Weekly haut, retour au début Five: Wong Kar-wai films 

Theater, Comedy & Dance home page

« Revisiting James Baldwin\'s Notes of…  |  The Reader\'s Agenda: Mon 12/3… »

Foreign / Weekly Top Five / Film Weekly Top Five: Wong Kar-wai films

As part of its series of notable contemporary Hong King cinema, the Gene Siskel Film Center will screen two—count \'em, two!—films by master filmmaker Wong Kar-wai. The series has provided a grand opportunity to see a bevy of films by essential East Asian directors, including Tsui Hark and Johnnie To, while also showcasing works by lesser-known directors that speak to a unique and vibrant film culture. (I\'m still kicking myself for missing Vulgaria, particularly after reading Ben Sachs\' glowing review.)

In the Mood for Love and Happy Together both screen this weekend—the former on Wed 12/5 at 3 PM, the latter on Mon 12/3, 8 PM. After the jump, check out my five favorite Wong films.

5. "The Hand" (2004) Part of the anthology film Eros, which also includes two short films from Steven Soderbergh and the late Michelangelo Antonioni. If the title didn\'t give it away, Eros explores themes of love, sex, and longing; Wong\'s contribution, set in the 1960s, tells the story of a tailor and his relationship with a prostitute—played expertly by Chang Chen and Gong Li, respectively. Their relationship, highly erotic yet oddly mechanical, relates specifically to Wong\'s interest in Western modernity, a consistent pet theme of his. Somewhat sketch-like thanks to its running time of 42 minutes, but a hell of a sketch nonetheless.

4. Days of Being Wild (1990) The cast, the cast, the cast. But also, Wong\'s idiosyncratic style, which is already fully realized in this, only his second feature film. Rhythmic, hypnotic, and hauntingly erotic, it explores the nature of sexual attraction in strikingly fragmented fraction. It doesn\'t follow conventional narrative plot line so much as it provides snapshots of the various forays between a hotshot playboy (Leslie Cheung) and his many female suitors. The vignettelike structure reveals encounters that are equal turns sensuous, somber, romantic, and devastating.

3. Chungking Express (1994) Wong\'s most playful film, and also the most compulsively watchable. It\'s unabashedly indebted to the stylistic excess of early Jean-Luc Godard, yet at the same time an entirely singular effort. Thematically, it continues his interest in the enigmatic nature of human interaction. Roger Ebert, however, wasn\'t buying it. He wrote in his initial review, "You enjoy [Chungking Express] because of what you know about film, not because of what it knows about life." I disagree, and point to the film\'s wondrously ambiguous ending as proof.

2. In The Mood for Love (2000) Most consider this Wong\'s best film, and for good reason. It\'s the consummate example of his thematic trademarks, including the 1960s, romantic interaction as operational habit, displaced desire, and utilizes his typically disjointed but nonetheless enthralling narrative style. Thanks to his longtime collaborator, cinematographer Christopher Doyle, it\'s also one of the most visually distinctive films of the last decade. Broad splashes of color amid stark albeit confined compositions give the film an incomparable look.

1. Ashes of Time Redux (2008) The original Ashes of Time was released in 1994, but Wong, displeased with elements of the story, released this shortened version over a decade later to little fanfare, mostly due to the lackluster response during its initial release. Compared to the rest of Wong\'s work, this criminally underrated kung-fu epic certainly stands out, but in all the best ways possible. It\'s his most spiritual film, providing a profound meditation on man\'s relation to the past, rendered in a stunningly poetic narrative that accounts for all manner of human experience. Doyle, meanwhile, has never done better work. The film\'s saturated desert setting bursts with splashes of color and movement. Sammo Hung\'s choreography doesn\'t hurt matters—neither do Yo-Yo Ma\'s haunting cello contributions.

Honorable mention: 2046 is an odd, pseudo-sci fi exercise that doesn\'t always work but is enjoyable as a sort of self-parody.

Drew Hunt writes film-related top five lists every Sunday.

Tags: Wong Kar-wai, Gene Siskel Film Center, In the Mood For Love, Happy Together, The Hand, Eros, Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, Ashes of Time Redux, Vulgaria, Drew Hunt\'s Weekly Top Five, Image

Wong Kar-wai\'s kung fu biopic is an epic fail

Successful as neither an action film nor a love story,

Ben I am white and know no one that voted against the president because of …

Re: Searching for the bright side to Bruce Rauner\'s victory

Best place I\'ve been for sushi in a long time!

Best dang caramel cupcakes in the world and the most welcoming chef! Chicago should be …

Re: South-side baker Stephanie Hart is a new Food Network star

Searching for the bright side to Bruce Rauner\'s victory 15

Words I never thought I\'d say—on the bright side, Speaker Madigan held on to his veto-proof majority.

South-side baker Stephanie Hart is a new Food Network star 5

A baker from Grand Crossing will make her TV debut on Food Network\'s Holiday Baking Championship on Sunday.

What if Nik Wallenda hadn\'t defied death in Chicago? 3

The professional risk-taker is following in his (dead) great-grandfather\'s footsteps.

Amara Enyia runs for mayor! Wait, who? 27

A 31-year-old community activist with all of $650 in her coffers takes on our $7 million mayor.

Hey, Karen Lewis: File those petitions for mayor! 47

A modest proposal for Karen Lewis: file your petitions and put your name on the ballot for mayor.

Did you read about terrifying robots, possible HIV cures, and nasty online comments? 45

Also the sequester, trips to the ER, Michael Lenehan on Loyola basketball, and John Jeremiah Sullivan on smoking?

Proco "Joe" Moreno bashes Rahm, Will Burns gets booed, Toni Preckwinkle is a no-show, and other observations from the big anyone-but-Rahm rally.