Mondays: Wong Kar-Wai & Christopher Doyle
The Grandmaster
"Cinema has certain qualities, [like] the image. Sometimes this image has its own breathing or tempo. It has to linger, and will linger because you want to have more. It is very instinctive... I think one of the reasons you keep making films is because you want to experience that part again and again." - Wong Kar-wai
"You can make incredibly meticulous notes, but when it comes to the actual shoot you still throw the script away. You have to. For me, it's about the energy and the inspiration and the possibilities of what縮 being attempted in the story. It's kind of like sculpting. It's getting rid of the stone to see what縮 really inside it." - Christopher Doyle
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How does Wong Kar-wai make these pictures? Did it follow him from Shanghai, his city of birth, when he moved to Hong Kong at the age of five? Did it blossom when, not understanding a word of the local dialect, he took refuge in cinemas and watched everything on offer? Wong claims that when he was a lowly scriptwriter for a local TV station, he was offered a chance to direct, and that was that. What has followed since are only the most visually distinctive and critically beloved movies to come out from Asian cinema over the past 20 years. Excluding his debut feature, all were shot in collaboration with Christopher Doyle, Wong縮 enigmatic, trailblazing, and masterful cinematographer.
Doc is delighted to offer features from every stage of Wong's career, as well as three additional non-Wong films in which Doyle was cinematographer. Beginning with AS TEARS GO BY, which finds Wong's style in an embryonic stage, we then offer the fully realized visions seen in DAYS OF BEING WILD and HAPPY TOGETHER. We have criminally overlooked gems such as FALLEN ANGELS and ASHES OF TIME, and we'll also be showing two films Wong shot following international recognition of his work: the swooning masterpiece IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, and the sci-fi tinged 2046.
Doyle has worked away from Wong, as when he shot Zhang Yimou縮 visually magnificent HERO, a movie that also borrows the Tony Leung-Maggie Cheung lead pairing from IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE to weave its epic wuxia story. Doyle also has history with respected Western directors: He shot Gus van Sant縮 PSYCHO remake, and worked with him again for PARANOID PARK, training his camera on Pacific Northwest skateboard culture and creating a muted, sombre palette befitting the best of van Sant.
Wong縮 next film is entitled THE GRANDMASTERS, and as of writing time is scheduled to have hit screens across China by the time our Wong/Doyle retrospective rolls into town. With his name back in theaters, there縮 never been a better time to find out why the man is a critical darling and a hero of Asia縮 arthouse movie community. As for Doyle, though he may have severed his professional relationship with Wong following 2046, the series also serves as a timely reminder of his visual acumen behind the camera, whether it縮 East or West, love or death, with or without Wong.
- Kevin Kwok
2013-01-09 @ 7:00 PM 9:30 PM
As Tears Go By
(Wong Kar-wai,1988) · Wong鈥檚 debut finds him still searching for his own vision, while giving viewers a peek at how鈥攁nd where鈥攖he master started. This gangster drama stars Andy Lau as Wah, a triad foot soldier who doesn始t have much 'til he meets his beautiful cousin Ngor (Maggie Cheung). As they fall in love, Wah begins contemplating leaving triad life鈥攂ut not before his best friend Fly (Jacky Cheung) is handed an impossible mission from their cruel triad boss.
runtime: 102 min format: 35mm
2013-01-16 @ 7:00 PM 9:00 PM
Paranoid Park
(Gus Van Sant,2007) · Zeroing in on Pacific Northwest skate culture, Gus van Sant and Christopher Doyle build a story of guilt and adolescent anxiousness in this patient, ghostly film. Alex, played by non-professional actor Gabe Nevins, is a teenage skater who accidentally commits a grievous crime. Juggling a splintering family, skater obligations and a girlfriend who leaves him cold, Alex burrows ever further into himself as he searches for a way out of his torment.
runtime: 85 min format: 35mm
2013-01-23 @ 7:00 PM 9:00 PM
Days of Being Wild
(Wong Kar-wai,1990) · With lush visuals, overwhelming mood, and languid narrative, Wong comes into his own. Leslie Cheung is Yuddy, who never met a heart he couldn始t break. But Yuddy remains tormented by the mother he never knew, and strained relations with his adoptive mother. Carina Lau and Maggie Cheung co-star as Yuddy鈥檚 lovers; Andy Lau as a kind cop. This film also marks the start of Wong始s fruitful relationship with cinematographer Christopher Doyle.
runtime: 94 min format: 35mm
2013-01-30 @ 7:00 PM 9:30 PM
Psycho
(Gus Van Sant,1998) · Ignored by critics and audiences upon release, this cinematic experiment has continued to accumulate grudging re-evaluations. By remaking Hitchcock's classic shot for shot, van Sant didn't offend cinema so much as start a debate on artistic re-appropriation. Doyle is on cinematographic duty, and, in a move befitting his idiosyncratic life, was one of the few approached cast and crew members mad enough to join van Sant.
runtime: 105 min format: 35mm
2013-02-06 @ 7:00 PM 9:00 PM
Ashes of Time
(Wong Kar-wai,1994) · Wong始s attempt to apply his filmmaking style to the martial arts genre resulted in a film as beautiful as it is beguiling. Loosely based off a popular wuxia novel, a star-studded Asian cast led by Leslie Cheung, Brigitte Lin and Maggie Cheung appear as swordsmen, hitmen and brokenhearted drifters marooned in China始s vast arid interiors. Wong recut the film in 2008; this is the version in circulation today.
runtime: 93 min format: 35mm
2013-02-13 @ 7:00 PM 9:00 PM
Fallen Angels
(Wong Kar-wai,1995) · Initially conceived as the third segment to Chungking Express, Fallen Angels developing darkness convinced Wong to expand the story into its own film. Leon Lai stars as a hitman enjoying a successful working relationship with his employer (Michelle Reis), only for the pair to become obsessed with each other. Takeshi Kaneshiro also appears in a subplot involving the most idiosyncratic mute with the oddest odd jobs ever depicted on film.
runtime: 96 min format: 35mm
2013-02-20 @ 7:00 PM 9:00 PM
In the Mood for Love
(Wong Kar-wai,2001) · The most rapturously received film of the 2000's, Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung give unforgettable performances as neighbors struggling to come to terms with their developing personal relationship as well as their failing marriages. Few movies have ever looked better, and one gorgeous shot follows another: narrow corridors, tight spaces, secret rendezvouses, and impeccably dressed men and women grappling with unconsummated love.
runtime: 98 min format: 35mm
2013-02-27 @ 7:00 PM 9:00 PM
Happy Together
(Wong Kar-wai,1997) · Wong decamps to Argentina for this story of two gay lovers from Hong Kong. Trapped in a wretched romance, they move to Buenos Aires, desperate to reignite their relationship. Leslie Cheung (in what would be his final Wong Kar-wai film) plays an abusive prima donna who torments his introverted lover (Tony Leung). Far darker and bleaker than his earlier work, Happy Together scooped Wong a Best Director trophy at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.
runtime: 96 min format: 35mm
2013-03-06 @ 7:00 PM 9:00 PM
Hero
(Zhang Yimou,2002) · Christopher Doyle's sumptuous visuals and unique use of color carried over from Wong's pictures to this wuxia epic directed by China's most well-known filmmaker. A nameless swordsman (Jet Li) arrives at the Emperor's palace claiming to have killed China's three most feared assassins. As he tries to convince the Emperor of his feats, his adventure unfolds in lush Rashomon-style flashbacks. Also stars Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung and Donnie Yen.
runtime: 99 min format: 35mm
2013-03-13 @ 7:00 PM 9:30 PM
2046
(Wong Kar-wai,2004) · Leung returns as Mr. Chow, his character from In the Mood for Love. The film follows Mr. Chow as he lives with the aftermath of the previous film, hopelessly, helplessly, consorting with one woman after another. 2046 also stars Zhang Ziyi as a fiery cabaret performer, Faye Wong as a shy hotel owner's daughter, Gong Li as a mysterious professional gambler, and Carina Lau from her role in Days of Being Wild.
runtime: 129 min format: 35mm
