Wong Kar Wai: A Western Perspective

As a Film Comment subscriber, I was made aware of Wong Kar Wai through their extolling coverage of In the Mood for Love and its follow-up, 2046, featured on a cover. While those were the first of his movies I watched, there is -- despite his painfully slow out-put -- much more to his canon.

Beginning with his first film -- the genre flick triad romance, As Tears Go By -- I plan on posting a series of reflections on his entire output.

Overall, I find Wai's work occasionally frustrating and opaque but always beguiling.

He employs only a limited narrative arcs that deal almost uniformly with failed romantic relationships. His use of scenes to advance plot is limited -- similar to late-period Malick, he has begun relying heavily on voice-overs. I don't consider this a flaw as some might, however.

Wai's his distinctive visual flair can be observed throughout his canon, most often in the expressions of alienation or interpersonal disconnect. As I alluded to before, heart-break, particularly female heart-break, is always central. However, careful observation of the connecting characters and story-lines of his self-referencing works usually reveals that the source of such male-driven romantic rejetions is memory of past wounds.

from 2046

I look forward to his supposedly forthcoming interpretation of the Ip Man story, perhaps due out this decade.