![]() ![]() ![]() This melancholic chronicle of gay lovers whose dream vacation to Argentina takes a series of dark turns is often seen as a love letter to Buenos Aires. So it goes with “ Happy Together,” the Wong movie released the year of that fateful ’97 turnover. The allegorical connotations are undeniable: Here is a nation exploring the potential of new beginnings. The lush visual style lends a solipsistic quality to the experience, as its introverts struggle with the tentative excitement of new connections. The ravishing “Chunking Express” explored a pair of romantic stories surrounding Hong Kong policemen, both reeling from breakups and finding tentative new romance with troubled, alienated women living on the margins of society. In the ‘90s, Wong’s movies anticipated the 1997 handover in remarkable personal terms. Wong’s movies have never directly engaged with such infringements on civil liberties, but they do capture a sense of isolation and displacement through a profound lens, bringing an intimate perspective to the fragile state of Hong Kong identity through the ages. Last week, China enacted a new security law that enables the government to charge activists for “subversion” of the government, a vague edict that enables authorities to prosecute everything from protest chants to fliers hanging in local businesses. Last year, protests erupted across the region in the face of an extradition bill that allowed the mainland to prosecute Hong Kong residents for violating the country’s more stringent freedom of speech laws. Supposedly, Hong Kong’s status would be up for renewal in 2047 - hence the dystopian noir context of Wong’s eerie 2004 effort “2046” - but China couldn’t wait that long. Oscars 2022: Best Costume Design PredictionsĪfter it was freed from British oversight in 1997, Hong Kong became a “special administrative region” of China, with the idea of “One Country, Two Systems” ensuring its autonomy. 'Blossoms Shanghai' First Footage: Wong Kar-Wai's Upcoming TV Series Promises a Stunning Epic ![]() Wong Kar Wai to Release 'In the Mood for Love' Footage That's Never Been Seen Before ![]()
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