Wong Kar-wai
Template:Short description Template:Family name hatnote Template:Distinguish Template:Good article Template:Use Hong Kong English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person Wong Kar-wai Template:Post-nominals (born 17 July 1958) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films are characterised by nonlinear narratives, atmospheric music, and vivid cinematography with bold, saturated colours. A pivotal figure of Hong Kong cinema, Wong is considered a contemporary auteur and ranked third on Sight and SoundTemplate:'s 2002 poll of the greatest filmmakers of the previous 25 years. His films frequently appear on best-of lists domestically and internationally.
Born in Shanghai, Wong emigrated to Hong Kong as a child with his family. He began a career as a screenwriter for soap operas before transitioning to directing with his debut, the crime drama As Tears Go By (1988). As Tears Go By was fairly successful in Hong Kong, but Wong moved away from the contemporary trend of crime and action movies to embark on more personal filmmaking. Days of Being Wild (1990), his first venture in such a direction, did not perform well at the box office, but received critical acclaim and won Best Film and Best Director at the 1991 Hong Kong Film Awards. His next film, Ashes of Time (1994), met with a mixed reception because of its vague plot and atypical take on the Template:Transliteration genre.
Exhausted by the time-consuming filming and post-production of Ashes of Time, Wong directed Chungking Express (1994), a smaller film that he hoped would rekindle his love of cinema during a two-month sabbatical while waiting for post-production equipment to arrive for Ashes of Time.Template:Refn The film, with its more lighthearted atmosphere, catapulted Wong to international prominence, and won Best Film and Best Director at the 1995 Hong Kong Film Awards. Wong followed up with the crime thriller Fallen Angels in 1995. Although it was initially tepidly received by critics, Fallen Angels has since come to be considered a cult classic of the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema and especially representative of Wong's style. Wong consolidated his worldwide reputation with the 1997 drama Happy Together, for which he won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival.
The 2000 drama In the Mood for Love, revered for its lush visuals and subtle storytelling, concretely established Wong's trademark filmmaking style. Among his other works are 2046 (2004) and The Grandmaster (2013), both of which received awards and nominations worldwide.
Early life
Wong Kar-wai was born on 17 July 1958 in Shanghai, the youngest of three siblings.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn His father was a sailor and his mother a housewife.Template:Sfn By the time Wong was five years old, the seeds of the Cultural Revolution were beginning to take effect in China, and his parents moved to Hong Kong.Template:Sfn The two older children were meant to join them later, but the borders closed before they could and Wong did not see them again for ten years.<ref name="indie">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="film4">Template:Cite web</ref> In Hong Kong, the family settled in Tsim Sha Tsui, and his father got work managing a nightclub.Template:Sfn As an only child in an unfamiliar city, Wong has said he felt isolated; he struggled to learn Cantonese and English, becoming fluent in these languages only as a teenager.Template:Sfnm
As a youth, Wong was frequently taken to the cinema by his mother and exposed to a variety of films.Template:Sfn He has said, "The only hobby I had as a child was watching movies".<ref name="bomb">Template:Cite journal</ref> Wong studied graphic design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic in 1980, but dropped out of college after being accepted to a training course with the TVB television network, where he learned the processes of media production.Template:Sfnm
Career
Beginnings (1980–1989)
Wong soon began a screenwriting career, first on Hong Kong TV series and soap operas, such as Don't Look Now (1981), before progressing to film scripts.Template:Sfn He worked as part of a team, contributing to various genres, including romance, comedy, thriller, and crime.Template:Sfn Wong had little enthusiasm for these early projects, described by the film scholar Gary Bettinson as "occasionally diverting and mostly disposable", but continued to write throughout the 1980s on films including Just for Fun (1983), Rosa (1986), and The Haunted Cop Shop (1987).Template:Sfn He is credited with ten screenplays between 1982 and 1987, but claims to have worked on about 50 more without official credit.Template:Sfn Wong spent two years writing the screenplay for Patrick Tam's action film Final Victory (1987),Template:Sfn for which he was nominated at the 7th Hong Kong Film Awards.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>
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By 1987 the Hong Kong film industry was at a peak, enjoying a considerable level of prosperity and productivity.<ref name="bomb"/> New directors were needed to maintain this success, and through his links in the industry Wong was invited to become a partner on a new independent company, In-Gear, and given the opportunity to direct his own picture. Gangster films were popular at the time, in the wake of John Woo's highly successful A Better Tomorrow (1986), and Wong decided to follow suit.<ref name="bomb"/>Template:Sfn Specifically, unlike Hong Kong's other crime films, he chose to focus on young gangsters.Template:Sfn The film, As Tears Go By, tells the story of a conflicted youth who has to watch over his hot-headed friend.Template:Refn
Because he was well acquainted with the producer, Alan Tang, Wong was given considerable freedom in making As Tears Go By.Template:Sfn His cast included what he considered some of "the hottest young idols in Hong Kong": singer Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, and Jacky Cheung.<ref name="bomb"/> As Tears Go By was released in June 1988 and was popular with audiences. Several journalists named Wong among the "Hong Kong New Wave".Template:Sfn While it was a conventional crime film,Template:Sfn critic David Bordwell wrote that Wong "stands out from his peers by abandoning the kinetics of comedies and action movies in favour of more liquid atmospherics."Template:Sfn As Tears Go By received no attention from Western critics upon its release,Template:Sfn but was selected to be screened during the Directors' Fortnight of the 1989 Cannes Film Festival.Template:Sfn
Developing style (1990–1994)
In his next film, Wong moved away from the crime trend in Hong Kong cinema, to which he felt indifferent. He was eager to make something unique, and the financial success of As Tears Go By made this possible.Template:Sfn Developing a more personal project than his previous film,Template:Sfn Wong picked the 1960s as its setting, evoking an era he remembered well and had a "special feeling" for.Template:Sfn Days of Being Wild focuses on a disillusioned young adult named Yuddy and those around him. There is no straightforward plot or obvious genre,Template:Sfnm but Stephen Teo sees it as a film about the "longing for love".Template:Sfn Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, and Jacky Cheung rejoined Wong for the film, while Leslie Cheung was cast in the central role.Template:Sfn Hired as cinematographer was Christopher Doyle, who became one of Wong's most important collaborators, photographing his next six films.Template:Sfn
With its popular stars, Days of Being Wild was expected to be a mainstream picture; instead it was a character piece, more concerned with mood and atmosphere than narrative.<ref name="bomb"/>Template:Sfn Released in December 1990, the film earned little at the box office and divided critics.Template:Sfn It won five Hong Kong Film Awards, and received some attention internationally.Template:Sfnm With its experimental narrative, expressive camerawork, and themes of lost time and love, Days of Being Wild is described by film critic Peter Brunette as the first typical "Wong Kar-wai film".Template:Sfn It has since gained a reputation as one of Hong Kong's finest releases.Template:Sfn Its initial failure was disheartening for Wong, and he could not gain funding for his next project, a planned sequel.<ref name="bomb"/>Template:Sfn
Struggling to get support for his work, Wong formed his own production company, Jet Tone Films, with Jeff Lau in 1992.Template:Sfn In need of further backing, Wong accepted a studio's offer that he make a [[Wuxia|Template:Transliteration]] (ancient martial arts) film based on the popular novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong.<ref name="bomb"/>Template:Sfn Wong was enthusiastic about the idea, claiming he had long wanted to make a costume drama.<ref name="bomb"/> He eventually took little from the book other than three characters,Template:Sfn and in 1992 began experimenting with several different narrative structures to weave what he called "a very complex tapestry".Template:Sfn Filming began with another all-star cast: Leslie, Maggie, and Jacky Cheung returned alongside Brigitte Lin, Carina Lau, Charlie Young, and Tony Leung Chiu-wai − the latter of whom became one of Wong's key collaborators.Template:Sfn
Set during the Song dynasty, Ashes of Time concerns a desert-exiled assassin who is called upon by several different characters while nursing a broken heart.Template:Sfn It was a difficult production and the project was not completed for two years, at a cost of HK$47 million.Template:Sfnm Upon release in September 1994,Template:Sfn audiences were confused by the film's vague plotting and atypical take on Template:Transliteration.Template:Sfnm The film scholar Martha P. Nochimson called it "the most unusual martial arts film ever made", as fast-paced action scenes are replaced by character ruminations, and story becomes secondary to the use of colour, landscape, and imagery.Template:Sfn Ashes of Time was a commercial failure,Template:Sfn but critics were generally appreciative of Wong's "refusal to be loyal to [the Template:Transliteration] genre".Template:Sfn The film won several local awards, and competed at the Venice Film Festival, where Doyle won Best Cinematography.Template:Sfn<ref name=":3">Awards and nominations for Ashes of Time:
- Template:Cite web
- Template:Cite web</ref> In 2008, Wong reworked the film and rereleased it as Ashes of Time Redux.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Refn
Breakthrough (1994–1995)
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During the production of Ashes of Time, Wong had a two-month break as he waited for equipment to re-record sound for some scenes.Template:Sfn He was in a bad mood, feeling heavy pressure from his backers and worrying about another failure,Template:Sfn and so he decided to start a new project: "I thought I should do something to make myself feel comfortable about making films again. So I made Chungking Express, which I made like a student film."<ref name="bomb"/> Conceived and completed in six weeks, the new project was released two months before Ashes of Time.<ref name=indie/>Template:Sfn
Chungking Express is split into two parts, both set in contemporary Hong Kong and focusing on lonely policemen (Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung Chiu-wai) who each fall for a woman (Brigitte Lin and Faye Wong).Template:Sfn Wong was keen to experiment with "two crisscrossing stories in one movie"Template:Sfn and worked spontaneously, filming at night what he had written that day.<ref name="bomb"/> Peter Brunette notes that Chungking is considerably more fun and lighthearted than Wong's earlier work but deals with the same themes.Template:Sfn At the 1995 Hong Kong Film Awards it was named Best Picture, and Wong received Best Director.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite web</ref> Miramax acquired the film for American distribution, which, according to Brunette, "catapulted Wong to international attention".Template:Sfn Stephen Schneider includes it in his book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die with the summary: "While other films by Wong may pack more emotional resonance, Chungking Express gets off on sheer innocence, exuberance, and cinematic freedom, a striking triumph of style over substance".Template:Sfn Template:Quote box
Wong continued to work without break, expanding his ideas from Chungking Express into another film about alienated young adults in contemporary Hong Kong. Chungking Express had originally been conceived as three stories; one of them was later included in his later film, Fallen Angels, but with new characters.Template:Sfn Wong conceived both films as complementary studies of Hong Kong: "To me Chungking Express and Fallen Angels are one film that should be three hours long."<ref name="bomb"/>
Fallen Angels is broadly considered a crime thriller, and contains scenes of extreme violence, but is atypical of the genre and heavily infused with Wong's fragmented, experimental style.Template:Sfnm The loose plot again involves two distinct, subtly overlapping narratives, and is dominated by frantic visuals.Template:Sfnm The film mostly occurs at night and explores Hong Kong's dark side, which Wong planned to balance the sweetness of Chungking: "It's fair to show both sides of a coin".<ref name="bomb"/> Kaneshiro and Young were cast again, but new to Wong's films were Leon Lai, Michelle Reis, and Karen Mok. Upon its release in September 1995, several critics felt that the film was too similar to Chungking Express and some complained that Wong had become self-indulgent.Template:Sfnm But as time went on, critics reappraised the film, and it has amassed a large cult following, becoming one of Wong's most popular films. Fallen Angels has often been said to be one of Wong's most stylish films, and been praised for its unconventional, fragmented plot. Film historians Zhang Yingjin and Xiao Zhiwei wrote: "While not as groundbreaking as its predecessors, the film is still different and innovative enough to confirm [Wong's] presence on the international scene."Template:Sfn
Widespread recognition (1996–2000)
While his reputation grew steadily throughout the early 1990s, Wong's international standing was "thoroughly consolidated" with the 1997 romantic drama Happy Together (1997).Template:Sfn Its development was influenced by the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China that year. Wong was widely expected to address the event in his next film; instead, he avoided the pressure by shooting in Argentina.Template:Sfnm The handover was nevertheless important: knowing that homosexuals in Hong Kong faced uncertainty after 1997, Wong focused on a relationship between two men.Template:SfnTemplate:Refn He was keen to present the relationship as ordinary and universal, as he felt Hong Kong's previous LGBT films had not.<ref name=":6">Template:Cite web</ref>
Happy Together tells the story of a couple (Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Leslie Cheung) who travel to Buenos Aires in an effort to save their relationship. Its structure and style differ from Wong's previous films, as he felt he had become predictable.<ref name="bomb"/> Teo, Brunette, and Jeremy Tambling all see Happy Together as a marked change from his earlier work: the story is more linear and understandable, there are only three characters (all men), and while it still has Doyle's "exuberant" photography, it is more stylistically restrained.Template:Sfnm After a difficult production period where a six-week shoot was dragged out to four months, the film was released in May 1997 to critical acclaim.Template:Sfnm It competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, where Wong became Hong Kong's first winner of the Best Director AwardTemplate:Sfn (an achievement he downplayed: "it makes no difference, it's just something you can put on an ad.")<ref name="bomb"/>
In his 2005 monograph, Brunette wrote that Happy Together marked "a new stage in [Wong's] artistic development", and along with its successor, In the Mood for Love (2000), showcases Wong at "the zenith of his cinematic art."Template:Sfn The latter film emerged from a complicated two-year production history. Several different titles and projects were planned by Wong before they evolved into the final result: a romantic melodramaTemplate:Sfn set in 1960s Hong Kong that is seen as an unofficial sequel to Days of Being Wild.Template:SfnTemplate:Refn Wong returned to the era that fascinated him, and reflected his own background by focusing on Shanghainese émigrés.Template:Sfn<ref name=":7">Template:Cite web</ref>
Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-wai play the lead characters, who move into an apartment building on the same day in 1962 and discover that their spouses are having an affair; over the next four years they develop a strong attraction. Teo writes that the film is a study of "typical Chinese reserve and repressed desire",Template:Sfn while Schneider writes that the "strange relationship" is choreographed with "the grace and rhythm of a waltz" and depicted in "a dreamlike haze by an eavesdropping camera".Template:Sfn
The shoot lasted 15 months, with both Cheung and Leung reportedly driven to their breaking points.Template:Sfn Wong shot more than 30 times the footage he eventually used, and finished editing the film the morning before its Cannes premiere.Template:Sfn At the festival, In the Mood for Love received the Technical Grand Prize and Best Actor for Leung.<ref name=":8">Template:Cite web</ref> It was named Best Foreign Film by the National Society of Film Critics.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Wong said after its release: "In the Mood for Love is the most difficult film in my career so far, and one of the most important. I am very proud of it."Template:Sfn It has been included on lists of the greatest films of all time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
International work (2001–2007)
While In the Mood for Love took two years to complete, its sequel – 2046 – took double that time.<ref name="salisbury"/> 2046 was actually conceived first,Template:Sfn when Wong picked the title as a reference to the final year of China's "One country, two systems" promise to Hong Kong.Template:Refn Although his plans changed and a new film developed, he simultaneously shot material for 2046, with the first footage dating to December 1999. Wong immediately continued with the project once In the Mood for Love was complete, reportedly becoming obsessed with it.Template:Sfn In Bettinson's account, it "became a behemoth, impossible to finish".Template:Sfn
2046 continues the story of Chow Mo-wan, Leung's character from In the Mood for Love, though he is considered much colder and very different.<ref name="salisbury"/>Template:Sfn Wong found he did not want to leave the character, and commenced where he left off in 1966; nevertheless, he said: "It's another story, about how a man faces his future due to a certain past".Template:Sfnm His plans were vague and, according to Teo, he set "a new record in his own method of free-thinking, time-extensive and improvisatory filmmaking" with the production.Template:Sfn Scenes were shot in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau, and Bangkok.Template:Sfn Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li play the women who consume Mo-wan, as he plans a science fiction novel titled 2046. The film premiered at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, but Wong delivered the print 24 hours late and still was not happy: he continued editing until the film's October release.Template:Sfnm It was Wong's most expensive and longest-running project to date.Template:Sfn 2046 was a commercial failure in Hong Kong,Template:Sfn but most Western critics gave it positive reviews.<ref name=":9">Template:Cite web</ref> Ty Burr of The Boston Globe called it an "enigmatic, rapturously beautiful meditation on romance and remembrance",<ref name="burr">Template:Cite news</ref> while Steve Erikson of Los Angeles Magazine called it Wong's masterpiece.<ref name="erik">Template:Cite web</ref>
Before starting his next feature, Wong worked on the anthology film Eros (2004), providing one of three short films (the others are by Michelangelo Antonioni and Steven Soderbergh) that centre on the theme of lust. Wong's segment, The Hand, stars Gong Li as a 1960s call girl and Chang Chen as her potential client. Although Eros was not well received, Wong's segment was often called the most successful.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Following the difficult production of 2046, Wong wanted his next feature to be a simple, invigorating experience.Template:Sfn He decided to make an English-language film in America,<ref name="kung">Template:Cite web</ref> later saying: "It's a new landscape. It's a new background, so it's refreshing."<ref name=guer>Template:Cite news</ref> After hearing a radio interview with the singer Norah Jones he immediately decided to contact her, and she signed on as the lead.Template:Refn Wong's understanding of America was based only on short visits and what he had seen in films, but he was keen to depict the country accurately,Template:Sfn<ref name=diva/> so he co-wrote the film (one of the rare times a screenplay was pre-prepared) with Lawrence Block.<ref name=kung/> Titled My Blueberry Nights, it focuses on a young New Yorker who takes a road trip when she learns that her boyfriend has been unfaithful. Cast as the figures she meets are Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Rachel Weisz, and David Strathairn.<ref name=kung/>
Filming on My Blueberry Nights took place over seven weeks in 2006, on location in Manhattan, Memphis, Las Vegas, and Ely, Nevada.<ref name=kung/> Wong produced it in the same manner as he would in Hong Kong,Template:Sfn and the themes and visual style–despite Doyle being replaced by cinematographer Darius Khondji–remain the same.Template:Sfnm Premiering in May 2007, My Blueberry Nights was Wong's fourth consecutive film to compete for the Palme d'Or at Cannes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Although he considered it a "special experience",<ref name=kung/> the film did not get good reviews.<ref name=film4/> With complaints that its material was thin and the product uneven, My Blueberry Nights was Wong's first critical failure.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2008–present
Wong's next film was not released for five years, as he underwent another long and difficult production on The Grandmaster (2013), a biographical film of the martial arts teacher Ip Man. The idea had occurred to him in 1999, but he did not commit to it until completing My Blueberry Nights.<ref name=indie/> Ip is a legendary figure in Hong Kong,Template:Sfn known for training actor Bruce Lee in the art of Wing Chun, but Wong focuses on an earlier period of Ip's life (1936–1956) that included the turmoil of the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II.<ref name=indie/><ref name=iw>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Refn He set out to make "a commercial and colourful film".<ref name=dl>Template:Cite magazine</ref> After considerable research and preparation, filming began in 2009.<ref name=dl/> Tony Leung Chui-wai rejoined Wong for their seventh film together, having spent 18 months being trained in Wing Chun.<ref name=indie/><ref name=thr>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The "gruelling" production lasted intermittently for three years, twice interrupted by Leung fracturing his arm, and is Wong's most expensive to date.<ref name=indie/>
The Grandmaster is described by Bettinson as a mixture of popular and arthouse traditions, with form, visuals, and themes consistent with Wong's previous work.Template:Sfn Three different versions of the film exist, as Wong shorted it from its domestic release for the 2013 Berlin Film Festival, and again for its US distribution by the Weinstein Company.<ref name=dl/>Template:Refn Described in Slant Magazine as Wong's most accessible film since his debut,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Grandmaster won 12 Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Film and Best Director,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and received two Academy Award nominations (Cinematography and Production Design).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Critics approved of the film,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and with a worldwide gross of US$64 million it is Wong's most lucrative film to date.<ref name=dl/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
When asked about his career in 2014, Wong told The Independent, "To be honest with you, I feel I'm only halfway done."<ref name="indie" /> In 2016, he was announced as taking over an upcoming film about the murder of Maurizio Gucci from Ridley Scott,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but in October 2017 he said he was no longer involved in the project.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In September 2017, Amazon Video issued a straight-to-series order for Tong Wars, a television drama to be directed by Wong and focusing on the gang wars of 19th-century San Francisco.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Amazon later dropped the series.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2019, Wong announced the 4K restoration of his entire filmography, which was released in 2021 in celebration of the 20th anniversary of In the Mood for Love.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The restoration was carried out by the Cineteca di Bologna's film restoration laboratory L'Immagine Ritrovata.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Criterion Collection released Wong's restored filmography as a box set in the United States in March 2021.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On December 27, 2023, Wong's first TV series, Blossoms Shanghai, based on Jin Yucheng's book of the same name, aired on CCTV-8 and Tencent Video.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The series follows a businessman, A Bao (Hu Ge), through changing times in Shanghai.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Personal life
In 1981, Wong met TVB program producer Esther Chen at a bar. At her suggestion, he applied for TVB's director training program. Wong's first film script, Once Upon a Rainbow, was purchased by director Agnes Ng through Chen's introduction. Chen also sold his subsequent scripts, Final Victory and Haunted Cop Shop. In 1985, Wong married Chen in Hong Kong, after which she became his producer and production partner. In 1997, Chen gave birth to their son in Hong Kong. In October 2017, while accepting the Lumière Award for lifetime achievement at the Lumière Festival in Lyon, France, Wong called his wife his muse, saying: "Of all the great female characters I have created in my films, there are always glimpses of her there. That is the reason why her name is always the first to appear onscreen in all of my films."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2009, Wong signed a petition in support of director Roman Polanski after his arrest in relation to his 1977 sexual abuse charges while traveling to a film festival, which the petition argued would undermine the tradition of film festivals as a place for works to be shown "freely and safely" and could open the door "for actions of which no-one can know the effects."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Filmmaking
Influences
Template:Quote box
Wong is wary of sharing his favourite directors,<ref name=bomb/> but has said he watched a range of films growing up, from Hong Kong genre films to European art films. They were never labelled as such, and so he approached them equally and was broadly influenced.Template:Sfn The energy of the Hong Kong films had a "tremendous" impact, according to Brunette.Template:Sfn Art professor Giorgio Biancorosso writes that Wong's international influences include Martin Scorsese, Michelangelo Antonioni, Alfred Hitchcock, and Bernardo Bertolucci.Template:Sfn Some of his favorite contemporary filmmakers include Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, and Quentin Tarantino.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He is often compared with French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard.Template:Sfnm Wong's most direct influence was his colleague Patrick Tam, who was an important mentor and likely inspired his use of colour.<ref name=film4/>Template:Sfnm
Wong is also heavily influenced by literature. He has a particular affinity for Latin American writers, and the fragmentary nature of his films came primarily from the "scrapbook structures" of novels by Manuel Puig, Gabriel García Márquez, and Julio Cortázar, which he attempted to emulate.<ref name=film4/>Template:Sfn Haruki Murakami, particularly his novel Norwegian Wood, also provided inspiration, as did the writing of Liu Yichang.Template:Sfnm The television channel MTV was a further influence on Wong. He said in a 1998 interview: "In the late eighties, when [MTV] was first shown in Hong Kong, we were all really impressed with the energy and the fragmented structure. It seemed like we should go in this direction."<ref name=bomb/>
Method and collaborators
Wong has an unusual approach to filmmaking, starting production without a script and generally relying on instinct and improvisation rather than prepared ideas.<ref name="bomb"/>Template:Sfnm He has said he dislikes writing and finds filming from a finished script "boring".Template:Sfn According to Stokes & Hoover, he writes as he shoots, "drawing inspiration from the music, the setting, working conditions, and actors".Template:Sfn In advance, the cast are given a minimal plot outline and expected to develop their characters as they film.<ref name="kung"/> To capture naturalness and spontaneity, Wong does not allow rehearsals,<ref name=thr/> but improvisation and collaboration are encouraged.Template:Sfn He does not use storyboards or plan camera placement, preferring to experiment as he goes.Template:Sfn His shooting ratio is therefore very high, sometimes 40 takes per scene, and production typically goes well over schedule and over budget.Template:Sfn Tony Leung has called this approach "taxing on the actors", but Stokes & Hoover speculate that Wong's collaborators endure it because the "results are always unexpected, invigorating, and interesting."Template:Sfn
Wong admits to being controlling,<ref name="thr"/> and oversees every aspect of the filmmaking process,Template:Sfn but he has formed several long-lasting partnerships and close collaborators. In 2013, he said: "It is always good to work with a very regular group of people because we know how high we can fly and what are the parameters, and it becomes very enjoyable."<ref name="thr"/> Two men have been instrumental in developing and achieving his aesthetic: production designer William Chang and cinematographer Christopher Doyle.<ref name=film4/>Template:Sfn Chang has worked on every Wong film and is a trusted confidant, responsible for set design and costumes.Template:Sfn<ref name=norah/> Doyle photographed seven of his projects, from Days of Being Wild to 2046. Stephen Schneider writes that he deserves "much credit" for Wong's success, as his "masterful use of light and colour renders every frame a work of art".Template:Sfn Wong's other regular colleagues include writer-producer Jeffrey Lau, producer Jacky Pang, and assistant director Johnnie Kong.Template:Sfn
Wong often casts the same actors. He is strongly associated with Tony Leung Chiu-wai, who has appeared in seven of Wong's feature films.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Wong has called him a partner, saying, "I feel like there is a lot of things between me and Tony that is beyond words. We don't need meetings, talks, whatever, because a lot of things are understood."<ref name=diva/> Other actors who have appeared in at least three of his films are Maggie Cheung, Chang Chen, Leslie Cheung, Jacky Cheung, and Carina Lau.
Style
Wong is known for producing art films focused on mood and atmosphere, rather than following convention.Template:Sfnm His general style is described by Teo as "a cornucopia overflowing with multiple stories, strands of expression, meanings and identities: a kaleidoscope of colours and identities".Template:Sfn Structurally, Wong's films are typically fragmented and disjointed,Template:Sfnm with little concern for linear narrative,Template:Sfn and often with interconnected stories.Template:Sfnm Critics have commented on his films' lack of plot.Template:Sfn Burr writes: "The director doesn't build linear story lines so much as concentric rings of narrative and poetic meaning that continually revolve around each other".<ref name=burr/> Similarly, Brunette says that Wong "often privileges audio/visual expressivity over narrative structure".Template:Sfn Wong has said, "in my logic there is a storyline."<ref name="bomb"/>
Key to Wong's films is the visual style, which is often described as beautiful and unique.<ref name=film4/><ref name="thr"/> The colours are bold and saturated, the camerawork swooning, resulting in what Brunette calls his "signature visual pyrotechnics".<ref name="bomb"/>Template:Sfnm One of his trademarks is the use of step-printing,<ref name="bomb"/> which alters film rates to liquefy "hard blocks of primary colour into iridescent streaks of light."Template:Sfn Other features of Wong's aesthetic include slow motion,Template:Sfnm off-centre framing,Template:Sfnm obscured faces,Template:Sfnm rack focus,Template:Sfn filming in the dark or rain,Template:Sfn and elliptical editing.Template:Sfn Schneider writes of Wong's fondness for "playing with film stock, exposure, and speed the way others might fiddle with a script."Template:Sfn
Another trademark of Wong's cinema is his use of music and pop songs.Template:Sfn He places great importance on this,Template:Sfn and Biancorosso calls it the "essence" of his films, a key part of the "narrative machinery" that can guide the rhythm of the editing.Template:Sfn He selects international songs, rarely cantopop, and uses them to enhance the sense of history or place.Template:Sfnm According to film scholar Julian Stringer, music is "crucial to the emotional and cognitive appeal" of Wong's films.Template:Sfn
Wong's dependence on music and heavily visual and disjointed style have been compared to music videos,Template:Sfnm but detractors say they are "all surface and no depth".Template:Sfn Academic Curtis K. Tsui argues that style is the substance in Wong's film, while Brunette believes that his "form remains resolutely in the service of character, theme, and emotion rather than indulged in for its own sake".Template:Sfn
Legacy
Wong is an important figure in contemporary cinema, regarded as one of the best filmmakers of his generation.Template:Sfnm<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His reputation as a maverick began early in his career: in the 1996 Encyclopedia of Chinese Film, Wong was described as having "already established a secure reputation as one of the most daring avant-garde filmmakers" of Chinese cinema.Template:Sfn Authors Zhang and Xiao concluded that he "occupies a special place in contemporary film history", and had already "exerted a sizeable impact".Template:Sfn With the subsequent release of Happy Together and In the Mood for Love, Wong's international standing grew,Template:Sfnm and in 2002 voters for the British Film Institute named him the third-greatest director of the previous quarter-century.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2015, Variety named him an icon of arthouse cinema.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The East Asian scholar Daniel Martin describes Wong's output as "among the most internationally accessible and critically acclaimed Hong Kong films of all time".Template:Sfn Because of this status abroad, Wong is seen as a pivotal figure in his local industry; Julian Stringer says he is "central to the contemporary Chinese cinema renaissance",Template:Sfn Gary Bettinson describes him as "a beacon of Hong Kong cinema" who "has kept that industry in the public spotlight",Template:Sfn and Film4 designate him the filmmaker from China with the greatest impact.<ref name=film4/> Together with Zhang Yimou, Wong is seen by the historian Philip Kemp as representing the "internationalisation" of East Asian cinema.Template:Sfn Domestically, his films were generally not financial successes, but he has been consistently well-awarded by local bodies.Template:Sfn From early on, he was regarded as Hong Kong's enfant terrible and one of its most iconoclastic filmmakers.Template:Sfnm Despite this, he has been recognised in both cult and mainstream circles, producing art films that receive commercial exposure.Template:Sfnm He is known for confounding audiences, as he adopts established genres and subverts them with experimental techniques.Template:Sfn
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Both Stringer and Nochimson claim that Wong has one of the most distinctive filmmaking styles in the industry.Template:Sfnm From his first film As Tears Go By, he made an impact with his "liquid" aesthetic, which Ungerböck claims was completely new and quickly copied in Asian film and television.Template:Sfn Brunette calls Days of Being Wild "a landmark in Hong Kong cinema" for its unconventional approach.Template:Sfn Nochimson writes that Wong's films are entirely personal, making him an auteur, adding, "Wong has developed his own cinematic vocabulary, with an array of shot patterns connected with him".Template:Sfn Stringer argues that Wong's success demonstrates the importance of being "different".Template:Sfn
Wong's films frequently appeared on best-of lists domestically and internationally. On the Hong Kong Film Awards Association's 2005 list of The Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures, all but one of his films up to that time made the list. Days of Being Wild (1990) placed third, the highest position for a post-1980s film; other films ranked were Chungking Express (22), Ashes of Time (35), As Tears Go By (88), Happy Together (89), and In the Mood for Love (90).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the 2012 Sight and Sound poll, whereby industry professionals submit ballots to determine the greatest films of all time, In the Mood for Love ranked 24th, the highest-ranked film since 1980 and the sixth-greatest film by a living director.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Chungking Express and Days of Being Wild both ranked in the top 250; Happy Together and 2046 in the top 500; and Ashes of Time and As Tears Go By also featured (all but two of Wong's films at the time).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Wong's influence has impacted contemporary directors including Quentin Tarantino, Sofia Coppola, Lee Myung-se, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Tom Tykwer, The Daniels, Zhang Yuan, Tsui Hark,Template:Sfn and Barry Jenkins.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2018, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Arts degree by Harvard University.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Controversy
Wong has developed a reputation for an unstructured and unscripted approach to filmmaking, due to accounts of his demanding and arbitrary direction of actors; budget and schedule overruns; and alleged underpayment and on-set bullying of cast and crew. According to some sources, his working methods and professional ethics have strained his relationships with actors, producers, and other collaborators.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Many professionals, including Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Zhang Ziyi, and Clive Owen, have spoken publicly of positive experiences working with Wong.<ref name=":12">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":13">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":14">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":15">Template:Cite web</ref> About filming The Grandmaster, Zhang said, "First of all, there's no script. That's a Wong Kar-Wai specialty, but I still love him,"<ref name=":12" /> and that "working with director Wong is a very special experience."<ref name=":13" /> Owen commented on working with Wong for a Lancome advertisement: "Wong Kar Wai made the ad like he makes his movies — incredibly precise...I don’t think there is a living director I would rather work with on a campaign like this."<ref name=":14" /> Leung described his working relationship with Wong as, "I intuitively understood what he expects from me as an actor. This inherent connection between us is also why we were able to collaborate for such a long time."<ref name=":15" />
Wong, in his own words, has developed a notoriety for his treatment of actors since Days of Being Wild.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He often gives abstract, confusing, or changeable instructions, and require his actors to repeat the same scene endlessly until emotional breakdown.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Among those who spoke publicly about their difficult experiences, popularly referred to on the Chinese internet as the "Wong Kar-wai Victims League", are Carina Lau, Tony Leung, Chang Chen, and Takuya Kimura.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> Andy Lau stopped working with Wong after spending a year filming Days of Being Wild only to see a single scene retained, citing his disagreement with Wong's unplanned, unscripted filming style.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Jacky Cheung, who first became friends with Wong when the latter worked as a screenwriter on The Haunted Cop Shop, was alienated by Wong's arbitrary direction on Days of Being Wild, and stopped working with him after Ashes of Time<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>. Tony Leung Ka-fai lambasted Ashes of Time for exploiting the whole cast, stranded in Yulin, for over three years,<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref> during which 16 crew members were arrested by the local police for soliciting prostitutes in 1993.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Gong Li, in a 2007 interview, said that Wong was the most incompatible director she had ever worked with and criticized his excessive, unannounced cuts in 2046 as a waste of actors' work.<ref name=":10">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2024, Hu Ge announced that he would take a five-year hiatus from acting, citing fatigue after working with Wong on Blossoms Shanghai.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Leslie Cheung refused to work with Wong again after enduring a difficult shoot for Happy Together in Argentina, during which Wong's serious delays jeopardized Cheung's Crossing '97 concert in Hong Kong.<ref name=":11">Template:Cite web</ref> Cinematographer Christopher Doyle recalled that Cheung, frustrated by Wong's disregard for others' time, lost his temper and left the set despite Wong's ban, returning only after his concert to complete reshoots.<ref name=":11" /> Tony Leung Ka-fai criticized Wong for using Cheung to pressure his blindsided friend Tony Leung Chiu-wai, who was stranded in Argentina after being misled by Wong's initial fake script but was reserved about the gay storyline, into taking the part.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Shu Kei described Happy Together as exploitation toward Cheung.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Maggie Cheung, who divorced French director Olivier Assayas in 2002, attributed the breakdown of their marriage to the 15-month filming of In the Mood for Love, which caused prolonged separation.<ref name=":22">Template:Cite web</ref> After the five-year production of its sequel 2046, Cheung ended up with only one shot in the film, sparking rumors of a falling-out over the director's decision.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She was conspicuously absent from 2046’s all-star premiere, despite attending the earlier premiere of Clean, both held at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Later that year, she announced that she would no longer work with Wong, citing his drawn-out and self-indulgent working style, which had seriously disrupted her personal life.<ref name=":22" /> South Korean actress Song Hye-kyo also described her experience on The Grandmaster as unexpectedly protracted. Originally cast in a minor role, she remained tied to the production in China for three years, returning to Korea only briefly. After Wong noticed her desire to withdraw from the project, he attempted to confiscate her passport to prevent her from leaving,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> a practice corroborated by photographer Julian Lee, who said that Wong had done the same with members of the Happy Together crew in Argentina.<ref name="《春光乍泄》摄影师 李志超的四篇文章">Template:Cite web</ref>
Wong's revisions to his films have often drawn criticism from collaborators for being obsessive or arbitrary.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":2" /> In addition to actors whose roles were significantly reduced without notice, those who completed filming but were entirely removed from his final cuts include Joey Wong from Ashes of Time, Shirley Kwan from Happy Together, Paulyn Sun from In the Mood for Love, Dong Jie from 2046, and Jin Jing from Blossoms Shanghai.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Among the films abandoned, sometimes due to funding breakdown or cast withdrawals caused by his delays, are Wong Gok For Chak Chi Yan (旺角火宅之人), starring Brigitte Lin, Faye Wong, and Sean Lau;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Buenos Aires Affair, adapted from the novel by Manuel Puig; Summer in Beijing, starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and The Lady from Shanghai, starring Nicole Kidman.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Wong also abandoned the first cut of Ashes of Time edited by his mentor Patrick Tam, turning instead to William Chang for a new version, leaving Tam frustrated by the wasted effort and vowing never to work with him again.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Since 2022, ahead of the premiere of Blossoms Shanghai, Cheng Jun-nian, under the pen name "Gu Er", has published a series of articles on his WeChat official account alleging labor exploitation and credit infringement by Wong and the production team. Cheng claimed that he had originally joined the project as a co-director and screenwriter but was dismissed before being reassigned as Wong's personal assistant and cook, with a monthly salary of Template:CNY (≈ US$Template:To USD). He stated that he spent three years drafting scripts for Blossoms Shanghai without a contract, payment, or formal credit, and accused Wong and the production of employee mistreatment and workplace bullying, during which he was diagnosed with Kennedy's disease. Cheng's allegations did not gain attention until late August 2025, when he released corroborative recordings of his discussions with credited screenwriter Qin Wen and Wong.<ref name=":022">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":122">Template:Cite web</ref> On September 23, the Blossoms Shanghai production team issued a statement denying Cheng's allegations, describing him as a former member of the preliminary research group who had left the team in December 2020 without notice and asserting that he had never served as a screenwriter. On the same day, Cheng's WeChat official account was suspended by Tencent, one of the production companies behind Blossoms Shanghai. On October 31, Cheng released additional recordings on Xiaohongshu, in which, among others, Wong could be heard making flippant or disparaging remarks about actors.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The subsequent online gossip frenzy also revived the experience of Taiwanese voice actress Rosa Wang, who said that while dubbing a sex scene for Eros, Wong physically “guided” her performance by touching her and eventually placing his whole hand into her mouth, though Wang herself did not characterize the experience as sexually inappropriate.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> On November 8, Cheng released the third batch of recordings, where Wong criticized the Chinese Communist Party over its draconian COVID-19 policy and authoritarianism, along with a producer and a director of Blossoms Shanghai. The politically sensitive recordings were swiftly censored on Weibo.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In addition, a column published in Ming Pao in 2024 claimed that the columnist's friend, who had developed depression after working on Blossoms Shanghai as a screenwriter, experienced treatment similar to Cheng's, including workplace bullying and uncredited use of her work product.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Julian Lee, the still photographer for Happy Together, which was inspired by his own novella, claimed that Wong had freely used his ideas for the screenplay but had denied him both photographic and writing credit.<ref name="《春光乍泄》摄影师 李志超的四篇文章"/>
Nearly all of Wong's films have lost money, causing difficulties for investors and producers. Wong's friend Alan Tang, who financed Days of Being Wild, was driven to the brink of bankruptcy,<ref name=":102">Template:Cite web</ref> while Song Dai, head of Sil-Metropole Organisation, suffered a heart attack on the set of The Grandmaster due to the director's uncontrolled overruns.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Grandmaster, which spent ten years in development and five years in production, continually expanded its roster of investors as it faced repeated budget crises and required new backers to sustain funding. In April 2012, Sil-Metropole unilaterally announced that The Grandmaster would be released on December 18 in an attempt to pressure Wong to complete the film, but the deadline was missed once again before it finally premiered on January 6, 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2025, Tiffany Chen, co-head of China Star Entertainment, stated that it is the company's policy never to collaborate with Wong, citing his poor business record, and credited Wong's longtime collaborator William Chang as the real force behind his productions.<ref name=":102" /> According to one of Cheng Jun-nian's recordings, Zhang Yisong, co-producer of Blossoms Shanghai, likewise refused to work with Wong again after the difficult collaboration.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>
Filmography and awards
Wong's oeuvre consists of ten directed features, 16 films where is he credited only as screenwriter, one television series and seven films by other directors that he produced. He has also directed commercials, short films, and music videos, and contributed to two anthology films. He has received awards and nominations from organisations in Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. In 2006, Wong accepted the National Order of the Legion of Honour: Knight (Lowest Degree) from the French government. In 2013, he was bestowed with the title of a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the highest order, by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The International Film Festival of India gave Wong a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
| Year | Title | Chinese title |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | As Tears Go By | Template:Lang Wong gok ka moon |
| 1990 | Days of Being Wild | Template:Lang Ah fei zing zyun |
| 1994 | Chungking Express | Template:Lang Chung Hing sam lam |
| Ashes of Time | Template:Lang Dung che sai duk | |
| 1995 | Fallen Angels | Template:Lang Do lok tin si |
| 1997 | Happy Together | Template:Lang Chun gwong cha sit |
| 2000 | In the Mood for Love | Template:Lang Fa yeung nin wa |
| 2004 | 2046 | — |
| 2007 | My Blueberry Nights | — |
| 2013 | The Grandmaster | Template:Lang Yi dai zong shi |
| Year | Title | Chinese title |
|---|---|---|
| 2023–2024 | Blossoms Shanghai<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Lang |
| Year | Title | Chinese title |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | The Other Side of Gentleman | Template:Lang |
| Silent Romance | Template:Lang | |
| 1988 | The Haunted Cop Shop II | Template:Lang |
| Chaos By Design | Template:Lang | |
| 2016 | The First Monday in May<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | — |
Notes
References
Sources
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External links
Template:Wong Kar-wai Template:Navboxes Template:Berlin International Film Festival jury presidents Template:Cannes Film Festival jury presidents Template:Authority control
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- 1958 births
- Living people
- Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director winners
- César Award winners
- Best Director Asian Film Award winners
- European Film Awards winners (people)
- Knights of the Legion of Honour
- Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
- English-language film directors
- Film directors from Shanghai
- Hong Kong film directors
- Hong Kong film producers
- Hong Kong screenwriters
- Screenwriters from Shanghai
- Postmodernist filmmakers