SCFZ poll: Wong Kar-Wai

[flip]

Polling the films of director Wong Kar-Wai

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half of the WKW films you've seen, up to a maximum of 5. So if you've seen seven of his films, for example, you can list only a top 3. It's only if you've seen ten or more of his films than you can list the maximum of five.

- i'll assume ballots are ranked unless you tell me otherwise. unranked ballots are fine.

- deadline for ballots: next Friday, in seven days, whatever day that is

- if anyone is watching films for these polls, then i'll extend the deadline up to three days, if someone requests an extension

- next poll: whoever posts the first ballot in this thread is free to nominate the director we poll next, unless you've nominated in this round already (everyone should get a chance). Already nominated this round: greennui, bure, roscoe, kanafani, greg x, silga, oscarwerner, john ryan, mrcarmady, umbugbene, evelyn, m arkadin, jiri, brian d, nrh, rischka

umbugbene created an index on letterboxd of all of our previous polls here: letterboxd.com/umbugbene/list/index-of-all-scfz-director-polls/

one rule for nominees: at least 3 scfzers need to have seen 10+ of a nominee's films, or at least 4 scfzers need to have seen at least 8 of the nom's films, so if it isn't clear if that will be the case, we'll confirm that's true before moving forward

if 24 hours pass after a poll opens, and no one eligible to nominate has posted a ballot, then i'll nominate someone, and then we'll start over, and everyone will be able to nominate again

[flip]

As Tears Go By
Chungking Express
In the Mood for Love
Hua yang de nian hua
There's Only One Sun

seen six... edit: seen ten

[Silga]

Seen 4:

Chungking Express
The Grandmaster

[oscarwerner]

Seen 13.
1. In the Mood for Love (2000)
2. Fallen Angels (1995)
3. Chungking Express (1994)
4. Happy Together (1997)
5. Days of Being Wild (1990)

[greennui]

16.

Days of Being Wild
Happy Together
Chungking Express
Ashes of Time
The Hand

My interest in him has gone off the boil in recent years but def one of the director's whose work has meant the most to me.

[greennui]

One piece of wkw memorabilia I have is a lamp that is similar to the one featured in Happy Together, mine depicts the Niagara falls instead of the Iguazu Falls. Saw it in an antique shop and thought, where have I seen that one before.

[Curtis, baby]

seen 8

Fallen Angels
Happy Together
Chungking Express
2046

[brian d]

seen 10

in the mood for love
happy together
the grandmaster
chungking express
as tears go by

[Umbugbene]

Seen 10

1. In the Mood for Love
2. Eros
3. 2046
4. Happy Together

[Abe]

Seen 6

In the Mood for Love
Chungking Express
Fallen Angels

[Monsieur Arkadin]

Seen 4.
Chungking Express.

I've visited the real chungking manor. And I stayed in a hostel that he shot a scene of (I think?) In The Mood for Love at.
It was fun for like 9 minutes, then I proceeded to have one of the worst night's of sleep of my life.

[DT.]

1. Happy Together
2. As Tears Go By
3. The Grandmaster
4. My Blueberry Nights
5. 2046

[rischka]

happy together
ashes of time
in the mood for love

seen ten

[sally]

wow i've only seen 1, i'd no idea he did so many

[rischka]

like greennui i've soured on him but he was a big deal in the 90s madge

[nrh]

Days of Being Wild
Happy Together
Ashes of Time
Ashes of Time Redux
2046

i always think i've soured on wkw a little bit but that usually dissipates immediately once i revisit the films, it's probably just insecurity about the enthusiasms of youth or whatever.

[FLABREZU]

seen 10

chungking express
fallen angels
2046
happy together
in the mood for love

[MrCarmady]

Fallen Angels
Chungking Express
In the Mood for Love
Ashes of Time

[Joks Trois]

Seen 10.

2046
In the Mood for Love
Happy Together
Chungking Express
Days of Being Wild

Not totally convinced of this director's greatness, but he has many fine moments.

[ofrene]

Seen 10

In the Mood for Love
Happy Together

Chungking Express

Days of Being Wild
Ashes of Time

[thoxans]

ashes of time
fallen angels
days of being wild
chungking express

*seen eight (poor wong. he's kind of a victim of his own success. in the mood for love was/is obvs huge. got the criterion treatment, roundly ends up at or near the top of even mainstream best of lists for not just its respective release year but the decade in general (and in some cases even this century), and seems a pretty seminal watch for a lot of budding cinephiles (like it's the newer generations' version of seven samurai). then chungking express got the tarantino seal of approval. then the supposed sequel to itmfl, 2046, got a wide(ish) release, meaning stateside it didn't just play in nyc, chicago, and la. then eros, an omnibus film to build those international gravitas. then the unfortunately typical american feature, which was unfortunately typically poorly received. then obscurity. his moves post-itmfl were just so stereotypical as to appear antithetical for a dir who to many was supposed to be a capital a artiste. like a band or musician that you discover, and they're great, but then they get popular, and go crappily mainstream, and you start to not just actively dislike them now, but you actually start to regret that you ever liked them in the first place... and i suppose it's also hard to get around the question of artistic authority, with doyle being such an integral figure to most of wong's filmog. though i must say the grandmaster was one of the lushest films he's ever done, and without doyle's eye behind the camera. i'd like to see the extended cut of gmaster, and i'd really like to see wong explore wuxia more)

[greennui]

My Blueberry Nights made me question his entire filmography, it was that bad. The Grandmaster had some good bits but just like 2046 it felt like there had been too much chopping and changing.

[greennui]

it's probably just insecurity about the enthusiasms of youth or whatever.

This is probably the case for me as well, those impressionable late teens/early adulthood years when every good film kinda felt like an 'experience'...It's been like 8 years since I last saw one of his films so it's possible that I might get infatuated again if I revisit them.

[Umbugbene]

The only Wong I'd care to see again is In the Mood for Love, but I wonder what that would be without the pretty music and Doyle's pictures. It's like a wonderful wallpaper, maybe a mood piece if you want, but unless I'm missing some hidden substance, I can't see it belonging that high in the 21st century rankings.

[MrCarmady]

I think Wong is one of the most stylish directors ever but what sets him apart is how consistently and brilliantly he can depict romantic longing. Even in the clearly average My Blueberry Nights he gets that feeling across superbly, and in the ones I've listed + Happy Together he absolutely smashes it out of the park. I could also use a few re-watches but I've seen Chungking four times and it got better with each viewing.

[St. Gloede]

Seen 9:

Chungking Express
In the Mood for Loce
2046
Ashes of Time

The first 3 are all candidates for my top 100, but it has been a long time since I watched a Wong. He was essentially considered the greatest young director when I got into film, and he was a for native part of my film journey - but then, shortly after, he did My Blueberry Night (which I never saw) and disappeared of the map before his relatively great but still thoroughly disappointing Grandmaster - and of course, not a peep (direction wise) until the two announced TV shows. Will give them a shot unless panned, but I'm also in a state of still not believing they exist before I see them.

[rischka]

i recall karthik and shamus having a long conversation about wong on my mubi wall in the before times: the substance from what i gathered being generally what umbugbene stated above. someone referenced a cake with many fancy frosting decorations i think anyway i'll always love happy together for that diva leslie cheung ♥

[nrh]

i mean there has been a lot of pretty persuasive writing on the cultural and historical substance of wong's films, even after you take out how they play as dramas (which i think would be good enough in his best films) that i don't think it's worth getting into here...

my blueberry nights is a terrific, odd deliberately minor film and it's nice to see it becoming much more popular over the last few years. grandmaster is a genuinely great movie i think, but the western/weinstein cut does it no service at all .

[Umbugbene]

what sets him apart is how consistently and brilliantly he can depict romantic longing

That's a good start, but what's his purpose in showing romantic longing? Movies like Vertigo, Charulata, and Last Year at Marienbad also depict romantic longing brilliantly, but each of them shows an unhealthy side of it. For another instance, in Casablanca the longing is healthy because it's combined with sacrifice and acceptance of reality.

[john ryan]

seen 12

1. In the Mood for Love
2. Happy Together
3. Chungking Express
4. The Grandmaster
5. Fallen Angels