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Showing posts with label Wong Kar-wai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wong Kar-wai. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 02, 2022

Best Films from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan

Wonders in the Dark is having a poll to determine the best 15 films from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

It is tough to narrow down just 15 films from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan especially since they all have a rich history of cinema going back almost a century to the 1920s-early 1930s. On top of that, there are many diverse genre films from this part of the world making it challenging to pit one film style against another. Ultimately, I opted for the following 15 films.

Best Films from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan

1. In the Mood for Love (2000, Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai)
2. Yi Yi: A One and a Two (2000, Taiwan, Edward Yang)
3. Flowers of Shanghai (1998, Taiwan, Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
4. Platform (2000, China, Jia Zhang-ke)
5. Eat Drink Man Woman (1994, Taiwan, Ang Lee)
6. Election (2005, Hong Kong, Johnnie To)
7. Spring in a Small Town (1948, China, Fei Mu)
8. Raise the Red Lantern (1991, China, Zhang Yimou)
9. West of the Tracks (2002, China, Wang Bing)
10. What Time is It There? (2001, Taiwan, Tsai Ming-liang)
11. Chungking Express (1994, Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai)
12. Infernal Affairs (2002, Hong Kong, Andrew Lau/Alan Mak)
13. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, Taiwan/Hong Kong/China, Ang Lee)
14. Devils on the Doorstep (2000, China, Wen Jiang)
15. Ash is Purest White (2018, China, Jia Zhang-ke)

One surprising aspect of this list was finding out that I included 5 films from the Year 2000. That means 1/3 of all the films in this list came from one year. The stellar quality of these 5 films does indicate that 2000 was a strong year for Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.


In the Mood for Love (2000, Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai)
Yi Yi: A One and a Two (2000, Taiwan, Edward Yang)
Platform (2000, China, Jia Zhang-ke)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, Taiwan/Hong Kong/China, Ang Lee)
Devils on the Doorstep (2000, China, Wen Jiang)

In the Mood for Love is one of Wong Kar-wai’s most iconic films. Yi Yi is considered one of Edward Yang’s best films while Jia Zhang-ke’s second feature, Platform, helped propel his name globally. Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon certainly established a new found love for wuxia in the West. Wen Jiang’s powerful 2nd feature Devils on the Doorstep got plenty of attention after it won the Grand Jury prize at Cannes 2000.

[Updated List, May 11, 2022]

Best Films from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan

1. In the Mood for Love (2000, Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai)
2. Yi Yi: A One and a Two (2000, Taiwan, Edward Yang)
3. Flowers of Shanghai (1998, Taiwan, Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
4. Platform (2000, China, Jia Zhang-ke)
5. Boat People (1982, Hong Kong, Ann Hui)
6. Eat Drink Man Woman (1994, Taiwan, Ang Lee)
7. Election (2005, Hong Kong, Johnnie To)
8. Raise the Red Lantern (1991, China, Zhang Yimou)
9. West of the Tracks (2002, China, Wang Bing)
10. What Time is It There? (2001, Taiwan, Tsai Ming-liang)
11. Chungking Express (1994, Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai)
12. Infernal Affairs (2002, Hong Kong, Andrew Lau/Alan Mak)
13. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, Taiwan/Hong Kong/China, Ang Lee)
14. Devils on the Doorstep (2000, China, Wen Jiang)
15. Ash is Purest White (2018, China, Jia Zhang-ke)
16. Spring in a Small Town (1948, China, Fei Mu)

Sunday, December 27, 2020

Films of Wong Kar-wai

Wong Kar-wai is an auteur whose signature style is instantly recognizable in his films due to the presence of eye-popping visuals, memorable music and characters that linger long in the memory. This style jumps out even if the film genre is crime (As Tears Go By, Fallen Angels), romance (Happy Together, In The Mood for Love), sci-fi (2046) or wuxia/martial arts (Ashes of Time, The Grandmaster). The core style of Wong Kar-wai consists of a few common elements whose presence is akin to his signature on each frame. These common elements are both visual and thematic and include rich colours, memorable music that echoes in each frame and the usage of chance encounters to explore relationships and feelings of the characters. Wong Kar-wai manages to ensure that each distinct element works in perfect harmony with other elements such that all elements enhance the overall film experience.

Wong Kar-wai’s films are a feast for the senses and that feast starts with his usage of colours. The frames in each Wong Kar-wai film are infused with colours that evoke mood and emotions. He often uses both warm (red, yellow) and cool colours (green, blue and purple) to fill the frame. In the hands of Wong Kar-wai, these colours help set the mood for the scene which aided by the music turns a scene into a tender romantic moment, a melancholy feeling or something seductive. This video by Glass Distortion highlights the usage of rich colours in Wong Kar-wai’s cinema. When needed, he has also shown his ability to drain all colour from the frame (Happy Together) to mirror the broken heart of the main character (Tony Chiu-Wai Leung) who fails to find anything interesting around him.

Music and songs have been an integral part of Wong Kar-wai’s cinema right from his first feature As Tears Go By which featured a Cantonese cover of Berlin’s “Take my Breath away”. Chungking Express is defined by the song “California Dreamin” and In the Mood for Love comes to life when the “Yumeji’s Theme” score comes on. In fact, the title In the Mood for Love is named after Bryan Ferry’s song of the same name. In Wong Kar-wai’s films, the music and songs don’t exist in isolation. Instead, the music is married to the visuals in such a way that one associates the memory of the film with a particular piece of music. This point is beautifully highlighted in the movie In The Mood for Love when “Yumeji’s Theme” is famously used for the noodle-stand scene between Maggie Cheung and Tony Chiu-Wai Leung’s characters. There is no dialogue in the scene and the score turns a normal occurrence of going to the noodle stand into a seductive waltz. 

Wong Kar-wai’s usage of music mirrors how many people associate a memory with a piece of music. We may not remember everything about our lives but often listening to a piece of music makes us recall a moment in our lives when we were doing something or were at a place when the music first played. In a similar fashion, we may not end up remembering all aspects of a Wong Kar-wai film but often particular scenes with music persist long after the film has ended.

The colours and music helps set the mood for the audience while the overall cinematography helps shape the visual experience when watching his films. Wong Kar-wai has worked with some of the best cinematographers in his films such as  Christopher Doyle, Andrew Lau Wai-Keung, Mark Lee Ping-bing, Kwan Pung-Leung, Darius Khondji and Philippe Le Sourd. However, one can still find similarities in the visual language of his films even though he has worked with different cinematographers. In Wong Kar-wai’s films, the camera can energetically buzz around the characters or it slows down to allow us to observe fine margins of time and distance that separate characters.

There is also the glorious usage of the step-printing technique which allows the viewer to experience both fast images and slowing down of certain elements in a frame. This technique was used to loving effect in both Chungking Express and Fallen Angels

There is a distinct purpose to the usage of all the different camera techniques. Slow motion or step-printing allows audience to focus on certain moments that are critical to a character’s life. In other instances, the camera allows audience an immersive experience in the film. In a wonderful sequence in Happy Together, the camera allows the audience to become an extra player in a carefree soccer game that employees at the restaurant indulge in during their breaks. In the case of his wuxia films, the camera allows us to properly observe the hand movements thereby emphasizing the art in martial arts. The cinematography helps craft the aesthetic beauty in his frames especially with how each frame is lit and how Wong Kar-wai manages to find beauty in normal everyday objects. This is illustrated by his usage of rain which is commonly found in his movies.

In the hands of Wong Kar-wai, rain attains a poetic beauty. Of course, one of the best uses of rain comes at the start of The Grandmaster which features a stunning fight sequence in rain and the camera movements ensures the entire sequence is a sumptuous work of art.

It is not only the visual elements in his films that share a common bond but even the thematic elements are linked. Many of the characters in Wong Kar-wai’s films are either lonely or isolated. Even if the characters are in a relationship, they are solitary as illustrated by In the Mood for Love where both partners of the main characters are always away. In his films, lonely characters are often pondering about their lives or waiting for something good to happen. Their waiting is highlighted by clocks which are prominently displayed on screen. 

Sometimes, the changing time in the clock signifies a key moment in the characters’ lives. On other occasions, characters wait for the clock to change time so that they can make a phone call or can meet someone. However, characters in Wong Kar-wai’s films don’t have to wait too long in their lonely state as each moment in the film is a chance for a character to turn things around. The opening words of Chungking Express perfectly describe a majority of Wong kar-wai’s films:

“Every day we brush past so many other people.
People we may never meet…or people who may become close friends.”


In his films, a chance to turn a new leaf is only a corner away and the possibility of finding a new love isn’t far away. That is why his films also feature many instances of characters running into each other, narrowly missing each other even though they exist in close proximity to each other. In Chungking Express, Cop 223 specifies he was “0.01 centimetres" from the one woman he loved. The mention of an exact measure is not a random dialogue because such close proximity of characters is on display in Wong Kar-wai’s other films as well. All it takes is one moment; a single second, for characters to collide into each other, or brush their hands against each other before the music starts and a new life begins.


With the aid of his signature elements, Wong Kar-wai has redefined cinema by freeing it from the shackles of traditional scripts and has instead turned cinema into a stylish art form where each frame exudes colour and rich emotions. He is interested in exploring spaces where humans interact, where they make connections or where they narrowly miss each other. He undertakes this exploration by portraying moments which involve glances, an encounter, an affair, heartbreak and agony. These scenes are not presented in silence but are instead stitched together with breathtaking music resulting in seductive, immersive and emotional experiences. This depiction of moments with memorable music gives his films a universal feel and that is a big reason why his films have gotten recognition around the world. His films could be set in Hong Kong or Buenos Aires yet the mood and feelings his characters evoke could take place in any country in the world.

Note: This article was originally published as part of the Cinematheque’s Master Series on Wong Kar-wai in 2017.

Sunday, March 06, 2011

Spotlight on Christopher Doyle

I have often chased down films either by a particular director or country for the better part of the last decade. The only exception to this was from 2005-06 when I looked for films that cinematographer Christopher Doyle worked on. Ofcourse, Doyle is no ordinary cinematographer but is one of the top 2-3, if not the best, director of photography working in any film industry around the world. He is best known for his work on Asian films, especially his associations with Wong Kar-wai. In fact, it was Wong Kar-wai’s films that first led me to Doyle's vibrant and fascinating palettes. However, what really drove me to start hunting down other Doyle films was his work on Fruit Chan's Dumplings segment in 2004's Three...Extremes. The Dumplings segment was easily one of the best lit and shot films I had seen that year and that short forced me to seek out other Doyle filmed works. The quest led me to Thai director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's hypnotic and mesmerizing Last Life in the Universe which naturally led me to the director's next film Invisible Waves. In the few years between 2002-2006, it appeared that anything that Doyle shot was worth seeing. Hero was a visual treat, 2046 was a seductive follow up to the cinematic treasure In the Mood for Love while The Quiet American was a brave political film made in a time of "us against them" policies which left no room for reason or diplomacy.

After Invisible Waves, I eased off on the film hunt and instead dove into various regional, directorial and soccer themed spotlights. Interestingly after 2006, Doyle also moved away temporarily from Asia to work with M. Night Shyamalan (2006's Lady in the Water), Gus Van Sant (2007's Paranoid Park) and Jim Jarmusch (The Limits of Control, easily the best American film of 2009). A perfect opportunity for a Christopher Doyle spotlight would have being in 2006 when his more famous and precious works could have been captured in a single umbrella. As a way to make amends, I decided to finally have an overdue spotlight on Christopher Doyle and use the opportunity to catch-up on some of his previous works which I missed, especially his directorial debut Away with Words which formed the starting point of this 5 film series.

In order of viewing:

Away with Words (1999, Hong Kong co-production, directed by Christopher Doyle)
Happy Together (1997, Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai)
The White Countess (2005, UK co-production, James Ivory)
Ondine (2009, Ireland/USA, Neil Jordon)
Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002, Australia, Phillip Noyce)


Images, Identity and the ocean

It is not surprizing to discover that Doyle's directorial feature debut is a film rich in visual language. The film does not do away with words as may be indicated by the title but instead the words do not provide a means to enjoy the film. Trying to depend on a narrative driven by dialogue will not lead to a satisfying feeling regarding this film. Instead, one must allow the stunning colors and unique point of view camera angles to form a guide through the film's flashbacks and loosely arranged sequences. The reason that dialogues are not a key ingredient in the film is because the film's three main characters are in a foreign land unable to communicate their feelings or thoughts accurately for variety of reasons.
Asano Away With Words
Asano is a Japanese who finds himself in Hong Kong and is unable to speak the language while Kevin is an Englishman whose drunken episodes lead him to forget his surroundings (including the street name where he lives) thereby getting arrested by the police on a frequent basis. Kevin's girlfriend is also an outsider and tries to form a bridge between Asano and Kevin yet she is adrift in her own sea.

The interactions between the three form the crux of the narrative while Asano's flashbacks of his childhood provide the film's visual strength. Asano loves the sea and not surprizingly his memories are often associated with water. Throughout the film, different camera angles give a sense of the joy that Asano experiences as he mentally makes his way towards the sea. So the camera rushes down the path towards the sanded beach eventually pointing at the rich blue water. One of the film's most unique angles involves seeing the perspective from a tire racing down the street.
Tire Away With Words
Away With Words

Note: Away with Words is co-written by Tony Rayns, the brilliant Asian film programmer responsible for ensuring that the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) unearths promising works from Asian filmmakers around the world every year.

A different affair in Buenos Aries

A steamy affair, love, break-up, agony and seductive music. Welcome to life, Wong Kar-wai style. However, unlike other Wong Kar-wai films, the setting in Happy Together is not Hong Kong but is instead Buenos Aries and the love story involves two men, Lai (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) & Ho (Leslie Cheung). The sexuality of the characters does not matter too much as the relationship issues and arguments portrayed in the film apply universally to both men and women. As a result, the film forms a case study of a broken heart and the misery that loneliness can sometimes bring.
Buenos Aries
Happy Together starts off in rich black and white before switching over to color around the 20 minute mark. There are 2 moments of color spliced in between the black and white footage and one of them has to do with the dreams of Lai's quest to head to Iguazu Falls. The journey to the world famous waterfalls ends up becoming a defining marker in the relationship between Lai and Ho. The two get lost en route and never make it to the falls while their fight during their drive starts the process of a gradual break-up. Even though Lai and Ho's relationship is shown to be turbulent and has endured many previous split-ups, the fallout from the long car drive is more serious. The film then depicts the sorrow that engulfs a broken heart. A person with a broken heart cannot enjoy anything around them, no matter where they are. In one case, it appears that Lai is asleep during one of the most fierce and noisy derby games in the world -- River Plate vs Boca Juniors. Only a person gripped by depression and misery could sleep in such a hostile environment.
Happy Together
Happy Together Boca River game
Boca River game

In another case, Lai attempts a common therapy for misery -- alcohol. Naturally, Quilmes is on display as it is the popular beer available around Buenos Aries, or where ever an Argentine soccer game is played for that matter.
Quilmes

The real star of the film ends up being Doyle's camera which injects life in a familiar tale of love & anguish. The camera pushes and prods in confined spaces ensuring that dullness does not fully descend onto the work. A few personal favourite sequences involve the soccer game that employees at the restaurant indulge in during their breaks. The camera ensures the audience feels like another player in the game, trying to play the ball and even receive a pass. In one instance, the game is heard without any background noise but in another case, music blurs out the sounds of the players and the camera slows down to give a poetic look at Lai in the foreground while the sun and the players occupy the background.
War, Love and a perfect bar

The White Countess is set in 1936 Shanghai against the backdrop of an impending Japanese Invasion and a World War. Although, one would not know much about the political situation in the world if it were up to Todd Jackson (Ralph Fiennes) as his dream of a perfect bar/club is a place where politics is left outside and patrons can mingle freely without their ideologies. The sentiment is noble and at first it succeeds in attracting clientele to his new club. However, as the threat of a Japanese invasion increases, attendance in the club declines. A Japanese businessman Matsuda (Hiroyuki Sanada) suggests that Todd Jackson needs to slowly introduce some political tension in the club that would then influence more people to attend. Matsuda’s words ring true but by the time the crowds return, the invasion is on the doorstep leading to a mass exodus of people from the city.

The film tries its best to keep any politics elements off the screen which results in a work free of any tension and appearing quite sterile. The dramatic exodus at the end feels at odds with the film's overall calm rhythm and comes too late to make a difference to a movie that produces no lasting sentiments.

A mythical tale dressed up in reality

The enchanting selkie. The lady from the sea. Full of beauty and mystery. Although in modern day, such a lady would arouse more distrust than enchantment. Neil Jordon takes a mythical celtic tale and adds a layer of present day political sentiment about distrust of emigrants and foreigners.

Christopher Doyle's camera perfectly captures the grayish skies and always rain tinged atmosphere that exists in a small Irish town. Interestingly, Doyle came to this film after having worked on M. Night Shyamalan's Lady in the Water, which was a different take on a mythical mermaid tale.

The long journey home

Rabbit-Proof Fence is based on a real life story of three young Aboriginal girl's journey to return home to their mother from the correction camp they were placed in by the Australian government. The camps were created to separate mixed blood children (white & native) from their parents in a government backed experiment meant for the “good of the people”.

The film is a worthy yet rare return for Doyle and Noyce to their native Australia to shoot a film. Doyle’s camera captures the sheer vastness and heat of an unforgiving Australian landscape perfectly.

Auteur theory

The films in this spotlight show that Christopher Doyle has the ability to work with multiple directors in different countries and still provide the necessary look to assist in the filmmakers varying visions. In this regard, the films are a perfect example of seeing an auteur theory at work as the same DOP produces vastly different results depending on who the director is. For example, nothing about The White Countess gives a clue that Christopher Doyle is the DOP as the film looks and feels like a Merchant Ivory Production. On the other hand, Happy Together feels like a Wong Kar-wai film even though it is shot in a completely different continent and culture from other Wong Kar-wai films. A director may be the final authority in the film’s final vision but he/she does depend on a good DOP to achieve their unique vision. It is hard to imagine a Wong Kar-wai film without Christopher Doyle’s creative camera movements in tight quarters.