Reptileenbu
Did you people see the same film I saw?
Spoonatects
Am i the only one who thinks........Average?
FirstWitch
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Davalon-Davalon
I am at an absolute loss as to why this film is getting 10s and winning festivals. This "story" is a mish-mashed mess of sloppily shot scenes, poorly cut, about two people that it was nearly impossible to care anything about. I do not know what the point or purpose of this movie was. If writer/director Kar- Wai Wong thought he was showing us how difficult love can be, he definitely hit upon a theme. And IF he had made us care about these two irritating, strange, selfish people, it might have had an impact, despite how sloppily it was put together. Lai Yiu-fai (Tony Leung) is the only one of the two that seemed to have a sense of responsibility and seemed to understand the value of love and caring. Ho Po-wing (Leslie Cheung) seemed to be more interested in goading Fai into arguments, hanging on him, wanting love, or money, or whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, without earning a single moment of it. I hated him. I couldn't understand what his source of anger was. Did he think money fell out of the sky? Did he think a nutritious meal was a box of cigarettes? Did he think that having sex with whoever he wanted to was going to "endear" him to Fai? If he had shown a MOMENT of sensitivity (other than the completely fake one at the end where he "cries" over Fai's blanket), I might've been on his team. But I found him repulsive. I believe the Cantonese language was used (not Mandarin), but I am sure there must be something more beautiful about it than what was heard in this movie. No matter what was said, it sounded like a complaint. The main couple always seemed miserably unhappy. There is one scene where they dance some kind of faux-tango in a horrible dingy kitchen. In this ONE SCENE there is the sense of love between these two and that SOMEHOW they belong together. But since the rest of the movie is spent screaming at each other, throwing fists into walls, pushing each other down, knocking cigarettes off shelves, cheating on each other, lying to each other, hurting each other... I just couldn't care. This is the second time I've seen this. The first time was years ago, because it was a "gay film" and feature-length gay films were hard to come by. I saw it a second time because I had just seen Kar-Wai's "I'm in the mood for love" -- which I found to be sensual and beautiful and erotic. "Happy Together" showed that Tony Leung is a wonderful actor with a lot of gifts. He outshone everyone in it. I also thought that he was totally believable as a conflicted gay man. But the problem is: the film only HINTED at how good it could have been. It was really not a story. It was snippets or peeks into the miserable, somewhat pointless existence of these two unhappy men, and it wasn't done well. I don't know what people are raving about. Kar-Wai has a unique talent, but he didn't really put it to good use in this rambling mess.
Kerry Hill
Wong Kar Wai's 'Happy Together' Happy Together is a Hong Kong film released in 1997 and directed by popular Chinese director, Wong Kar Wai. It stars Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung and tells the story of two gay men who have moved to Argentina to escape Hong Kong after it has been handed over to the Chinese. It depicts a turbulent romance between the two characters Ho-po Wing and Lai Yui- Fai. I found the film extremely interesting in the way it represents not only relationships but the relationship between two homosexual men. The film tackles manipulation, neediness and loneliness, all common occurrences in many relationships. It presents Po Wing and Fai as a normal couple, no different than a heterosexual couple. I particularly enjoy how they both have a gender role, with one being more clingy and needy than the other. The film is rather touching and moving in the way it emphasises the damage a relationship can have on an individual involved. The acting was very good and convincing and you did believe the emotion felt. The mise-en- scene is also very interesting in this film, the use of black and white and colour to represent different time frames is very clever and interesting and the general low key lighting of the film makes it feel very gritty. The location in which it is set is not glamorous or desirable and in particular Fai's apartment is very basic and can also act as a metaphor for Fai's state of mind, messy and dark. The cinematography was very good at helping to tell the story in the best way possible and creates an almost claustrophobic feeling with many close and medium shots and locations often being small. The claustrophobic feeling from the closed in cinematography creates a similar feeling to what Fai's character must be feeling, closed in and trapped by his ex/lover Po Wing. All in all, I think this film is definitely worth a watch but could possibly be frustrating if you are easily bored. Its an interesting piece of cinema when it comes to psychology and is a interesting spin on a love story.
lois-mckinder
this film is one of the most confusing films i have watched and this is due to it being a surreal film, the way it switches from black and white to colour or how the camera footage is hand held then stood still. to some this film up without being offensive is about 2 gay men who are clearly in love with each other but cannot survive together its a love story that was not meant to be. also the director shows a completely different side to hong kong cinema. happy together is surreal in many ways, its a film which is hard to keep up with and one of them films which you have to watch the whole thing to look back and understand as the film is constsntly skipping to things happening which you do not see, listening is very important in this film to understand.
MELBOURNEgeek
From Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai,the writer and director of the highly regarded CHUNG KING EXPRESS (CHONGQING SENLIN), comes HAPPY TOGETHER (CHEUN GWONG TSA SIT). HAPPY TOGETHER tells the story of a gay Chinese couple in Buenos Aires, Argentina, who are anything but happy. The story, to the extent there is any, consists of a series of vignettes about their petty fights.In this two person drama Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing plays Ho Po-Wing and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai plays Lai Yiu-Fai. Leslie was last seen in TEMPTRESS MOON (FENG YUE) and Tony in CYCLO (XICH LO). Both are quite capable actors, but the parts they are given in HAPPY TOGETHER almost dares the audience to care. Their lifeless performances are right in line with Wong's dreadfully dull screenplay.Although the movie contains some of the most graphic homosexual scenes I've encountered, the actors present no passion or love during them with the result that the scenes are coldly antiseptic.Most of the movie has them arguing with each other, complaining about the lack of jobs in Argentina and living a life of poverty in their (literally) flea-bag room. Never is the narrative interesting and rarely are the characters the least bit compelling.The picture has a single saving grace. The cinematography by Christopher Doyle punctuates the otherwise uninvolving scenes with fascinating images. Although Doyle's work in HAPPY TOGETHER is not nearly as good as his stunning work in TEMPTRESS MOON, he enlivens an otherwise tedious picture. Using both oversaturated black-and-white sequences and lush color ones, he keeps the audience's attention even when the story doesn't. One evocative scene has our two lonely leads stranded on the highway. Shooting from a distance, the black-and-white highway seems as infinite as Tony and Lai's troubles. Another scene is shot from high above the city streets. Using color at night and a strobe effect, the cars dart around the turns like colored rats in a maze."Turns out that normal people are all the same," concludes Lai. Similarly, the movie HAPPY TOGETHER has a dreary sameness to each of its vignettes, only the handsome cinematography saves it from being an unwatchable, boring film.HAPPY TOGETHER seems to go on forever but its running time is actually only 1:37. The picture is in Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles. The film is not rated but would get an R for nudity, profanity, violence and graphic sex. The film is not appropriate for teenagers.
