![]() Obsessed with the Iguazu falls on their lampshade, Lai and Ho flitter off to Argentina in hopes of a new romantic setting to rebuild their unstable relationship. It’s a searing romance that depicts their alienation as one not because they are queer, but because of their displacement from Hong Kong and themselves. Wong Kar Wai vividly explores Lai Yiu-fai and Ho Po-wing’s relationship, treating it with such emotional intensity that you feel suffocated by it. However, creating a feature film about two queer Hong Kong men was already political in itself at that time. In an interview, Wong Kar Wai discussed how the few queer films in Hong Kong and Asia treated queer characters “too delicately, or as a joke.” Wong wanted to make a film about two men and their turbulent love while lost in a foreign country-intentionally veering away from “coming out” tropes or political messages. Beginning “Happy Together” with this carnal moment between Lai Yiu-fai and Ho Po-wing portrays their volatile relationship while also being a milestone in representation for queer, Asian men. Wong Kar Wai begins the film with a sex scene between the two leads-rekindling their fiery relationship once more. The film follows the on-again and off-again relationship between Lai Yiu-fai (Tony Leung) and Ho Po-wing (Leslie Cheung). Through “Happy Together”, Wong Kar Wai won the Best Director award at Cannes Film Festival and brought Queer Asian Cinema to artistic heights. ![]() “Happy Together” is one of Wong Kar Wai’s masterpieces while also being a classic queer film from the New Queer Cinema era of the 90s. While many will look to “In the Mood for Love” or “Chungking Express” as an example of Wong Kar Wai’s best films, today I look at his seminal addition to queer cinema with “Happy Together” (1997). His visual style, often through his collaborative work with cinematographer Christopher Doyle, is another reason why Wong Kar Wai films are beautiful gems in cinema. Cinephiles celebrate Wong Kar Wai’s films for his ruminative examination of relationships and lonely characters that are lost in nostalgia. ![]() Wong Kar Wai is one of the most brilliant directors to indulge in when looking at films from the second New Wave of Hong Kong Cinema. Read the first one here on “Young Soul Rebels”. This is the second installment of our Hall of Fame reviews.
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