"We all need a partner." - Human Connection in the Worlds of Wong Kar-Wai
Wong Kar-Wai is a film maker known for his distinct visual style, dreamy soundtracks, saturated worlds and sparse storytelling. While all of his films share this unique aesthetic his choice of stories remains eclectic. Included in his ouevre are small-time gangster flicks (As Tears Go By, Fallen Angels), the fallout of a relationship between two men (Happy Together), the budding relationship between two neighbours (In the Mood for Love), martial arts period dramas (Ashes of Time, The Grandmaster), a man's desperate search for his birth mother (Days of Being Wild), and a contempory romance (Chungking Express). Indeed, it is difficult to summarise his films in one short sentence; they are these things, but so much more. Wong's films are made up of moments, shot in stylistic fashion and eclectic order. In an individual movie storylines may not be connected but share thematic similarities. What ends up connecting these films then, the characters and the events of their lives, is a desire for connection, felt deeply and passionately yet often missed out on or actively avoided. Wong manages every time to grip audiences in his clutches, compelling them along these mundane journeys as the yearning of his characters to be with someone, to love and be loved, yet often rejecting the love they receive, becomes our own.
Like many successful directors, Wong Kar-Wai is fond of bringing back the actors he has worked with in the past, often to play characters they've previously portrayed if only for a moment's screentime. Such is the case with his loose trilogy of dramas made up of Days of Being Wild, In the Mood for Love, and 2046. While 2046 is a direct sequel to In the Mood for Love (and a more indirect sequel to Days of Being Wild), links between the three films are tenuous and crafted with mere hints and nods. Tony Leung appears in a silent, almost inexplicable scene at the end of Days of Being Wild (only explicable when you've seen In the Mood for Love) while Maggie Cheung appears as a fleeting memory in 2046. To me, what connects these three films is their rejection of romantic love; while so many of Wong Kar-Wai's characters search for love, there are as many that find it and say no.
In Days of Being Wild, the main character, Yuddy, forms a relationship with two women who he inevitably breaks up with when they grow too close to him. The first with Su Li-Zhen he ends suddenly and agressively when she suggests they live together. He leaves his next girlfriend, Lulu, without telling her that he's leaving for the Philippines in search of his birth mother. Yuddy's identity is tied into finding this woman, thus his rejection of Su Li-Zhen and Lulu: there is an emptiness shaped by his mother and neither of these women fill it satisfactorily. In a tragic turn of events, when he finally finds his mother she refuses even to see him and Yuddy is forced to continue on with this emptiness inside him and experiencing the rejection he administers so freely. The final person he meets is Tide, a cop turned marine, who we previously saw offering comfort and advice to the heart-broken Su Li-Zhen. As a man, Tide is not subjected to the same treatment by Yuddy as Su Li-Zhen and Lulu were; Yuddy can interact with Tide without worrying about having to give something of himself in return, while Tide can offer comfort and advice without being expected to fill the mother-shaped hole in the other man's life.
During his final moments, he asks Tide to tell Su Li-Zhen that he forgot about her, "When you see her again, tell her I remember nothing. It's better that way for all of us." Yuddy wants no responsibility for the hurt he's caused. As romantic love is low in his estimation, he expects it to be as easy for everyone else to forget. Seconds later, Yuddy is gone, having cut off every emotional tie in his life and denied the only connection he really wanted.
"I thought we wouldn't be like them, but I was wrong." Although In the Mood for Love also depicts a denial of love, here it is a decision made by both parties. Chow Mo-Wan and Su Li-Zhen are neighbours whose spouses are cheating on them and although they commiserate and lean on each other for support, they adamantly refuse to pursue a romantic relationship, desiring to be "better" than their spouses. However, as their friendship blossoms, the film encourages viewers to root for Chow and Su with its provocative soundtrack, heady lighting and lustful, rose-tinted colour palatte, their clandestine glances and near-constant close proximity to each other, framed in narrow alleys and hallways, or cramped together in the back of a taxi or one of their small rooms. The very fact that they don't act on their feelings raises them in our estimation as decent people, while also making us want them to be with each other more; we want characters we like to experience the things that they want. Wong Kar-Wai knows how to make his characters yearn for each other and here he skillfully makes the audience yearn for them too. Yet, he does not allow them a conventionally happy ending. Instead their story ends with a series of missed opportunities and the continued denial of their happiness. There is a maturity to In the Mood for Love that contributes to the characters' decision to remain friends; instead of impulsively acting on their feelings Chow and Su restrain themselves so as not to emulate an act that hurt them so much through their spouses - as Chow says in his confession to Su: "You won't leave your husband. So I'd rather go away."
While the ending of In the Mood for Love would lead us to believe that Mr. Chow has left his love behind him, 2046 shows us that it's not as simple as turning your back and walking away. Here, Chow Mo-Wan returns to us a different man than the one we met in In the Mood for Love, one who is more cynical in his pursuit of love and keeps a distance between himself and his partners through a series of fleeting arrangements. In Lulu, the first woman we see Chow interact with, we find a forewarning for the life Chow could lead if he doesn't learn to move past Su Li-Zhen. Lulu, the same character from Days of Being Wild, has not since recovered from her experience with Yuddy as evidenced by Chow's re-telling of their previous meeting, "You talked a lot about your late boyfriend…You said he was the love of your life." Lulu is still grieving the loss of Yuddy, and does not get the opportunity to learn and move on from him, as Chow eventually will, as she is soon killed by a jealous boyfriend.
The shadow of Su Li-Zhen stagnates any potential relationship Chow could develop with the women in his life as he holds them up to her memory, "I never dreamed I'd meet another Su Li-Zhen." When feelings develop in him or in the women he meets, they are ultimately rejected by the receiver. So it is with Bai Ling, who initially rolls with the punches of their affair until she develops feelings for Chow only for him to turn her away. Chow, in turn, is rejected by another Su Li-Zhen who believes she will only ever be a replacement for the original. Chow's relationship with Bai Ling was almost purely sexual, the opposite of his experiences with both Su Li-Zhens, and as such it's likely he never considered her as a serious option for his future. With the other Su Li-Zhen, a distance was maintained between them while she helped him repay his gambling debts; they worked together and maintained a platonic relationship while feelings mounted between them - a replica of the relationship in In the Mood for Love and likely building his feelings even more. Had Chow not told the new Su Li-Zhen about the original, something might have happened between them, but Su recognised his stagnant feelings and wisely chose to protect herself from heartbreak.
In a similar vein, Chow falls for Wang Jing-Wen, the daughter of the hotel owner. Chow grows close to Wang Jing-Wen when he helps her send secret letters to her Japanese boyfriend and she helps him with his novel, another thread reminiscent of In the Mood for Love and a period Chow refers to as the happiest in his life since that last collaboration. Like both Su Li-Zhens their relationship is initially platonic but Chow falls for her the more time they spend together. However, Wang Jing-Wen is committed to her boyfriend and doesn't notice his attentions. Like Yuddy, Chow sees these new women as potential fillers for the hole in his life and in an unusual displays of emotional sagacity (for Wong Kar-Wai characters, anyway) neither women pursue an inevitably futile relationship with him, leaving Chow to navigate his journey alone. It is even possible that these interactions have rubbed off on Mr. Chow as he afterwards makes more considerate choices in his relationship with Bai Ling. After writing his novel, Chow reflects on his behaviour with the second Su Li-Zhen, how he wanted her to be his old love instead of letting her be a new one. In the final scene, Chow and Bai Ling reunite but he rejects her invitation to spend the night with her. When she asks why it can't be like it was before, Chow simply says that it's something he can't do. Although 2046 leaves the viewers with a margin of hope for Chow - who is no longer willing to live in an unchanging world, stringing people along and hurting himself and others - it looks as if the cycle of heartbreak will continue in Bai Ling, until she learns how to move on, or, like Lulu, remains stagnant.
In contrast to these three films, others in Wong Kar-Wai's canon depict a desperate, almost adamant, desire for love and connection regardless of where it comes from. Chungking Express and Fallen Angels are connected in their anthological story-telling style and depiction of Hong Kong street life, while Happy Together takes a sharp turn to the airport and flies to Argentina to portray the deep, if problematic, connection between two former lovers. The common denominator is the loneliness of the characters and their desperation for connection even if it is with the wrong person.
"We're all unlucky in love sometimes." In the first of Chungking Express' two storylines, Cop 223 spends his free time trying to get into contact with his ex-girlfriend. Like many Wong Kar-Wai characters he is heartbroken, hung up on the past and looking to fill a void. Cop 223 is a character obsessed with timing - "Somehow everything comes with an expiry date" - and his is poorer than most. After his girlfriend broke up with him on April Fool's Day, he lives under a deadline until May 1st, his birthday, when he will finally give up on her coming back, "We split up on April Fool's Day, so I decided to let the joke run for a month." The night before his birthday he bumps into a gangster known only as "the woman in the blonde wig", his attempts at flirting fail, but he ends up taking her home anyway where she passes out from exhaustion. Cop 223 then spends the entire night in her hotel room while she sleeps, watching TV and ordering room service, desperate to develop a connection with someone that he stays up in this woman's hotel room the entire night on the off-chance it might be her. He leaves the next morning, his bithday, giving up on his girlfriend and the woman. However, to his surprise, he receives a birthday message from her and vows that, "For this, I'll remember her all my life." The woman in the blonde wig may not have been the right woman for Cop 223 to fall in love with that night, but their brief connection is enough to give him hope and encourage him to move on. Unfortunately, the next woman he tries to flirt with - Faye - falls in love with someone else, "Six hours later, she fell in love with another man." So, Cop 223's cycle of bad luck with women continues, but so does his determination.
Like Cop 223, Cop 663 is hung up on his ex-girlfriend and remains morosely unaware of the interest shown by Faye, a new employee at the snack counter he frequents on his lunch break. Here, both characters are looking for love in places where it cannot be found. When Cop 663 leaves a key to his apartment in the care of the snack bar, Faye begins sneaking in when he's not there, tidying his apartment, replacing some of his items and redecorating. When Cop 663 eventully realises that Faye is in love with him he asks her out on a date she doesn't show up for. Instead, Faye decides to take a break from her one-sided infatuation and pursue her dream of traveling to America - but doesn't give up on him. She leaves behind a message for Cop 663, a boarding pass drawn onto a napkin dated a year later. On this day, Faye returns to the snack bar to find that Cop 663 has bought it and wants to turn it into a restaurant. He produces the napkin he has kept all this time, the destination blurred after being caught in the rain. Faye begins to write him a new one and asks where he'd like to go: "Wherever you want to take me." Of all the relationships discussed, Faye's and Cop 663's is the most promising, but they had to grow to reach this point. When they first meet, Cop 663 is so fixated on his ex-girlfriend that not only does he not notice Faye's feelings, he barely notices the changes in his apartment. At this time, Cop 663 is not ready for Faye but when they arrange a date anyway, her rejection of him wakes him up out of his stupor and encourages him to change. Their year apart from each other allows them to grow and change, so when Faye returns, their interest in each other is more even and the possibility of a relationship between them is heightened.
In Fallen Angels we meet Wong Chi-Ming, a gangster partnered with a woman he has never met in person, referred to only as the Killer's Agent. Each time Wong Chi-Ming finishes a job the agent goes to his hideout to clean up after him. By going through his rubbish she feels she has come to know him better than anyone, but it is a connection she is forced to fabricate by taking home his rubbish, going to a bar she knows he likes and even masturbating on his bed, while Wong Chi-Ming is too afraid to meet this woman who understands him more than he'd like. When he decides to quit his job, instead of meeting her face to face, he leaves her a coded message he knows she will understand, "Being partners, you get to understand each other. Almost able to read each other's minds. I'd often leave her some clues to trace my actions or my whereabouts. After all these years, she's become part of my life." In the middle is Punkie, an unabashedly erratic woman whose behaviour is designed to make her memorable. Unfortunately, the only person she cares about impressing, Wong Chi-Ming, has forgotten her once before, "You like me now. That's fine." Wong Chi-Ming's problem is not lonliness - he actively cuts all ties with the people in his life - but Wong Chi-Ming is not the one looking for a connection, he is the object of pursuit. Both the agent and Punkie look to Wong Chi-Ming for something he is unwilling to provide and both are so desperate for this connection that they are content with the measly relationship they've managed to fabricate with him.
Another character desperate for connection is He Zhiwu, a recently escaped convict who falls in love with Charlie, a nutcase out for revenge against her ex-boyfriend's fiancé. A mute since childhood, He Zhiwu admits that he has "very few friends". In his desire to connect with people (and have something to do) he opens other peoples' businesses at night and harasses potential customers by shoving produce in their faces and often knocking them to the ground. In an effort to make himself understood, He Zhiwu is physical with people but is always pushed away. When he meets Charlie she latches onto him, literally using him as a shoulder to cry on, and is just as physical as he is as she drags him around Hong Kong in her attempts to get back at her ex. The fact that she doesn't push him away encourages He Zhiwu's feelings, though Charlie clearly doesn't feel for him in return. After she stands him up one night, He Zhiwu puts her behind him and throws himself into a real job and his relationship with his father - the strongest one in the movie - however, when his father passes away, He Zhiwu returns to his old delinquent ways, devoid of another person to keep him grounded. Around this time, he bumps into Charlie again and tries to get her attention but she has cleaned herself up and ignores him completely while she waits for her new boyfriend. Later on, downtrodden and beaten up by gangsters, He Zhiwu spots the Killer's Agent in a restaurant, a woman he has seen before but never thought to engage with, "I knew we'd never be friends or confidants. We'd let too many chances pass us by," but this tme she asks him for a lift home. Once again, Wong provides that strand of hope; in this moment they are both broken-hearted and lonely and although both are sceptical about the future of this relationship, for one night, at least they find comfort and solace in each other, "The road wasn't that long, and I knew I'd be getting off soon. But at that moment I felt such warmth." Again, we see our characters pursuing the wrong people until they get to an emotional point where they can look for the right ones.
"We could start over." These are the words repeated by Ho Po-Wing each time he wants to get back together with Lai Yiu-Fai in Happy Together. Although, Lai Yiu-Fai knows better than to continue this relationship, he and Ho Po-wing are too deep in each others' emotional pockets to truly separate. On a failed trip to Argentina in an effort to rekindle their relationship, the two men become invariably linked - by their history, their lack of money and their isolation in a foreign country. They are forced to live together in a tiny apartment while Ho Po-Wing recovers from a beating and Lai Yiu-Fai tries to earn enough money to return to Hong Kong. What follows is a long-drawn-out power struggle between two people who are unafraid to manipulate and control each other since they've seen and done it all before. While Ho initially appears to be the insitigator of their toxicity, we soon learn that Lai is no angel after he steals Ho's passport taking away his ability to leave. In their literal isolation in a foreign country both men latch on to the familiarity of their ex-partners and like the characters in Fallen Angels they desperately cling to even the most tattered thread of connection so as not to be left absolutely alone. That is, until Lai Yiu-Fai meets Chang, a young back-packer working in the same restaurant as Lai to supplement his trip. Chang grounds Lai, bringing relief, companionship and sanity to his current life and obliviously helps Lai step back and review his recent behaviour. Happy Together does not give its viewers a conventionally satisfying ending but it does offer hope in Chang; not that he will become Lai's partner (his sexuality is never discussed), but that, after meeting and learning from Chang, Lai will move on from Ho and, this time, not turn back. Chang is travelling to the southernmost point of South America to visit a lighthouse where, he has heard, a person can leave their sadness behind before going home. Chang's optimism, his carefree ability to weave in and out of environments, adapting as needs be, is the antithesis of Lai and his situation with Ho and the catalyst for Lai finally leaving Ho and returning to Hong Kong. On his way home, Lai visits Iguazú Falls, the destination of an unsuccessful road trip at the beginning of the film, "I felt very sad. I always thought there should be two of us standing here." After finally seeing the very thing they traveled to Argentina to see, Lai can leave Ho and all of their sadness behind him.
"Love is all a matter of timing. It's no good meeting the right person too soon or too late. If I'd lived in another time or place… my story might have had a very different ending." These are only some of the recurring themes that appear in Wong Kar-Wai's films and none are the definitive concept behind a particular movie. Across each of these films a desire is kindled in the viewer for these characters to "end up" with someone, often despite knowing better. It is their happiness we really want and it is something we rarely get. Wong's characters are constantly being pulled in different directions by neccesity and desire and these are themes and emotions that the director has been using and developing on since the beginning of his career. Even his martial arts films, Ashes of Time and The Grandmaster are, at heart, stories of love and longing, unrequited and forbidden. As Tears Go By, his first and most conventional film, depicts this struggle in Wah, another small-time gangster trying to leave the life behind. Wah attempts to leave his criminal life after meeting and falling in love with Ngor; he even leaves the city to be with her, but is shot when he returns to Hong Kong to help his "little brother" out of a tight spot. Even before this tragic ending could split them apart, Ngor had subtly let him go knowing he will always follow the call back to Hong Kong, both choosing necessity over desire - but they had to try. For these characters, the pursuit of connection is almost more important than the result - it is a way out, a chance for a different life; for Chow to forget his love for Su, for Yuddy to reconnect with his birth mother, for Cop 223 to get over his ex. Even when they don't want to be tied down, know they are with the wrong person or desperately want someone they can never have, it is this yearning for connection that keeps them going and eases their broken hearts. In their lives, connection is a matter of survival or, sometimes, of simply getting through the night.
