What does Wong Kar-wai's Happy Together want to express?

Wong Kar-wai's Happy Together does not emphasize story and drama, but is strongly impressionistic and sensory. The wandering soul in a foreign country, the hustle and bustle at the bottom of society, and the incomprehensible appearance and alienation are all expressed by a "shake". This is also an external manifestation of Douk Feng's handheld photography style that amplifies the emotions of the characters.

In addition, the inherent sense of presence of the handheld lens also shortens the emotional distance between the audience and Li He. Through the highly affecting lens, the audience seems to have become bystanders of the daily life of this same-sex couple.

"Happy Together" is a feature film directed by Wong Kar-wai and starring Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung and Chang Chen. It was released in Hong Kong, China on May 30, 1997. The film tells the story of a gay couple who traveled to South America and ended up in Buenos Aires after getting lost. The two later broke up due to a series of conflicts.

In 1997, the film was shortlisted for the official competition of the 50th Cannes International Film Festival. Wong Kar-wai won the Best Director Award at the 50th Cannes International Film Festival for this film. Tony Leung won the Best Actor at the 17th Hong Kong Film Awards.

Extended information

1. Behind the scenes

The original story of the film is that He Baorong came to Argentina to deal with the aftermath of his father, but unexpectedly discovered that his father had a man there. For same-sex lovers, curiosity leads them to the idea of ??interacting with the same sex. Later, because Wong Kar-wai changed his mind, the footage that had been filmed was abandoned.

The film crew rented the hotel where Tony Leung Chiu-wai was staying in the film. One time, a guest who had not moved out opened the door to take a peek at the filming. Wong Kar-wai noticed his voyeuristic expression and invited him in. He looked in the mirror several times, but the guest couldn't regain his original expression, so the director could only regret it.

During the filming of "Happy Together", Wong Kar-wai would withhold the passports of the crew members because he was afraid that they would sneak back to Hong Kong. This move was exactly the same as Lai Yiu-fai's seizure of Ho Po-wing's passport in the movie.

2. Film evaluation

"Happy Together" is a representative example of Wong Kar-wai's extreme use of film language and lens aesthetics. The film uses strong colors and a soothing mood to depict a relationship between same-sex lovers in a foreign land. Wong Kar-Wai used delicate directorial techniques to vividly show the emotions of the two male protagonists on the verge of collapse (Tencent Online Review).

What is touching about this film is Wong Kar-wai's understanding and tolerance of human emotions. He is able to go to the end of the world because there is a place where he can go back (Sohu review).

Baidu Encyclopedia-Happy Together