Directors MORE DIRECTORS CHECKLIST SERIES - Volume #215 - The Films Of WONG KAR-WAI (1 Viewer)

[Brook K]

Rate 'em, Rank 'em, Review 'em, whatever

Volume #215 - Wong Kar-Wai

Eros (2004) (segment "The Hand")
2046 (2004)
Six Days (2002) (V)
The Hire: The Follow (2001) (as wkw)
In the Mood for Love (2000)
Happy Together (1997)
wkw/tk/1996@7'55''hk.net (1996)
Fallen Angels (1995)
Ashes of Time (1994)
Chungking Express (1994)
Days of Being Wild (1991)
As Tears Go By (1988)

 

[Brook K]

A unique visual style, the manipulation of time, and a taste for romance mark one of Hong Kong's top directors.

1. Happy Together - A (Deeply moving tale of the often violent romantic relationship between two male expats living in Buenos Aires)
*2. In The Mood For Love - A (Kar-Wai shows us the Hong Kong of his memory through music and beautiful settings, while Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung act out a story of frustrated romance)
3. Chungking Express - A- (A different tone here as this romantic film is full of enormous charm and fun.)
4. As Tears Roll By - B
5. 2046 - B
6. Fallen Angels - B- (I need to revisit this as it is connected to Chungking Express but I saw this one first.)
7. Eros: Segment "The Hand" - B-
8. Days of Being Wild - C+
9. My Blueberry Nights - C+

Own: 1

 

[Bill McA]

Rated from :star: to :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
Titles in RED are theatrical screenings

Kar-wai Wong

Ashes of Time Redux (2008) :star: :star:
To Each His Cinema (2007) (segment "I Traveled 9,000km to Give it to You") :star: :star: :star: :star:
My Blueberry Nights (2007) :star: :star:
Eros (2004) (segment "The Hand") :star: :star:
2046 (2004) :star: :star: :star: (Own the DVD)
Six Days (2002) (V)
The Hire: The Follow (2001)
In the Mood for Love (2000) :star: :star: :star: :star: (Own the DVD)
Happy Together (1997) :star: :star: :star:
wkw/tk/1996@7'55''hk.net (1996)
Fallen Angels (1995) :star: :star:
Ashes of Time (1994)
Chungking Express (1994) :star: :star: :star: (Own the DVD)
Days of Being Wild (1991) :star: :star: :star: :star: (Own the DVD)
As Tears Go By (1988)

Seen 10
Own 4

Kar-wai Wong is the 80th director in this series that I've seen/met in person

 

[george kaplan]

WONG KAR-WAI

Seen: 0
Like: 0
Own: 0

 

[SteveGon]

My Blueberry Nights ***
As Tears Go By ***
Chungking Express ***
Days of Being Wild ***1/2
In the Mood for Love - N/A (need to revisit)
2046 ***1/2
Fallen Angels **1/2

 

[Elizabeth S]

In the Mood for Love (2000)
Chungking Express (1994)
Fallen Angels (1995)
Days of Being Wild (1991)
As Tears Go By (1988)
Happy Together (1997)

Seen the above, in order of preference. I have "2046" and "The Hire" in my "to watch" pile.

 

[Kirk Tsai]

Saw Ashes of Time when it first came out in theaters, but that was too long ago, and I was probably too young to "get" it. Wong's "Hire" entry is the best of the series.

Ranking:

1. Chungking Express
2. Days of Being Wild
3. In the Mood For Love
4. 2046
5. As Tears Go By
6. Fallen Angels
7. Happy Together

 

[Jim_K]

Ratings out of :star: :star: :star: :star:


[SIZE= 14px]WONG KAR-WAI (1956 - )[/SIZE]


There's Only One Sun (2007)

To Each His Own Cinema (2007) (segment "I Travelled 9000 km To Give It To You") :star: :star: :star:

My Blueberry Nights (2007)

Eros (2004) (segment "The Hand")
2046 (2004) :star: :star: 1/2
The Hire: The Follow (2001)
In the Mood for Love (2000) :star: :star: :star:
Happy Together (1997)
wkw/tk/1996@7'55''hk.net (1996)
Fallen Angels (1995) :star: :star: 1/2
Ashes of Time (1994) :star: :star: :star:
Chungking Express (1994) :star: :star: :star:
Days of Being Wild (1991) :star: :star: :star:
As Tears Go By (1988) :star: :star: :star:

 

[Brook K]

Ashes of Time is a fantasy kung fu film.

 

[Jim_K]

Updated Master list...............................

 

[Arman]

.

 

[Brook K]

Updated:

2046 - B

 

[SteveGon]

Rewatched Chungking Express and liked it much better this time out: ***

 

[SteveGon]

2046 ***1/2

 

[Jim_K]

Updated Master list...............................

 

[SteveGon]

As Tears Go By ***

 

[Elijah Sullivan]

Wow, not a lot of WKW fans, here, eh? There's a fair number of critics out there who would call him the greatest living director... I'm not sure I agree (his worst stuff is pretty much just Quentin Tarantino by way of Alain Resnais) but he's made a fair number of masterpieces.

In the Mood for Love is one of the best films of the new millenium - top 10, for sure. I was less thrilled by 2046; his recycling of characters and themes is starting to get really old after 15 years of the same old thing.

I'd rank them like this:
In the Mood for Love *****
Happy Together ****1/2
Days of Being Wild ****1/2
Chungking Express ****1/2
As Tears Go By ****
Ashes of Time ****
2046 ***1/2
Fallen Angels **

Fallen Angels is the only one of his movies that I disliked. It was just too "hip" and devoid of anything other than pop references - basically, all the hangups that Tarantino will never get over.

Ashes of Time has a bad rep and a shitty DVD, but it's a wonderful film. It doesn't make a lick of sense and some of the action is awfully staged, but there are sublime sequences and many moments of pure magic. My favorite is Maggie Cheung's monologue near the end. Just wondeful stuff.

Chungking Express is one of the most entertaining adult films made since the golden age of Hollywood. I'd call it the most entertaining if I let my enthusiasm reign.

Happy Together is the movie Brokeback Mountain should have been. It's a good deal more honest and even more painful to watch. Plus it's a formalistic success, while Brokeback is, at best, and old-fashioned movie that could have been directed by anybody.

Days of Being Wild is the birth of many themes and characters from WKW's later films (you can glimpse the apartment from Mood and 2046 if you look fast), and as a compendium of such, works better than 2046 while being less bitter.

As Tears Go By is a very good remake of Mean Streets with the added polish of Hong Kong action cinema. I can't say which film I like more; Streets is gritty where Tears is romantic.

In the Mood for Love is a MAJOR stylistic coup in recent cinema. Most movies fail when they break from standard story construction, but Mood actually gains more power and evocative potential from thinking independantly. It's the consummation of WKW's development during the '90s, one of the most aethetically pleasing pieces of craftsmanship to emerge from the artform and a deeply affecting study of love. He also unifies his naivete and cynicism in a way that isn't mutually exclusive (as it was earlier, where he traded off character by character, or film by film).

Wong Kar-Wai is a terrific director. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea (I compared him to Tarantino, who I despise), but absolutely at the forefront of talented artists in the field.

His new film is filming right now - with a cast that includes Norah Jones, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Rachel Wiesz. Should be very pretty to look at. After that he remakes The Lady from Shanghai with Nicole Kidman.

 

[SteveGon]

Days of Being Wild ***1/2 out of ****

 

[SteveGon]

Fallen Angels **1/2 out of ****

 

[Martin Teller]

My Blueberry Nights (2007) - 7/10
2046 (2004) - 8/10
In the Mood for Love (2000) - 8/10
Happy Together (1997) - 6/10
Fallen Angels (1995) - 7/10
Chungking Express (1994) - 8/10
Days of Being Wild (1991) - 7/10
As Tears Go By (1988) - 5/10