Happy Together

Rating:
Summary: Not Impressed
Review: I'll begin my review of "Happy Together" by acknowledging that viewing this film appears to have been a positive experience for most of the other reviewers. To briefly summarize, other reviewers claim that this movie is "painfully honest", "involving", "masterfully directed", and "artistic." Therefore, if you are reading my review because you are thinking of renting "Happy Together", I want to stress to you that my bad experience with this movie appears to be the exception rather than the rule.

Now that I have made my disclaimer, I will go on to describe my impressions of "Happy Together." First and foremost, I think the movie is extremely monotonous. The two main characters argue, make-up, argue, make-up, argue, make-up, etc. etc. for what seems like at least three hours. Interspersed between these recuring spats are endlessly repeated scenes of people working and talking in the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant, endlessly repeated scenes of people playing soccer in the street, and endlessly repeated scenes of people walking through traffic. This is about all that happens throughout the first hour and 15 minutes (which is as much as I could stand to watch).

Second, I think that the main characters are severely underdeveloped. I can describe everything I know about these two guys in three sentences: 1. One guy realizes that the relationship has become unhealthy, but is somewhat reluctant to put an end to it once-and-for-all. 2. The other guy is extremely dependent on the first guy, and stubbornly resists attempts to end the relationship. 3. Both guys are really lonely, and this is the real reason they continue their relationship.

This is truly all I can say. Otherwise, these two guys are a complete blank slate. As a result of this lack of character development, I was sick to death of both of them within about 15 minutes.

Finally, I think the attempts at innovative cinematography and "artistic symbolism" are contrived, pointless, and often annoying. For example, the speeding up and slowing down of the film speed adds nothing aesthetically, and in fact only serves to make the cinematography seem jerky and difficult to follow. I also think that the still shot of the waterfall near the beginning of the movie is badly photographed and far too lengthy (I'd guess over a minute long).

Perhaps "Happy Together" redeems itself during the final half-hour. After about an hour and fifteen minutes of seemingly endless bickering and sophomoric attempts at "art", I could bear no more and went to bed. If you choose to view "Happy Together", perhaps you could let me know whether the bickering was ever resolved.

Rating:
Summary: WKW peaks lusciously
Review: I'm so ecstatic to see Happy Together released at an accessible price. Why? It is simply a gem that must be owned/rented/viewed...The 97 hand-over of Hong Kong may form part of the anxiety complex of the film, but the stylization certainly conveys the theme of romantic frustration very very well. Those familiar with Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung's more-mainstream roles will be shocked at the brutal honesty in the opening love-scenes. They're nothing short of amazing in the film though, those two.

If most people think of "art" films as avant-garde incomprehensible, purposely confusing, and defying all narrative-convention, then this film on the surface fits those ideas perfectly. Perhaps it's also time to rethink the ways visual images can be pleasing and thought-provoking, and Happy Together certainly takes on these two areas (pleasure, substance) with confidence.

HT is also great for understanding the fear of a geopolitical unit's "disappearance" (i.e. Hong Kong) and how it's manifested in the individual (i.e. WKW and his fellow HK"men".)

Rating:
Summary: A Simmering Stunner
Review: I've been a big fan of Wong Kar-Wei since Chungking Express and I was not disappointed by this very interesting, poignant story. It's easy to get wrapped up in the texture of this film. For some viewers, some parts may drag, but overall, it's a superior effort.

Rating:
Summary: Unhappy Experience
Review: I've watched this film three times now for the pure masochistic joy of it all. It's awful. Now I enjoy a good Hong Kong gay love story, but this is a bad Hong Kong gay ... something.. story. The basic premise is you have two miserable codependent gay men who are stuck in Argentina hating each other. One guy is a simple loser, almost but not quite to the point of being a sympathetic character. The other guy keeps taking care of the loser, apparently disgusted by him and yet miserable when there's the slightest hint that he could become self-sufficient. Representative of a lot of relationships? Sure, but they're not really interesting people, just boring people with issues. You wonder what either of them see in each other besides the fact that they can't get anyone else. Now it tries very hard to be artsy and have a message, but the message it gets across best is "Here are two people you would ditch in a shopping mall after two minutes if you're extremely altruistic, thirty seconds if you have any self respect." I would recommend this for a viewing only if you have something you need to atone for in your karma and a little self-punishment will put you back on track.

Rating:
Summary: A true cinematic immersive experience.
Review: Leonard Maltin (review posted above) and his Hollywood sensibilities should stay away from a movie that has nothing to due with easy audience hooks and consumer satisfaction. This "paper thin" screenplay moves away from simple characterization into an immersive world where people are defined in relation to a visual and active setting around them - or apparently, as we are dealing with Hong Kong subjects transplaced to Argentina, the implied world which is not present. That Leonard Maltin may prevent someone from seeing this film due to his weak review really pisses me off - if you don't understand a type of movie, Leonard, stay away. This is a film that rediscovers what it means to watch a movie - to sit in a theater and be washed over by an emotive expressive art.

Rating:
Summary: watchable travalogue, love story, human portrayal of gay men
Review: My wife and I got different things from this movie, but we both
enjoyed it enough to be worth the time.

What struck me most vividly was the idea of just bravely taking
off to another country on little enough of a plan that running
out of money and being forced to survive like they do is even a
possibility. I don't know if that speaks more for the main
characters' love of life, or just their incompetence, but for me
it was a vividly portrayed and compelling case for the value of
the former. This might not have been a focus of the movie, and
I'm sure that for many people the grim conditions if anything
make the opposite case, but it really made me want to seize the
day, take off on a motorcycle and so on.

I think my wife was more affected by the love story. She grew up
in China with a moderately negative but mostly non-existent
awareness of homosexuality. Her reaction at the end of this
movie was that now she could much better understand the idea of
two men actually being in love with each other, just like anybody
else. I figure I got my money's worth just for that.

Now, as her husband, I do find it a little bit disturbing that
she finds such a screwed-up relationship so easy to relate to,
but it speaks well for the movie as tolerance propaganda.

The visual style didn't particularly speak to me. It was
occasionally intrusive, occasionally neat to look at, every once
in a while participated in the story-telling, and mostly I just
ignored it.

I spent much of the first half of the movie complaining to
myself that the director gives us no clue at all why these two
would want to be together, let alone as obsessively as they are.
Eventually, I accepted that the director's not incompetent, so if
he's not letting us know it's because he doesn't want to. Okay,
Kar-wai, whatever, man. I got along much better after I gave up
on that.

Rating:
Summary: Don't miss it!
Review: Not only the beginners of foreign movie, but Hong Kong movie manias have not seen such a great one. Won's former movies are worth to see, but "Happy Together" is the best of his work.

The language spoken in this movie is not Mandarin but Cantonese. Southern (ethnic) Chinese speak Cantonese.

Happy Tpgether became one of the long run movies in Japan, where a lot of artistic movie lovers are living.

From Mayumi, a Japanese graduate student in Syracuse, NY

Rating:
Summary: I want "Happy Together" DVD special edition!
Review: Nowadays, Hong Kong movies on region 1 DVD is still a small numbers in the American market. In compare the remastered with those Hollywood films, Chinese films of DVD version may not be in top form. The R1 "Happy Together" (1997) that released by KINO is one of the good example of that.

The worse thing is the audio part, the volume level is very low and presented in very bad mono sound. (The problem is also occurred in R1 Fallen Angels, another film of Wong Kar-Wai and released by KINO. I doubt that the audio remasterd is in dolby digital 2.0, because my center speaker is no sound, but there is no indication on the package.) In compare with Japanese R2 Version of "Happy Together" (PIBF-7056, price:4700 yen, released by Prenom H), the audio part is brilliant.

However, the video tranferred in R1 version is quite impressed me. It is because the image is very match with the style of Chris Doyle (cinematography of the film) that done in the film.

By the way, I always thought that the disc is released too early.

Block 2 pictures Inc. recent released the documentary film named: "Buenos Aires Zero Degree: The making of Happy Together" (1999). The most important parts in that 59 minutes film is the cut scene, you will see the alternative version or vision of that film, for instance: Lai (Tony Leung) meets a female character on trip to waterfall and the death of Lai. It is not for promotion purposed, it is really a documentary about "Happy Together". If this documentary could be included on DVD, it would make the DVD most perfect. I wish that KINO would released a new DVD special edition of Happy Together with the documentary film and remake the audio channel.

Personally, I hope the disc could be released by Criterion. I'm so sure that if that come true, the disc would not be the same. Finally, If you are a fan of Wong Kar-Wai, don't miss his new movie: "In the Mood for Love" (2000).

Rating:
Summary: Don't Throw Tomatoes. I Thought It Was Terrible.
Review: Okay, okay, I know the rest of you guys LOVED this movie, but I thought it was terrible. Bleak, depressing visuals and a bleak, depressing storyline about bleak, depressing personalities. Give me a break. This movie has nothing on films like My Beautiful Launderette, Maurice, Beautiful Thing, the Wedding Banquet, etc. Brighten up, folks.

Rating:
Summary: 5 stars aren't enough....
Review: Okay...let me state this clearly. This is one of the "Best movie" I've ever watched in my life. The scenery and style are gorgeous...and beautiful..The plot is fairly simple, but very profound. The only word that I can describe about this movie,is "This is an Art." Personally, the most memorable scene is the lighthouse scene at Tierra del Fuego, in South America. I mean...this one scene has made a great impression on me.... Seriously,I plan to go there after graduating from college. Because of this movie..I became a fan of Wang Kar-Wai. I think he is a genius of our time. I strongly recommend this movie to people who love an art and has a sense of understanding about art. If anyone loves this movie as much as I do...email me...I love to talk about this movie.

Pre-med student, Johns Hopkins University