Thinking of China I’m often mindful of its great and expansive history. However, in this double post on film director Wong Kar Wai, I’m going to depart from this to explore one of China’s most contemporary and progressive artists.
Considered one of China’s finest auteurs, Wong Kar Wai is both a national and international Cinematic treasure. Despite coming from a screenwriting background, Wong is notorious for being a Director who avidly experiments and improvises with his actors; often departing from the script of fixed screenplays. Beyond his cavalier attitude to deadlines and budgets (the cast in-joke in his recent film 2046 was that the film wouldn’t be finished until 2046) Wong’s work is often noted for its rich, expressionist colour palette creating a stylised canon of film.
Wong made his directing debut in 1988 with As Tears Go By a crime melodrama borrowing heavily from from Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets. In addition to a raft of critically acclaimed feature films (Days of Being Wild, Chunking Express, Happy Together) Wong has also directed various short films and music videos, including DJ Shadow’s 6 Days.
I was surprised to learn that in 2006, he became the first Chinese director to preside on the jury at the Cannes Film Festival. Further more he’s also been listed third on the respected Sight & Sound Top Ten Directors list of modern times. Browsing YouTube I came across this great short film The Follow, which you can see here in its entirety.
