Legendary Chinese filmmaker Wong Kar Wai rose to international fame in 2001 after his Best Foreign Film triumph for Caesar in the Mood for Love.
A 66-year-old filmmaker is now very rare; His last film, Grandmaster, dates back to 2013. However, she is soon expected on the small screen with the Blossoms Shanghai project.
Meanwhile, distributor The Jokers had a great idea to make a homecoming 4K Blu-ray release of the Chinese master’s first film : As Tears Go By (1989).
This nugget of Asian cinema benefits from a high-definition restoration. To recall, As Tears Go By introduces a small-time gangster from Hong Kong, Wah, played by Andy Lau. The latter is torn between his regular job, debt collection, and the need to protect his co-pilot (Jackie Cheng) during his troubled driving.
He is constantly borrowing money that he can never repay. But this life, already quite disturbed, is turned upside down when Wah meets his beautiful cousin, Ngor (Maggie Chung), who lives far from the city on the island of Lantau.
Wai then begins a grueling love affair with Ngor, a mirage of a quiet life and loyalty to his gang “brother”, Fly, who is repeatedly beaten up by other gangster henchmen. Tony. Wah will have to choose his destiny.
The director of Regret and Impossible Love, Won Kar Wai is already establishing his world in this first feature film, setting a style that will follow him throughout his career.
Average street influence
As Tears Go By is heavily influenced by Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets, with which it has a lot in common.
Released in 1973, this seminal feature film from the New York director also tells the story of the friendship between a lonely little gangster and his sidekick, an out-of-control mad dog.
At the center of these stories is this duo of criminals, one of whom (Charlie/Harvey Keitel, Wa/Andy Lau) obeys his boss, and the other (Johnny Boy/Robert De Niro, Fly/Jackie Chung) is on the loose. He gives way to his violent impulses, he has no respect for the customs of the local underworld.
Two small-hitting smarts have set themselves a mission: to protect this tumultuous “brother” before the sacrifice. For Scorsese, Harvey Keitel primarily acts on behalf of a spiritual and religious impulse.
On the other hand, in Wong Kar Wai, Wahi protects Fly like a big brother protects his little brother. Another aspect that connects As Tears Go By Mean Streets is Wai’s relationship with his cousin Ngor, which is reminiscent of Charlie’s relationship with Teresa.
The latter suffers from epilepsy while “the tears flow”, Ngori visits Wah to consult a doctor for a lung problem. At first, the union is quite dry; Little by little, they fall in love.
Impossible love, which borders on tragedy, will obviously be one of the main themes of Wong Kar Wai’s cinema in the future. Therefore, all of his obsessions are already represented in As Tears Go By, all permeated with dark and melancholic poetry.
However, is the film under the undeniable influence of Mean Streets? “I just borrowed the character played by Robert De Niro,” Wong Kar Wai said years later. “But I think Italians have a lot in common with the Chinese: their values, their sense of camaraderie, their mafia, their pasta, their mother,” he said.
Selected for Critics’ Week at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival, the film was a major international success. He also began his career as a film director, later becoming a key figure in auteur cinema.
Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
