I am at an absolute loss as to why this film is getting 10s and winning festivals. This "story" is a mish-mashed mess of sloppily shot scenes, poorly cut, about two people that it was nearly impossible to care anything about.
I do not know what the point or purpose of this movie was. If writer/director Kar- Wai Wong thought he was showing us how difficult love can be, he definitely hit upon a theme. And IF he had made us care about these two irritating, strange, selfish people, it might have had an impact, despite how sloppily it was put together. Lai Yiu-fai (Tony Leung) is the only one of the two that seemed to have a sense of responsibility and seemed to understand the value of love and caring. Ho Po-wing (Leslie Cheung) seemed to be more interested in goading Fai into arguments, hanging on him, wanting love, or money, or whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, without earning a single moment of it. I hated him. I couldn't understand what his source of anger was. Did he think money fell out of the sky? Did he think a nutritious meal was a box of cigarettes? Did he think that having sex with whoever he wanted to was going to "endear" him to Fai? If he had shown a MOMENT of sensitivity (other than the completely fake one at the end where he "cries" over Fai's blanket), I might've been on his team. But I found him repulsive.
I believe the Cantonese language was used (not Mandarin), but I am sure there must be something more beautiful about it than what was heard in this movie. No matter what was said, it sounded like a complaint. The main couple always seemed miserably unhappy. There is one scene where they dance some kind of faux-tango in a horrible dingy kitchen. In this ONE SCENE there is the sense of love between these two and that SOMEHOW they belong together. But since the rest of the movie is spent screaming at each other, throwing fists into walls, pushing each other down, knocking cigarettes off shelves, cheating on each other, lying to each other, hurting each other... I just couldn't care.
This is the second time I've seen this. The first time was years ago, because it was a "gay film" and feature-length gay films were hard to come by. I saw it a second time because I had just seen Kar-Wai's "I'm in the mood for love" -- which I found to be sensual and beautiful and erotic.
"Happy Together" showed that Tony Leung is a wonderful actor with a lot of gifts. He outshone everyone in it. I also thought that he was totally believable as a conflicted gay man.
But the problem is: the film only HINTED at how good it could have been. It was really not a story. It was snippets or peeks into the miserable, somewhat pointless existence of these two unhappy men, and it wasn't done well. I don't know what people are raving about. Kar-Wai has a unique talent, but he didn't really put it to good use in this rambling mess.
I do not know what the point or purpose of this movie was. If writer/director Kar- Wai Wong thought he was showing us how difficult love can be, he definitely hit upon a theme. And IF he had made us care about these two irritating, strange, selfish people, it might have had an impact, despite how sloppily it was put together. Lai Yiu-fai (Tony Leung) is the only one of the two that seemed to have a sense of responsibility and seemed to understand the value of love and caring. Ho Po-wing (Leslie Cheung) seemed to be more interested in goading Fai into arguments, hanging on him, wanting love, or money, or whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, without earning a single moment of it. I hated him. I couldn't understand what his source of anger was. Did he think money fell out of the sky? Did he think a nutritious meal was a box of cigarettes? Did he think that having sex with whoever he wanted to was going to "endear" him to Fai? If he had shown a MOMENT of sensitivity (other than the completely fake one at the end where he "cries" over Fai's blanket), I might've been on his team. But I found him repulsive.
I believe the Cantonese language was used (not Mandarin), but I am sure there must be something more beautiful about it than what was heard in this movie. No matter what was said, it sounded like a complaint. The main couple always seemed miserably unhappy. There is one scene where they dance some kind of faux-tango in a horrible dingy kitchen. In this ONE SCENE there is the sense of love between these two and that SOMEHOW they belong together. But since the rest of the movie is spent screaming at each other, throwing fists into walls, pushing each other down, knocking cigarettes off shelves, cheating on each other, lying to each other, hurting each other... I just couldn't care.
This is the second time I've seen this. The first time was years ago, because it was a "gay film" and feature-length gay films were hard to come by. I saw it a second time because I had just seen Kar-Wai's "I'm in the mood for love" -- which I found to be sensual and beautiful and erotic.
"Happy Together" showed that Tony Leung is a wonderful actor with a lot of gifts. He outshone everyone in it. I also thought that he was totally believable as a conflicted gay man.
But the problem is: the film only HINTED at how good it could have been. It was really not a story. It was snippets or peeks into the miserable, somewhat pointless existence of these two unhappy men, and it wasn't done well. I don't know what people are raving about. Kar-Wai has a unique talent, but he didn't really put it to good use in this rambling mess.