Lai Yu-Fai and Ho Po-Win were in love when they came to Argentina from Hong Kong. But when they headed south in search of adventure, something broke between them.
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Tango is a dance of love and suffering, passion and hate; it is a dialogue between two partners, a question and an answer. They dance tango together in a small kitchen. Around – a strange city, a foreign country, the other end of the world. In their past there is nothing worth remembering, the future does not bode well. The present is vague. Their strange love, unreasonable quarrels, tired truces … Moving with concentration to the beat of a sweet melody, they seem to anticipate an imminent goodbye, but slow music circles them, and they are happy together.
Enchanting Latin American melodies, from which exudes exotic and sweet melancholy, sound in many of Wong Kar Wai’s paintings. But it was only in Happy Together that the image of Latin America turned out to be so gray and cold. Cold rain. Cold sun. Argentina appears here as a sad autumn country, where love is unrequited, and the air is saturated with loneliness.
Wong Kar Wai directed a film about the love of a not very happy homosexual couple, the story of two young people from Hong Kong trying to start a new life in Argentina. The theme of same-sex love is dangerous for the artist. It is necessary to correctly place accents so as not to arouse hostility or even disgust in the viewer. Kar Wai made a movie without any ideological accents. He does not make a scandalous film about gays, but simply talks about the difficult relationship between two people in a huge world. Just a movie about love, understandable to everyone, regardless of gender, age and sexual orientation. The fact that the main characters of the film “Happy Together” are homosexuals, Kar Wai emphasizes at the beginning with a frank bed scene, which is a little shocking and even makes you doubt whether it is worth watching this film at all. But after five minutes the viewer forgets about the unconventional orientation of the characters. You could just as well tell the love story of a man and a woman.
In this sense, Happy Together can be compared to Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, which also tells the story of the love of two men. But Kar Wai does not show the history of the origin of feelings between men, their past remains behind the scenes, they do not experience an acute conflict with society and accept themselves as they are. If in “Brokeback Mountain” the heroes still do not find the strength to leave together to start a new life, then in “Happy Together” they boldly set off on a journey for happiness to the other end of the planet, but they are also unable to change their fate … The director opposes to his heroes the power of waterfalls that are in constant motion, changing and changing everything in their path.
Wong Kar Wai does not dwell in detail on what accompanies the intimate life of two lovers, but seeks to reveal the souls of his heroes. Actors Tony Leung and Leslie Chun played a huge role in this task.
Tony Leung is such a smart, attractive man with gentle manners. He plays a very correct, positive person. His hero seems to be clear and simple. But Tony Leung, thanks to his incredible charm, manages to make his character interesting. And Leslie Chun succeeded in character with a touch of some viciousness. There is a breakdown in him, a tendency to extremes and self-destruction. And together they are like two opposite sides of the coin.
As a rule, the heroes of Kar Wai are ordinary people. They are ordinary. They never analyze their feelings. They want to change something in their lives, but tomorrow is exactly the same as the day before. They often miss their opportunities. What could be simpler: to suffer from loneliness, which you did not ask for and did not expect, constantly return to that one chance that was hopelessly missed, and not even blame yourself, because you did everything you could. Always strive for what you cannot get, to love those who are not able to love you. Not wanting to be cruel, but still hurting because you can’t show pity. Get used to the mismatch. Live across, but without strain.
Wong Kar Wai can be blamed for the monotony of his films. All these years he has been filming essentially the same film, a film about the beauty of human feelings. The time of the action changed, the manner of the operator’s work, however, the intonation remained the same. His films are a tribute to and admiration for the human ability to love. How love replaces pain and, on the contrary, it is said shrilly and, as always in Kar Vai, is very beautiful.
He is one of the few people who can convey what cannot be said in words. How does he play with pauses? In them, in a short moment, more is said than can be written in a thick book. His characters do not say: “I love you”, everything shows a simple touch of hands. He shows his palms, but how much they talk, the feeling is as if being electrocuted.
Cinema Kar Wai. What is it like? In my opinion, it is like an Argentine tango – sometimes lyrical, when the heart stops and beats in unison, then passionate, in which the power of feelings makes the heroes perform elements that you do not even think about until this moment, then dramatic, like a confrontation of two forces: pride and jealousy, and always a little sad.
The music will finish playing, the last sounds of footsteps will die down, and everything that a second before gave us such beautiful dreams will dissipate in cigarette smoke. Two people unnecessary to each other will leave the dance space. And a breeze of melancholy will whisper over the hall. And we will only have to enjoy the memories of tango – a pair dance of loneliness, love and passion.
Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (73.3 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: HDR10
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audio
Cantonese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Cantonese: Dolby Digital 5.1
German: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles
English, German.
