Happy Together (1997)

Literally: Spring Light Leaking

Director: Wong Kar-Wai

Producer: Wong Kar-Wai

Writer: Wong Kar-Wai

Cast: Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing, Chang Chen (Cheung Chun), Lien Pi-Tung

Running Time: 98 min.

Plot: Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung, two of Hong Kong's biggest stars, play a pair of gay lovers living out the waning days of their relationship as expatriates in Buenos Aires. Together with Australian Christopher Doyle, Kar-Wai's longtime cinematographer, the director discovers a city rich with diverse cultural influences. Happy Together reveals a corner of the world alive with intimate colors and an astounding array of sounds. Even more striking, though, is the way that such an international collaboration brings to life a romance that is both realistic and universal. Ho and Lai are characters who are instantly identifiable, who play the roles and experience the dynamics that all couples go through in the course of a relationship. Lusty tango bars, the salsa music of the La Boca sidewalks, and a hypnotic visit to the nearby Iguazu Falls give further dimension to the tensions growing between the two lovers.

WOODY'S REVIEW: Ignore your homophobia for an hour and a half and watch this film. It is a brilliant meditation on a failing relationship, and will definitely strike a chord with anyone who has been in a relationship nearing it's end.

"Happy Together" concerns the failing relationship between two gay men in Buenos Aires, Yui-fai (Tony Leung Chui Wai) and Po-Wing (Leslie Cheung). Shortly after arriving in Buenos Aires and getting lost along the way, the bitchy Po-Wing leaves Yui-fai, only returning when injured or in need of money. As Yui-fai slowly spirals into a deep depression, the only time optimistic thing that he experiences in Buenos Aires is his platonic relationship with co-worker Chang (Chang Cheh). After Chang leaves Buenos Aires to return home to Taiwan, Yui-fai is faced with a dilemma. Should he stay with Po-Wing in Buenos Aires or return home to Hong Kong?

If it weren't so downbeat and depressing, this would be, hands-down, Wong Kar-wai's greatest film. It works on all levels. The acting, direction, set design, and more than anything, the cinematography, are brilliant.

Let's start with the acting. Tony Leung Chui-wai is great as ever here as the tortured Yui-fai. No one is as good at looking down and sad as Chui-wai, and his performance came really close to winning best actor at Cannes (one more vote and the award would have been his). This is the film that made me stand up and realize just how great an actor the man is...imagine how hard it must have been for the guy when he arrived in Buenos Aires to learn that Wong Kar-wai had changed his role from a son searching for his gay father to being a gay man in a relationship with Leslie Cheung, and that he would have to shoot a sex scene with him. Leslie Cheung's performance as the bitchy Po-Wing is also perfect...he gives what could have been a really one note role a lot more depth than one would expect. Po-Wing does indeed love Yui-fai, but has too many personal demons and problems with himself to be able to love another human being in a normal, healthy way. Chang Cheh is a revelation here. His character is very much like a male version of Faye Wong in "Chungking Express". Much like that character, he brings optimism and hope to the proceedings, something a film as depressing as this one desperately needs. He plays his character with just the right note of wide-eyed innocence and shows that he is really one to look out for.

The directing and writing are, as expected, great. Wong Kar-wai seems incapable of making a bad film. Everything here gels so perfectly. The jump cuts, the black and white to color, the editing...it all fits the film perfectly. Interesting fact: The film was originally three hours long, and was edited to it's current running time (an hour and a half) a day or so before it was to premiere ar Cannes. Among the cut and unused footage is a whole performance from Shirley Kwan and a suicide attempt by Yui-fai.

What really makes this film work, though, is the cinematography. Christopher Doyle is the world's best living cinematographer...you can press the pause button on your remote at any point in the film and it could make a great still photograph. He uses black and white film, oversaturated color, and slow mo to great effect and caps it all with the most amazing shot I have ever seen...Doyle was able to film the Icuazu falls from above in a helicopter. That scene is simply astounding in it's beauty and is just amazing.

The music is also really great, featuring Piazolla's "Tango Appasionado", Frank Zappa's great foray into jazz "Chunga's Revenge", Danny Chung's great, upbeat cover of The Turtles' "Happy Together", and another great Zappa song, the Peter Frampton parody "I Have Been In You", among others.

All in all, if it weren't for "Chungking Express", this would undoubtedly be Wong Kar-wai's masterpiece. Trust me, it is great. Don't feel uncomfortable just because it concerns two gay men. This isn't a gay film, it is a relationship film. It gets my fullest recommendation. See it and you'll never forget it.

WOODY'S RATING: 10/10

YATE'S REVIEW:In my opinion, this is Wong Kar Wai's best film. Not his most enjoyable, but definitely his best. As a matter of fact, this film is downright hard to watch at times. The film concerns two lovers, Yiu-fai and Po-wing, who go to renew their floundering relationship in Buenos Aires. Po-wing is slutty and distant, while Yiu-fai is a romantic fool, serious, but unable to turn Po-wing away. The other character in the film is Chang Chen, who plays a Taiwanese traveller who befriends Yiu-Fai. I've viewed this movie countless, painful times and can not find one thing wrong with it. Wong Kar Wai has proven he is truly one of the greatest director's in world cinema with this one. Chris Doyle, as always, deserves much mention. The amazing cinematography in this film, especially at the waterfalls and the lighthouse at the end of the world, is the best I have ever seen. The acting in this film is also the best you are likely to ever see in a Hong Kong film. Tony Leung Chiu-wai is superb as the confused Yiu-fai. The scene in which he cries into Chang's tape recorder is a great testament to Leung's acting talent. He really deserved to win at Cannes that year(he lost by one vote). Chang Chen is also really great; he injects life into the film much in the way Faye Wong did in Chungking Express. And Leslie Cheung really deserves recognition for the role of Po-wing. Whereas the character could have been a complete asshole, Cheung shows us at the end that he actually did, and does, love Yiu-fai. The scene where Po-wing goes back to Yiu-fai's apartment after he has left in one of the best scene's Cheung has ever acted in. Wong Kar Wai's best film. Not his most enjoyable(I prefer Fallen Angels), but definitely the best. A must see.

YATE'S RATING: 10/10

VIC NGUYEN'S REVIEW: Inspired by author Manuel Puig's The Buenos Aires Affair, this 1997 picture is the latest to come from art house filmmaker Wong Kar-wai. Presented in a non linear narrative, the story follows the lives of a bickering gay couple, who split up during their trip to Argentina, only to reunite and split up again. Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing play the couple, and give real depth to their underwritten characters (this is a given, since Wong Kar-wai doesn't prescript his own films), while Taiwanese actor Chang Chen is fares well with his excellent performance. Once again, Christopher Doyle complements the film with an exotic look, alternating between classic black and white and bright and lush colors. Another Wong Kar-wai masterpiece.

VIC NGUYEN'S RATING: 9.5/10