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what an emotional roller coaster
this movie is slow-spaced and yet not a boring moment. usually watching anything i tend to like or root for some character's and dislike others, when its a couple more so. u see and like one's actions/personality and tend to see the faults in the other's making u dislike them all the more. here weirdly i didn't root for one or the other - it was made very humane, that even the flaws were understandable and invoked sympathy by the end ...the most ironic part for me was the use of black and white and the ignition of color and the symbolism behind its meaning - cause of how immersed i was in Po Wing and Yiu Fai's relationship it took me a while before i noticed the lack of color - this was that good (and that's saying something considering the version i saw, subs were all over the place and some of the time i was guessing at what was going on and what some scenes meant ) yet i was captivated from start to finish.
harder to like or "get" Po Wing i was confused by his motivation, why the push and pull - why drive the person u love bonkers by pulling them in and then pushing them away brutally, driving them crazy only to come back to repeat the scenario all over again. it was as if he was unraveling and at times trying to drag Yiu Fai down with him -
Yiu Fai was a much more stable character, even when he was alone he had an objective going back home and he would work himself to the bone to achieve that goal - he knew Po Wing was bad for him but he couldn't help himself (i guess that when the heart is involved u lead with it, instead of ur head) more so here in this toxic relationship. and yet no matter how hard he tried he could never really push Po Wing away or keep him - when Po Wing wanted out - so i personally was glad that when he took Po Wing back for the last time he kept him at arms length - no matter how much he cared for him literally he didn't sleep with him - which sadly didn't mean he wasn't as lost when Po Wing had enough and bailed - but he found it in himself to finally give up and take on more jobs to go back home..
Chang Wan i feel like was a much needed "breathing space" (ironic to call a person that) but even though he wasn't gay his coming into Yiu Fai life, another fellow that was all alone in a foreign country - they bonded cause the spoke the same language and were strangers in that land - and suddenly Yiu Fai didn't only have Po Wing. he didn't lean in Chang Wan - they were good friends at most. but the fact that he had this normal comparison, i feel like it helped him understand that he needed to stop going back / taking back Po Wing time and again and put his all into going back home and fixing his own life. that he couldn't subconsciously wait around for someone who would never really stick by him.
doesn't mean i didn't feel bad for Po Wing who came back as per his MO only to find that this time Yiu Fai wasn't sitting around waiting there for him, happy to pick up the pieces and give him a safe haven where he could rest, feeling loved and getting taken care of, for however long he needed, until he had enough - that's why the ending kinda blindsided me as i wanted to know what happens to all involved, Yiu Fai goes back but he visits Chang Wan's family's shop - Chang Wan at the other end of the world has had enough of traveling thinking of Fai wants to go back home - and then there is sad broken Po Wing who is left all alone in Argentina - so this time this open ended was a major bummer as i needed more ... for sure a rewatch
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amazing portrayal of 'unconventional' love
unlike most lgbtq+ films, 'happy together' doesn't focus on the identity crisis that most others do (not to undermine the importance of exploring such a topic, but it's a breath of fresh air to see a different approach being taken, especially when you consider the attitudes towards homosexuality in 1990s hong kong).what makes 'happy together' so magical is the immersion it creates: loneliness, desperation, joy, forlornness, fondness, just to name a few. vicariously, you could feel the mutual frustration between the two characters and their frustration at, not their love, but how it manifests. rather than what is said, you ponder over what could have and should have been said instead.
'do you regret being with me?'
'damn right i do. i had no regrets until i met you. now my regrets could kill me.'
the contrast of what is being said vs what is being revealed through the narration and their actions is what breaks your heart. their toxicity is undeniable, and you know that they're better off without each other, but a small part of you both longs and dreads for po-wing to say 'let's start over.' when this doesn't happen, what are you supposed to feel?
cheung and leung's acting is certainly to be rewarded. this is my first watch of cheung, and my second watch of leung (after chungking express). they act devastatingly well, with leung somehow capturing his love for po-wing that he internalises, mostly with his acts of love and concern while his lover is in slumber or out of his sight.
as always, i adore wong kar wai's fluid direction, and the cinematography alone suffices as a reason to watch this. a beautiful film.
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The melancholy of loving
A volatile relationship (between two men and a third entering the picture, where the gender is only incidental to the proceedings), youth, living abroad in a tiny room in Argentina, shadows and light, a tango bar and existential pain assume an organic, cogent, naturally occurring chemical compound.Almost plotless. Visually striking. But thankfully with less repeated music than other Wong Kar-Wai films.
Among the three leads Chang Chen is the most gorgeous, he looks like Ji Chang Wook's big brother.
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A gorgeous looking film about two men who don't love (or like) each other (anymore), but are too comfortable in their particular ruts to really admit it to each other (or themselves).
Solid performances all round, but I just didn't care about the characters or the wild swings in their crumbling dynamic.
And Now that I've seen it, the constant comparison to Barry Jenkins' "Moonlight" feels incredibly misguided or wrongheaded (even if this film was an explicit influence).
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Two amazing Hong Kong stars gave a super performance, convincing, human and I'm sorry Leslie Cheung ended his life just a few years after this movie premiered. Phew...
Film se hodně vymyká běžnosti, a v tom je jeho síla. Ano, může mít hodnocení nízké i vysoké, já se jednoznačně přikládním k tomu, že film je malým originálním klenotem nejen příběhu, režie, zpracování, ale na co též někteří v hodnocení pozapomínají - i herectvím.
Dvě úžasné hongkongské hvězdy podaly super výkon, přesvědčivý, člověčí a je mi líto, že Leslie Cheung ukončil svůj život jen pár let po premíéře tohoto filmu. Ufff ...
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A Lesson in Longing!
To be honest, when I first watched this movie, I cried for hours. I don't know how to describe the feeling. I watched it in 2019 for the first time, and I still sometimes think about it a cry. For the loss of love, and the resentment that comes from longing for something that was never truly yours in the first place. It's so difficult to show these elements so truthfully and succinctly. I sometimes think this movie wasn't what I thought it was, so I go to rewatch it, and I'm a puddle on the floor for the next couple of days.The beauty of the script, by saying so much and so little at the same time. The acting is IMMACULATE. To be honest, there were moments that felt like I was looking in on something so private and real, that I should avert my eyes. The background score is beautiful. But more than anything else, it's the feeling we've all experience. Doesn't have to be romantic, but having lost... lost what meant something to you, I think that's the greatest tragedy this film explained.
Tony and Leslie... I can't thank them enough for just doing this the way it ought to be done. And, Tony+WKW is always perfection. Will be rewatching again, I'm sure, just to make sure I didn't imagine it all up. I would recommend this for anyone who is grieving and can't let go. I would recommend this to anyone who's willing to listen.
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