flick from the far east. Go see!

DUMPLINGS/GAAU opened in South Korea in 2004 and in Germany and Austria in 2005. It went on release in France in April 2006 and is currently on release in the UK. I'd put good money on the proposition that it will never get a cinematic release in the US.

ELECTION/HAK SE WUI - when meaningless violence isn't enough

I never thought I'd say this, but ELECTION is a movie where meaningless violence wasn't enough to sustain my interest. Don't get me wrong. The violence quotient in this Hong Kong Johnnie-To Triad movie is liberal and scarily innovative. There's one scene involving the torture of gang bosses that brings new meaning to the punishment of Sisyphus. The problem is that the plot is pretty thin. Essentially, the movie charts a stand-off between two traid bosses - the ever-so-slightly out-of-control Big D (Tony Leung Ka Fai) and the patient loyal Lok. Apparently, every two years, this particular gang of triads elects their new leader. (A surprisingly civilised injection of democracy!) The wise old "uncles" elect Lok, despite liberal kick-backs from Big D. On hearing the news, Big D throws his toys out of the pram and more importantly, tries to steal the Baton that signifies leadership within the gang. This chasing around fills up most of the film.

Now, the Baton is more than just a MacGuffin - a plot device that gets the action moving but whose content is meaningless. For if Lok does get the Baton, foiling Big D's attempt, he will have cemented his leadership and avoided a gang war that neither the triads nor the police want. And just in case we were in any doubt about the importance of the Baton, we get treated to a nice fifteen minute scene near the end of the movie where the triads pledge allegiance to the eventual winner of the election in an elaborate and historic ceremony. Still, as far as it goes, this is a movie about thugs trying to avoid a turf war, which is hardly anything new. I only wish To had developed the theme of police complicity further. My other minor quibble is that most of the film is photographed in a manner which has the faces of the actors in darkness, silhouetted against the sky/city/whatever. I assume that this is a directorial choice rather than just bad lighting or under-developed film. At any rate, I found it intensely frustrating.

All in all, unless you are an impassioned Hong Kong film fanatic, this is probably one to avoid. It is about a gazillion miles more superficial and dull than something like INFERNAL AFFAIRS.

ELECTION/HAK SE WUI showed at Cannes 2005 and is currently on release in the UK. It hits France in January 2007.