Reviews

This film is one of my favourite and it is the first Wong Kar Wai film I saw. It left an indelible impression on me by its strong and original cinematography, unbelievably humane characters, persuasive and brave acting and a moody soundtrack. Adding a beautiful Buenos Aires as backdrop, all those add up to a truly outstanding movie and to me it is WKW at his best (on par with "2046"). It is a film which truly touches the mind and soul and goes deep into what a relationship takes.

Not much comment on the plot because it is so realistic and resembles a well-captured life documentary of the two gay men venturing abroad. As it is now clear, WKW makes different films simply to manifest his same vision on love again and again: intense but sparse happiness enjoyed by lovers is inevitably accompanied by long term emotional pains and losses, and when the couple separates, the despair and memory haunt them forever. However, 'Happy Together' adds extra dimensions to that familiar theme: firstly, the relationship is homosexual so the day-to-day interaction between the characters is a bit fresher and secondly, the alienation felt by the two guys in Argentina and the desire by Yiu Fai to live a new, and better, life drives the movie forward. The optimism showed at the end of the movie is a rare but welcome breather from his heavier films like "In the Ashes of Time", "In the Mood for Love" and "2046", where the despair is total and insurmountable. Also, as the characters have an end in mind (returning to Hong Kong), the storyline processes slowly but surely so that it adds a bit more fluidity.

I am surprised how little credit has been given to Leslie Cheung's role as Po Wing. Tony Leung's performance as Yiu Fai is excellent but comparing to him, Leslie Cheung is simply better. He is the soul of the film and many scenes would lose its impact if it is done by a less charming and charismatic actor (with the scenes of Po Wing hassling Yiu Fai to cook in the middle of the night, the tango dance in the kitchen, and where Po Wing showing his vulnerability after being beaten by his client). Knowing he is homosexual in real life does not take away any of his achievement of playing Po Wing exactly like it should be. His performance here is arguably as well as he did in "Farewell My Concubine".

It makes me want to see the Iguaçu Fall.

The presentation by Al Gore is extremely effective as it slams home the hard facts that 1) CO2 emission is causing a devastating effect on the environment, which is almost universally accepted as uncontroversial; and 2) everyone has a personal responsibility, which borders on becoming a duty, to reduce CO2 emission.

Al Gore has masterfully communicated those two facts in a simple way and this film is a majestic example of how speeches should be given. Prior to watching this movie I, as a lay person, know global warming is a huge problem but never thought the Earth is already showing so much of the horrible and devastating 'symptoms'. Every smoker knows their health is seriously jeopardised, but a famous rebuke is "look at Mr. Smith who smokes everyday since 18 and now he is still alright at 85". The smoker will still not be convinced if he is told by a doctor that Mr. Smith has cancer, because it is a medical condition and we tend to think only doctors can diagnose those complicated symptoms. Afterall Mr. Smith is still alive! The smoker is less likely to argue if he sees that Mr. Smith cannot stop coughing, is spitting out blood every minute and looks sick.

The movie is convincing precisely as it does not attempt to convince us that the Earth has caught 'cancer' by means of technical diagnoses. Instead, it shows you various symptoms: rising temperature every year; disappearing glaziers, forests, rivers; polar bears drowning; natural disasters happening much more frequently. We can all judge for ourselves by looking at the pictures and we do not need a PhD to see that. If anyone could explain all those devastating images other than by global warming and CO2 emission, it would be most welcome (and to my relief) but I doubt anyone could dismiss global warming as a MAJOR (if not the only) reason.

The only flaw is, as pointed out by others, that certain of his personal experiences slipped into the movie which have no direct bearings on the impact of the message he delivered so well.