This is a tie for my favorite WKW film--In the Mood for Love is the other one. Nothing needs to be added to anyone's critique or review of the movie per se. It is emotionally painful to watch, almost unbearably so. But, when that is coupled with WKW's script-less approach, it means that the film is probably not right for everyone.
But I'd just like to add that the DVD edition has an incredible 1-hour-long "making of" featurette. It also is filmed in WKW style and utterly floored me. Here, you can see other relationships WKW tested out on this freeform screenplay, including a straight relationship between Tony Leung and a female character that didn't make the cut, and also some interviews with one Chinese living in Argentina who decided to stay abroad there. It really is an insider view on how deep WKW digs looking for that "elusive something" that has become his hallmark. I guarantee you will never see a more revealing "making of" anywhere!
Ona personal note, an extended family member of mine died from AIDS while living abroad about one week before I saw this. So obviously, it does hold some personal associations for me. After finishing it, I couldn't watch it again for about 3 years afterwards due to the depth of some of the emotions it brings up. What WKW does say about alienation and relationships in this film rings completely true, probably more so than in any of his other films. On the other hand, because of the very fact that it is not a film "about" homosexuality, his frank, matter-of-fact approach to the relationship helped me to relate to certain aspects of my relative's life and death on very simple, human terms.
But I'd just like to add that the DVD edition has an incredible 1-hour-long "making of" featurette. It also is filmed in WKW style and utterly floored me. Here, you can see other relationships WKW tested out on this freeform screenplay, including a straight relationship between Tony Leung and a female character that didn't make the cut, and also some interviews with one Chinese living in Argentina who decided to stay abroad there. It really is an insider view on how deep WKW digs looking for that "elusive something" that has become his hallmark. I guarantee you will never see a more revealing "making of" anywhere!
Ona personal note, an extended family member of mine died from AIDS while living abroad about one week before I saw this. So obviously, it does hold some personal associations for me. After finishing it, I couldn't watch it again for about 3 years afterwards due to the depth of some of the emotions it brings up. What WKW does say about alienation and relationships in this film rings completely true, probably more so than in any of his other films. On the other hand, because of the very fact that it is not a film "about" homosexuality, his frank, matter-of-fact approach to the relationship helped me to relate to certain aspects of my relative's life and death on very simple, human terms.