I have been on a Wong Kar-Wai kick lately. This powerful film was voted No. 3 in 100 Best Hong Kong films. It continues pursuing two of Wong’s
themes of searching for love and reacting to being rejected. If the main
character Yuddy (or “York”), played with sensitivity by handsome Hong Kong
actor Leslie Cheung, has elements of James Dean, it is well to remember that the
film gets its name from the title given to Rebel Without a Cause when it was
released in China.
Set in 1960-1961 Hong Kong and the Philipines, York picks up innocent Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) and promptly dumps her. York has issues
stemming from being adopted and raised by an ex-prostitute Rebecca (Rebeca Pan) who refuses to reveal who his Philipino mother is. York picks
up dance hall worker Leung Fung-ying aka ”Lulu” or “Mimi” (Carina Lau), Mimi
moves in and intends to stay with him. York’s best friend Zeb (Jacky Cheung) quickly
falls in loves Mimi and is rejected. Su
returns for her things, but hopes to hook back up with York. After he rejects
her again, she begins a tentative friendship with a caring policeman named
Tide (Andy Lau).
The script by Jeffrey Lau and Wong Kar-Wai seems more
interested in building moods and creating psychological moments than concentrating on
substantial plot. When I think of the film, I tend to remember the brooding close-ups
more than locations or actions.
The introduction at the end of a new character, Chow Mo-wan (played briefly
by Tony Leung Chiu Wai), is explained by a note on IMDB which says that he was
intended to be the main character in a second film which was never made.
Strong performances and an interesting mood piece.
Ashes of Time (1994) is a Hong Kong film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai, and loosely based
on Jin Yong’s Wuxia (martial hero) novel, The Legend of the Condor Heroes.
Rather than following Yong’s book’s plot, Wong has taken the names of four
characters and created his own story.
Almost ten years after the release of the film, Wong had
been informed by the people who were storing the film that it was in bad shape
with no quality edition available. Eventually Wong re-edited and re-released a
shorter version of the film, calling it Ashes of Time Redux, which is the film I
watched.
Both films involved lengthy and arduous desert shoots for
the crew. The plot is characterized by episodic story telling.
The film, set in an unspecified ancient time in a Chinese
desert, revolves around Ouyang Feng, the Venomous West (Leslie Cheung) who
lives alone in the desert and acts as a go-between when people want to hire professional
killers. He narrates the film based on Tung Shu predictions. The first killer
is Huang Yaoshi, the Malicious East (Tony Leung Ka-fai, not to be confused with
Tony Leung Chiu-Wai who starred in Happy Together). He drinks a wine that makes
one forget and when a young man, Murong Yang (Brigitte Lin) asks him to marry
his twin sister Murong Yin (played also by Lin) he agrees and then forgets.
Murong comes to Ouyang to hire a bounty-hunter. A Blind Swordsman (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai)
is hired and hopes to reach his home so he can see his wife before he is killed
in battle. Hong Qigong (Jacky Cheung) is a barefoot swordsman who travels with
his wife.
One of the motifs of the film is how each character has been
rejected by others and become cold and heartless because of it. Often Wong uses
slow motion in the martial arts sequences which sometimes makes it difficult to
tell which actors we are watching. While I found Wong's Happy Together a stronger personal story, the visual images and the epic scope of this film makes it one to see.
The two leads dance a tango in a crucial scene of the movie.
I wasn’t aware of the scope Leslie Cheung’s acting, writing and musical career (he was once
ranked as the favorite actor in the 100 years of Chinese cinema) when I saw a
beautifully sculpted 1:6 scale action figure of him in a tuxedo.
I was intrigued by this actor who was so popular and then threw himself off a hotel roof in 2003.
I set out to see some of his films.
The first I’ve seen is Kar Wai Wong’s Happy Together, in which he stars with
Tony Leung Chiu Wai. I’ve seen the film twice and found it even more powerful the
second time.
The irony of the title is established from the beginning of
the film, which deals with the episodic love-hate relationship of Lai Yiu-Fai
and Ho Po-Wing, a gay couple from Hong Kong who end up in Argentina. Po owns a
light which shows Iguzau Falls and the two set off to find it. That quest
becomes one of the motifs of the movie—the elusive place where they might just find the happiness they seek together.
Early on in the film, which appears to be only in black and
white, Fai pictures the falls and they are a deep blue. Gradually, director-writer
Wong establishes that Fai’s happiness is tied to the use of strong saturated
color. Another motif of the movie is use of the Argentine tango music and the
dance which often appears the metaphor to Fai and Po’s relationship. A third
motif of the film is stated at the very beginning as the two of them break up
and Po says to Fai, “Let’s start over.” Fai tells us that to Po that means many
different things.
The film is through Fai’s eyes (with a subjective narration)--until a third character Chang arrives and then he occasionally gives
commentary.
In a long black and white sequence, after their opening breakup, Fai ends up in Buenos Aires as
a doorman to a tango bar. Po-wing comes to the club with rich guys he is
dating. They end up fighting, Po gives Fai a watch and then gets beaten up. (Po
tends to date guys who beat him up.) Po tries to seduce Fai in a scene where he
asks for a cigarette, but it takes Po showing up badly injured (blood streaming
from his forehead and his hands) before they start over and Fai moves him into
his apartment. The film moves to highly saturated color.
Director-writer Wong takes scenes and long shorts to
establish the growth and eventual breakup of the two lovers. In a beautiful
sequence, the two finally appear truly happy as they tango in the apartment
building’s communal kitchen.
Gradually each becomes jealous of the other and Fai tries
too hard to keep Po to himself. When Fai changes jobs and develops a friendship
with coworker Chang (Chen Chang) he finds a caring friend who offers more
emotional support than the self-centered mercurial Po.
Tony Leung Chiu Wai is a strong actor and has an incredible scene where he merely
sits with a pocket tape recorder in front of his face and begins to cry. His scene is
matched with a later moment where we see Leslie Cheung sitting clutching a
blanket and sobbing. Both actors/both characters feel strongly and make us feel the
same.
Throughout the film is a pervasive melancholy mood which is
only somewhat resolved at the end. Will the two start over again? Perhaps, or
perhaps not. When the Turtles’ sing about being happy together, we know they
may not find that.
The film reminds me of Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain (2005)
in many ways, especially the unrestrained display of the gay world these three
characters inhabit. Like Lee’s film, it is one which is difficult to forget.
