Happy Together (Wong Kar-Wai, 1997)

An “art film” in the sense that every shot provides a new occasion for experimentation but with a stronger sense of connection between story and plot. Other WKW films, particularly 2046 a few years later, render the break between story and plot more stark. Here, we have lots of black-and-white, then back to color, with no immediately evident reason why. Same goes for slow-motion shots, freeze frames, sped-up scenes, and abstracted moments of the recurring waterfall. Story-wise, it’s another doomed romance, this one a homosexual couple that otherwise perfectly resembles any other couple in WKW’s films. Bodies are emphasized, and food, as usual. Urban alienation, lots of night life. After watching Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, Ashes of Time, In the Mood for Love, and 2046, makes me wonder how WKW does post-Christopher Doyle (My Blueberry Nights, The Grandmaster). We’ll see.

21 Aug This entry was published on August 21, 2014 at 3:22 pm. It’s filed under 1990s Cinema, Chinese Film, Wong Kar-Wai and tagged art film, cinema, film, Happy Together, Hong Kong cinema, movies, Wong Kar-Wai. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.