Making this list of directors was an extremely inexact science, so I can't remember exactly how Wong Kar Wai ended up on it. I do know that I had never really heard of him before and I definitely hadn't seen any of his movies, so this would be a totally novel experience. I chose four of his movies, Chungking Express, In the Mood For Love, 2046, and The Grandmaster but in the end I would only watch three. Full-blown honest opinion: these movies failed to really hold my attention. Wai is known as a "Hong Kong Second Wave" filmmaker alongside Fruit Chan and others, but I've seen some of Fruit Chan's movies and they are frightfully engaging. Wai's movies (like a few other directors' I would come to watch) tend to meander through (admittedly lovely) set pieces and the plots are thin, to be generous. I know I'm being overly harsh here because there were definitely things to appreciate in these movies, and I'm probably failing to acknowledge the backdrop of making art under an oppressive or semi-oppressive regime, but I don't really know enough about the cultural context to weigh in on that side of things.
So, onto the movies. Chungking Express features two stories about lonely men in a densely packed city (mostly in a train station / bazaar). The film does a great job of juxtaposing these sad men against bright, neon lights and poppy (often American) music. I almost wish I had watched the movie without subtitles because there are no shortage of interesting compositions. That said, I fell asleep watching it. My favorite scene involved a recently dumped cop who buys canned pineapples everyday with an expiration date of May 1st, that date representing the final expiration date of his old relationship and chance for love rekindled. Then he eats all of the pineapple at once. I can't adequately explain why I enjoyed this so much.
In The Mood For Love came next and was similar in its interesting compositions and not-so-interesting storylines. I'm probably in the minority with that opinion- the film was nominated for a Palm d'Or after all. It's a period piece that takes place in the 60's about a man and a woman who decide their respective spouses have been seeing other people and strike up a romance themselves. The sets are busy, the shots are eye-catching, and the costumes are quite nice. Something about the pacing and the dialogue simply failed to engage me I suppose. I have friends in the film world who absolutely swear by this director or call him their favorite but the draw just isn't there for me. After watching this one I managed to watch The Grandmaster which was an extremely artsy take on the oft-told Ip Man story. The cinematography in this one felt quite different from the former two (not in a bad way) and garnered Academy Award nominations for cinematography and costumes. Despite being a martial arts movie with plenty of slo-mo fighting scenes, it still felt dull to me throughout. I bailed on 2046 and any other aspirations I had after having felt that I had given this director the old college try- we just didn't quite click.
- Chungking Express (1994) - 6/10
- In The Mood For Love (2000) - 6/10
- The Grandmaster (2013) - 5.5/10
