Reece Chan
Anyone who has modest understanding of Asian cinema will most unquestionably have heard of Wong Kar-wai, the Hong Kong auteur with several critically acknowledged and worldwide awarded movies under his belt. With the blend of neon-drenched world, pop exuberance, saturated colors, own aesthetic senses and alienated melancholy, his strong absolute-self-expressing style makes his works always recognizably their own. In recent years, the 4K restored version of his works Days of Being Wild (1990), In the Mood for Love (2000) and As Tears Go By (1988) have been released in cinemas accordingly, and nearly all tickets have been sold out. 2 decades after premiered, why do Wong’s filmography maintain such an obsession across generations, even to Generation Z?
Wong’s films resonate with Hong Kong young hipsters’. He is well known as “the most romantic filmmaker in the world”. His characters often express their inner emotions in the state of solitude, which appear to override the existence of era and background. Lines in his movies are aloof, poetic and rhapsodical. People often find self-relevancy to the stories, sharing the melancholia of unrequited love and experiencing moment of inspired silliness of life. Besides, Hong Kongers share similarities with Wong’s characters, like the resonance of future disorientation and lack of identities experienced by Yuddy in Days of Being Wild. Either in the time before Hong Kong handover or of the current political unrest, Hong kong is pervaded with a sense of helplessness and loss. After all, Wong and Hong Kongers share similar reminiscence of the past (60s, 90s).
“I've heard that there's a kind of bird without legs that can only fly and fly, and sleep in the wind when it is tired. The bird only lands once in its life... that's when it dies.” – Yuddy, Days of Being Wild (1990)
The fusion of Western and Eastern style shown in Wong's works is favorable across generations. ChungKing Express is a case in point, peppered with pop culture references. The film is riddled with U.S. cultures, like U.S. music (California Dreamin'), fashion (Brigitte Lin's noir-ish raincoat, sunglasses and blonde wig) and commercial products (Del Monte pineapple). On the other hand, Taoist art of mainland China is shown through Wong’s privileging of “emotionally expressive visuals” over “directly-stated narratives and characterizations”, such as the use of greenish blue color tone in expressing melancholy. This gives audiences a sense of modernness, cultural identity and subtleness.
"If memories could be canned, would they also have expiry dates? If so, I hope they last for centuries." - Cop 223, Chungking Express (1994)
The interaction between the fandom subculture and Wong's filmography also plays a role in the process. Just by searching “Wong Kar-wai” on Instagram, lots of related fan pages pop out from suggestion, such as wongkarwaimonamour, posting beautiful screen captures and quotes from his movies. Youngsters nowadays like to quote and share his romantic melancholy dialogue in daily conversion or Instagram captions. Moreover, to mark the occasion of classic rerelease of In the Mood for Love, its 20th Anniversary Exhibition was held in Tsim Sha Tsui’s iSquare mall. Crowds of fan came to visit the recreation of an iconic scene in the nostalgic Goldfinch Restaurant, as well as dressed up like Su Li-zhen for a 60s experience. Echoing to participatory culture, different forms of audiences’ participation bolster up their fandom identities, which further consolidate the passion and obsession toward Wong’s masterpieces across decades.
Goldfinch Restaurant - In the Mood for Love (2000)
In the Mood for Love 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Tsim Sha Tsui’s iSquare mall
his movies are timeless classics!