My Blueberry Nights

Wong Kar-Wai, 2007, in English (8.2*)
Wong is a Hong Kong director, and one of the most visual filmmakers in history, which makes him one of my favorites. He frames shots like still photographers, yet always keeps the camera moving so nothing is static. He also likes to slow the speed down sometimes (such a slow motion kiss), or speed it up a little (street crimes become blurred and fast), creating alterations of time only possible with cinema. His films all involve passage of time and relationships, and some even show the date or time as segment headings. This film shows its "chapters" as date and distance from New York City for the main character played by singer Norah Jones in a subtle, finely nuanced performance.

This is about relationships, close and long distance. The film starts in New York city, where Jude Law runs a diner frequented by Jones, hunting for a missing lover. She later hits the road, and the film moves to Memphis, where she meets David Straithorn, an alcoholic cop, while tending bar, and his estranged wife, Oscar winner Rachel Weisz. She later moves on to Nevada and runs into Natalie Portman as a poker playing babe with a hot Jaguar.

Wong tells simple stories where the art is in the cinematography. He has some of the richest color you'll ever see in modern films, and some of the most striking images of mundane subjects. In this one he shows almost abstract images of pie, elevated trains, cars, landscapes rolling by. His films have won numerous international awards, but this is his first one in English, and will be a nice introduction to his work for westerners not familiar with him. Chungking Express and its sequel Fallen Angels were the inspiration for Tarentino's Pulp Fiction.

This film also features a terrific soundtrack, with original music by Ry Cooder, and some pop songs, with "The Story" sung by Norah Jones at the film's close.

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Fallen Angels

Wong Kar-Wai, 1995, China/Hong Kong (9.0*)
I recently re-watched this Wong Kar-Wai film because it had been remastered for dvd, and I couldn't remember it from over a decade earlier. I was surprised and riveted by the stunning visuals. Kar-Wai is a visual master, and this is one of the most visual of his films. This is the 'sequel' to his excellent Chungking Express, the two films being intended to be one long film by Kar-Wai but due to length he put them out as two separate films. Taken together, the films are either a trilogy or tetralogy, it's kind of hard to tell, but suffice to say that they are films of more than one story. These films were the inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, hence the trilogy of stories in that film.

The story is not the important part of these films, which are basically urban crime films, with a kind of 'neo-noirish' slant, as filmed by Hong Kong. This story is about a hit man, pondering one last hit before 'retiring'. The visuals take precedence here, with the cinematography of Christopher Doyle (who also works with Chinese master director Zhang Yimou) dazzling and inventive, as usual. The two films together provide an exciting introduction to the Hong Kong crime style, and have proven very influential around the world.

Note: When filmed, Hong Kong was still British. Since its reverted to Chinese nationality, I've been designating these as from China so that a scan for Chinese films will turn these up also. It's a major dilemna, you don't want to offend anyone, but will obviously offend someone - so I'll likely list them as both, no problem there. Same problem with Czechoslavakia vs Czech Republic.. You want a search of those to show Closely Watched Trains, Kolya, and Zelary, rather than have them split up between defunct and active nations.

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Ashes of Time Redux

Wong Kar-Wai, 1994, China (8.3*)
Redux Version 2008
This film is a work of art. Director Wong Kar-Wai never films a straight narrative story, but makes cinematic art: visually stunning, lyrical, a visual statement about time and memory, yet done with the seasons cycling around as if to imply all of life is circular. In a way, this is like a Chinese spaghetti western, about a man who hires swordsmen for contract killings. One can actually see visual homage to Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, with blurred action images and extreme closeups, and also Antonioni's Red Desert, with long slow tributes to abstract beauty in nature. Wong Kar Wai has never been one to disappoint me, even if the story is a little slow, the visuals are enough to keep me riveted, such as in Fallen Angels, the sequel to Chungking Express.

This is a poetic, haunting film, I'm glad that Wong recut it and made it a little more woven together, even as it is, it's free flowing like "the river of time", and even the narrative, usually boring, adds some poetry of its own. (Not sure about the addition of the Yo-Yo Ma score though, the music is actually distracting). I can't get one thought out of my mind, "a man's worst enemy is his memory", and since part of this film uses the plot device of a wine that makes one forget, it's a painful point that one cannot escape, as a character says "the more you try to forget, the more you remember".

This is a great cast, the last names reading like a haiku: Chueng, Leung, Lin, Lau, Leung, Cheung, Young, Chou, Cheung. There's even two Tony Leungs (Ka Fai and Chiu Wai for you real fans! ..also Maggie Cheung, thankfully). If you're not a Wong Kar Wai fan, start with Chungking and Angels, then In the Mood for Love - these films have a breathtaking beauty thanks to the cinematography of Christopher Doyle, who also works with Zhang Yimou.

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Chungking Express

Wong Kar-Wai, 1994, Hong Kong (9.1*)

This crime and romance film is probably the best example of the sometimes flashy cinematic style of Wong Kar-Wai. Much of the film is shot with a shaky, hand held camera, and the process works great for city crowd shots, such as a blurred mob at a bus stop, and works best of all during street crimes, where the images and fast action seem exactly what the crime must be like for both victims and witnesses. This is a film in two parts (don't look for a novelish story plot either), with a third intended but due to length, Wong released the third part as another film, Fallen Angels. The Japanese actress, Faye Wang, who works at the express noodle stand is one of their pop music stars, this was her first film and she's a natural. Well-known Asian actor Tony Leung (In the Mood for Love, Hero, 2046, Lust Caution) is also in the noodle stand half.

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In the Mood for Love

Wong Kar-Wai, 2001, China (8.5*)

This is a beautifully filmed and finely crafted romance, set in early 60's Hong Kong. The story is a simple one, as two cordial neighbors discover that their often absent spouses may be seeing each other, so they become friends.

Tony Leung won a Cannes award for Best Actor, Maggie Cheung should have. Ironically, the two would later play lovers and assassins in Zhang Yimou's Hero, in quite different parts. This is a slow moving but visually sumptuous feast, as each shot is saturated with deep, rich colors reminiscent of Vittorio Storaro's work for Bertolucci and Coppola. The Criterion dvd comes with over a half hour of deleted scenes, also well worth watching. Wong later filmed a sequel, 2046, which was the number on a hotel room in this film.

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