Happy Together
The World of Wong Kar Wai
One of the most searing romances of the 1990s, Wong Kar Wai’s emotionally raw, lushly stylised portrait of a relationship in breakdown casts Hong Kong superstars Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung as a couple travelling through Argentina and locked in a turbulent cycle of infatuation and destructive jealousy as they break up, make up, and fall apart again and again.
Setting out to depict the dynamics of a queer relationship with empathy and complexity on the cusp of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong—when the country’s LGBT community suddenly faced an uncertain future—Wong crafts a feverish look at the life cycle of a love affair that’s by turns devastating and deliriously romantic.
Shot by ace cinematographer Christopher Doyle in both luminous monochrome and luscious saturated colour, Happy Together is an intoxicating exploration of displacement and desire that swoons with the ache and exhilaration of love at its heart-tearing extremes.
This 4K digital restoration was undertaken from the 35mm original camera negative by the Criterion Collection in collaboration with L’Immagine Ritrovata and Jet Tone. It was supervised and approved by Wong Kar Wai.
Dir: Wong Kar Wai | 1997 | Hong Kong | 1 hr 36 mins | In Cantonese, Mandarin and Spanish with English subtitles | Cert 15
QFT presents The World of Wong Kar Wai – a retrospective of the Hong Kongese director. With his lush and sensual visuals, pitch-perfect soundtracks, and soulful romanticism, Wong Kar Wai has established himself as one of the defining auteurs of contemporary cinema. This retrospective of his work includes new 4K restorations overseen by Wong Kar Wai in person. Whether tragically romantic, soaked in blood, or quirkily comedic, the films in this retrospective are an invitation into the unique and wistful world of a deeply influential artist.
Special thanks to Janus Films.