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Happy Together (Chinese: 春光乍泄; pinyin: chūn guāng zhà xiè) is a 1997 Hong Kong movie directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu Wai, that depicts the eventual conclusion of a turbulant romance between two men. Image File history File links Wikitext. ... Image File history File links Happytogether. ... Wong Kar-wai (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; Cantonese Yale: Wòhng Gà Waih; Shanghainese Latin method: Wan Kawe; born July 17, 1958) is a Hong Kong film director known for his visually unique, highly stylized art films. ... Wong Kar-wai (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; Cantonese Yale: Wòhng Gà Waih; Shanghainese Latin method: Wan Kawe; born July 17, 1958) is a Hong Kong film director known for his visually unique, highly stylized art films. ... This is a Chinese name; the family name is Leung (梁) Tony Leung Chiu Wai (Chinese: ; pinyin: ) (born in Hong Kong on June 27, 1962) is a Hong Kong movie and ex-TVB actor. ... Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing (September 12, 1956 – April 1, 2003) (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Cantonese Chang Kuo-jung; nickname Goh-goh (哥哥, Elder Brother in Cantonese), was an actor and musician from Hong Kong. ... Chang Chen (born October 14, 1976) is a Taiwanese actor, born in Taipei. ... Kino International is a film and video distributor, based in New York City that specializes in art-house films, such as low-budget current films and classic films from earlier periods in the history of cinema. ... A minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour and to 60 seconds. ... This article is about all of the Cantonese (Yue) dialects. ... This article is on all of the Northern and Southwestern Chinese dialects. ... Fallen Angels (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is a 1995 Hong Kong movie written and directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring Leon Lai, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Michelle Reis, Charlie Yeung and Karen Mok. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... In the Mood for Love is a 2000 Hong Kong art film directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu Wai. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Traditional Chinese (Traditional Chinese: 正體字/繁體字, Simplified Chinese: 正体字/繁体字) refers to one of two standard sets of printed Chinese characters. ... Pinyin, more formally called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... Pinyin, more formally called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... The year 1997 in film involved some significant events. ... This article is about motion pictures. ... Wong Kar-wai (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; Cantonese Yale: Wòhng Gà Waih; Shanghainese Latin method: Wan Kawe; born July 17, 1958) is a Hong Kong film director known for his visually unique, highly stylized art films. ... Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing (September 12, 1956 – April 1, 2003) (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Cantonese Chang Kuo-jung; nickname Goh-goh (哥哥, Elder Brother in Cantonese), was an actor and musician from Hong Kong. ... This is a Chinese name; the family name is Leung (梁) Tony Leung Chiu Wai (Chinese: ; pinyin: ) (born in Hong Kong on June 27, 1962) is a Hong Kong movie and ex-TVB actor. ...

Wong Kar-wai interview excerpt:

"In this film, some audiences will say that the title seems to be very cynical, because it is about two persons living together, and at the end, they are just separate. But to me, happy together can apply to two persons or apply to a person and his past, and I think sometimes when a person is at peace with himself and his past, I think it is the beginning of a relationship which can be happy, and also he can be more open to more possibilities in the future with other people." [1]

Plot outline

A gay couple, Ho Po-Wing (Leslie Cheung) and Lai Yiu-fai (Tony Leung Chiu Wai), from pre-handover Hong Kong visit Argentina to renew their lagging relationship. The two have a continual pattern of abuse, followed by break-up then reconcilliation. One of their main goals there is to visit the Iguazu waterfalls which serve as a leitmotiv in the movie and represent their desire to revive the intensity of attraction they felt at the outset of their relationship. GAY can mean: Gay, a term referring to homosexual men or women The IATA code for Gaya Airport Category: ... Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing (September 12, 1956 – April 1, 2003) (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Cantonese Chang Kuo-jung; nickname Goh-goh (哥哥, Elder Brother in Cantonese), was an actor and musician from Hong Kong. ... This is a Chinese name; the family name is Leung (梁) Tony Leung Chiu Wai (Chinese: ; pinyin: ) (born in Hong Kong on June 27, 1962) is a Hong Kong movie and ex-TVB actor. ... Devils throat from the Brazilian side. ... A leitmotif (also spelled leitmotiv) is a recurring musical theme, associated within a particular piece of music with a particular person, place or idea. ...

The movie basically unfolds in the following sections:

Part 1

As the two arrive into Argentina, they pick a car. During the ride however, they get into an argument and break up. Lai (played by Tony Leung) is the more stable and committed of the two, and desires nothing more than a fairly normal life. He tries to deal with the break up rationally and gets a job at a local nightclub. Ho (typical of characters played by Leslie Cheung) has an extremely destructive personality and is not able to commit to a monogamous relationship. Ho seems to be motivated by a both a need for attention as well as a need to simply hurt Fai. Ho picks up numerous other men, and even goes so far to bring them to the club that Lai works at. Lai tries very hard to lead a normal life at this point, but is nearly driven to the brink.

Part 2

One day Ho Po-Wing turns up severely beaten at Lai Yiu-fai's apartment, who takes him in and begins to take care of him. Ho's hands are injured so at this point, he relies on Lai for nearly everything. Initially, Lai works hard to keep Ho at bay physically and emotionally. However in the end, they get back together. Their actions indicate a continual pattern of abuse, break-up, finally followed by reconciliation. As in the previous times, in the beginning Ho does try to make the relationship work, but gradually the destructive side of his personality takes over and the familiar cycle of mutual abuse and dependence starts once more.

Part 3

As Lai and Ho's relationships starts falling apart again, Lai befriends Chang, a fellow Chinese from Taiwan at work. In some sense, Chang is Ho's opposite. Whereas Ho is manipulative and volatile, Chang is straightforward and stable. After Ho fully recovers, he resumes his playboy lifestyle and leaves Lai. Lai copes with the loss by spending more and more time with Chang (although his relationship with him is entirely platonic). Chang's unassuming self-awareness and sincerity help Lai out of his depression, contributing to his eventual realization that his relationship with Ho Po-Wing is based on an ideal which no longer has any basis in reality.

Part 4

After a few months, Ho again contacts Lai, but this time, Lai has the strength to avoid starting the cycle. While on the surface, Ho is angry about Lai's rejection, privately he also mourns this loss. Eventually, Lai finds the strength to visit the waterfalls and return to Hong Kong.

Praises

In the San Francisco Chronicle, Edward Guthmann gave the film an ecstatic review: Todays San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 as The Daily Dramatic Chronicle by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. ...

"Were Kerouac, William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg alive today, and able to see what Wong has done here -- stretching and shrinking camera speeds, using brief freeze frames in the middle of a scene, creating impressions and glances instead of aping the too-familiar standards of movie narratives -- they'd be thrilled and invigorated. Rather than being enslaved by the forms and formulas of the Hollywood movies he grew up on, Wong has twisted, eviscerated and redefined film technique. His film is a splash of cold, fresh water on the face of a tired, over-fed beast."[2]

Stephen Holden gave Happy Together an equally admiring review in the New York Times: The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

" "When you travel, your first discovery is that you do not exist," Elizabeth Hardwick observed in her book Sleepless Nights. That sense of acute isolation while in transit is woven into the exhilarated, brooding tango music seeping through the soundtrack of Wong Kar-Wai's powerfully moody film Happy Together... Happy Together, which the New York Film Festival is showing tonight at 6 P.M. and tomorrow at 9 P.M., is a more coherent, heartfelt movie than the director's fantastical Hong Hong romps, Chungking Express and Fallen Angels (which the Film Festival showed on Tuesday). At the same time, it is as stylistically brash, young at heart and pulsing with life as these two earlier Wong films."[3] The New York Film Festival is the one of the United Statess most prestigious film festivals, first held in 1962 in New York. ...

Jonathan Rosenbaum gave the film a somewhat mixed review in the Chicago Reader: Jonathan Rosenbaum is a prominent American film critic. ... The Chicago Reader is an alternative newsweekly in Chicago, Illinois. ...

"Like its characters, Happy Together is less a film with a subject than a film about not being able to find one. At best it's a movie about being at loose ends, though it seems to mean something more for some Chinese viewers. Asian film specialist Tony Rayns, who subtitled the film, claims that it's "one of the most searing accounts ever made of doomed and destructive love, but also a strong and very moving affirmation of romantic folly." Presumably Wong hopes so, if only to justify all this lurching around. For me Happy Together is more like a striking mannerist style in search of content, made poignant only by the homesickness and emotional confusion underlying the effort."[4]

In Box Office Magazine, Wade Major gave the film one of its most negative reviews:

"Shock value and the Cannes fest's best director prize aside, Wong's follow-up to the lavishly overpraised Chungking Express offers little in the way of stylistic or narrative progress, although it should please his core fans. As with previous efforts, Wong's "style" here consists primarily of random experimentation with film stocks, exposures, frame rates and other assorted laboratory tricks. Had such tinkering been in the service of a story, it might be possible to cut him some slack. But a near-total absence of narrative very quickly makes even the most minute excesses in style almost unbearably tedious. As music and imagery splash across the screen, audiences are treated to nothing more exciting than boy meets boy, boy loses boy, boy gets boy back, boy loses boy, boy gets boy back, boy loses boy, und so weiter."[5]

Box Office

During its Hong Kong theatrical release, Happy Together made HK $8,600,141 at the box office. The tally is unspectacular, but respectable given the subject matter and restrictive Category III rating. It was also typical of a Wong Kar Wai film. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Happy Together also had a limited theatrical run in North America through Kino International, where it grossed US $320,319.

Awards and nominations

• 1997 Cannes Film Festival
  • Won: Best Director (Wong Kar-wai)
  • Nominated: Palm d'Or

• 1998 Arizona International Film Festival
  • Won: Audience Award - Most Popular Foreign Film

• 1997 Golden Horse Awards
  • Won: Best Cinematography (Christopher Doyle)
  • Nominated: Best Director (Wong Kar-wai)
  • Nominated: Best Actor (Leslie Cheung)

• 1997 Hong Kong Film Awards
  • Won: Best Actor (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai)
  • Nominated: Best Picture
  • Nominated: Best Director (Wong Kar-wai)
  • Nominated: Best Actor (Leslie Cheung)
  • Nominated: Best Supporting Actor (Chang Chen)
  • Nominated: Best Art Direction (William Chang)
  • Nominated: Best Cinematography (Christopher Doyle)
  • Nominated: Best Costume and Make-up Design (William Chang)
  • Nominated: Best Film Editing (William Chang, Wong Ming-lam)

• 1998 Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards
  • Film of Merit

• 1998 Independent Spirit Awards
  • Nominated: Best Foreign Film

The Cannes Film Festival (French: le Festival de Cannes), founded in 1939, is one of the worlds oldest, most influential and prestigious film festivals. ... Wong Kar-wai (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; Cantonese Yale: Wòhng Gà Waih; Shanghainese Latin method: Wan Kawe; born July 17, 1958) is a Hong Kong film director known for his visually unique, highly stylized art films. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Christopher Doyle (born May 2, 1952 in Sydney, Australia; Chinese name: 杜可風) is a highly acclaimed, multi-award winning cinematographer, known for his extreme angles and vanguard color grading. ... Wong Kar-wai (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; Cantonese Yale: Wòhng Gà Waih; Shanghainese Latin method: Wan Kawe; born July 17, 1958) is a Hong Kong film director known for his visually unique, highly stylized art films. ... Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing (September 12, 1956 – April 1, 2003) (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Cantonese Chang Kuo-jung; nickname Goh-goh (哥哥, Elder Brother in Cantonese), was an actor and musician from Hong Kong. ... Hong Kong Film Awards (香港電影金像獎), is the most prestigious film awards in Hong Kong. ... Tony Leung Chiu Wai (Chinese: 梁朝偉; pinyin: ) (born June 27, 1962) is a Hong Kong movie and ex-television actor. ... Wong Kar-wai (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; Cantonese Yale: Wòhng Gà Waih; Shanghainese Latin method: Wan Kawe; born July 17, 1958) is a Hong Kong film director known for his visually unique, highly stylized art films. ... Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing (September 12, 1956 – April 1, 2003) (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Cantonese Chang Kuo-jung; nickname Goh-goh (哥哥, Elder Brother in Cantonese), was an actor and musician from Hong Kong. ... Chang Chen (born October 14, 1976) is a Taiwanese actor, born in Taipei. ... Christopher Doyle (born May 2, 1952 in Sydney, Australia; Chinese name: 杜可風) is a highly acclaimed, multi-award winning cinematographer, known for his extreme angles and vanguard color grading. ... The Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards (Traditional Chinese: 香港電影評論學會大獎) are an annual award given by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society in Hong Kong, China since 1995. ... Founded in 1984, the Independent Spirit Awards were originally known as the FINDIE (Friends of Independents) Awards and presented winners with Plexiglas pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. ...

See also

• Cinema of China
• Queer Cinema

The history of Chinese language cinema has three separate threads of development: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China, and Cinema of Taiwan. ... In 1992, Sight and Sound magazine printed an article by North American Feminist and critic, B. Ruby Rich. ...

External links

• Happy Together at the Internet Movie Database
• Fanpage of "Happy Together"