Happy Together

I didn't think so the first time I saw HAPPY TOGETHER, but I really think this film is a masterpiece. Technically it's amazing - the hand-held camera-work is incredible, and the mindbending shifts from saturated colors to monochrome (which I first felt was a stylish stunt) really underscores the loneliness and alienation of the characters brilliantly - the overall effect by the films' end is devastating.

HAPPY TOGETHER was apparently also - at least partially - inspired by the Argentine novelist Manuel Puig, author of 'Kiss Of The Spider Woman' among many other novels, and Puig's fiction tackles similar issues in a similarly fractured style (filled with footnotes, digressions and sudden shifts in perspective), all to incredibly powerful emotional effect.

If HAPPY TOGETHER is something of an homage to Puig, it's a great one. On it's own it's also a devastating portrait of a disintegrating relationship.

Something of an obvious precursor to the subsequent masterpiece In the Mood for Love (2000); Happy Together (1997) is a tragic love story by way of recollection. If you're at all familiar with the work of director Wong Kar-Wai - from his breakthrough film Days of Being Wild (1991), to his more recent masterwork, the unsung 2046 (2004) - then you'll be accustomed to his personal approach to cinema; from that continually drifting sense of quiet melancholy and disconnected ennui - all captured by a roving camera that conspires to alienate characters from one another by intrusive shot composition and naturalist production design - and a beguiling approach to the concept of time continually abstracted in order to create drama from moments of fond reminisce. Once again, the feeling expressed in Happy Together is that of loneliness and despair, as characters drift spectre-like through desolate cities attempting to cling to moments and memories as if gasping for their final breath; and all the while distorted by a frequently hypnotic approach to music, structure, pace and cinematography.

If the film lacks the sophistication of the aforementioned In the Mood for Love, it is only because the process of refinement has replaced the edginess and earthiness of this film, with a studied, technical grandeur and ornate beauty that is really quite transcendent. Nonetheless, the style and tone of Happy Together fits the mood of the film perfectly; capturing the feckless uncertainly of the character's lives - both together and apart - and concurrently suggesting the idea of memory and repetition that plays an important role in the way the narrative ultimately plays out. The first viewing might very well be confusing, with scenes occurring that seem to simultaneously represent both the past and the present, and with information presented in a series of incredibly quick cuts, disconnected voice-over and a continually jarring cross-cutting back and forth between lurid colour and an oddly tinted monochrome, which seems to work on an emotional level, as opposed to any kind of narrative convention.

That said, the grittiness of the film suggests an uncompromising and starkly unconventional beauty in keeping with the film's central relationship; with the violent and volatile shifts in stock capturing the same unpredictable impulses and urges of the central characters as they fight, break-up, reconcile and drift apart against a rolling backdrop of exotic and atmospheric locations. The use of Buenos Aires as the central setting adds texture to the film, and the vibrant way in which the director captures the strange, mysterious and nocturnal atmosphere of the city is evocative to say the least. Here, the rhythm of the film becomes tuned to that of the Argentine tango that swirls through the bar where the characters rediscover one another; with the staccato rhythms of the movement underscored by the sad reflections of the accordion music and the stampeding percussion of feet against floors, combined with continual hints of tortured romanticism - touching without feeling, sensing without sensuality, etc - that are so central to these characters and the odd situation they find themselves in.

The location also ties in with the filmmaker's fondness for the work of author Manuel Puig; whose style of writing has some influence on the tone and languid energy of the film in question, with Wong and his crew - and in particular cinematographer Christopher Doyle - expressing certain unspoken facets of this relationship through framing, movement, colour and rhythm. The fact that the film focuses on a homosexual relationship is ultimately secondary. As is often the case with Wong Kar-Wai, the film is about that urge and desire to belong to something - or someone - and the pursuit of an unrequited love that is powerful enough to drive you to the end of the world. We see these themes repeated again and again, from the inter-linked meta-romance of Days of Being Wild, In the Mood for Love and 2046, to the brilliance of Chungking Express (1994). Through the jarring nature of the relationship between the reckless and subtly abusive Ho Po-Wing and the more sensitive and brooding Lai Yiu-fai, Wong is able to express a series of thoughts and ruminations of the notions of love in a way that is intelligent, but always easy to identify with, regardless of gender or sexuality.

Later in the film, the director expresses slightly more profound feelings through the friendship of Lai Yiu-fai and the young runaway Chang. Here, we see a mutual respect and unspoken love that goes beyond sex and sexuality; creating a pure statement on the notion of love and the desire to belong to someone or something, within a certain time or place. A love so great that the person would be willing to carry your own sadness to the end of the world, to lessen the burdens of life and open the door to a new beginning free of difficulties and strife. There are deeper themes expressed throughout - too many to go into in this review - nonetheless, the film is understated and brimming with emotion; in keeping with the director's more iconic or well-regarded films, such as the ones aforementioned, and continuing a number of important themes and motifs that are both thought-provoking and affecting. The film also benefits from the fine performances of the three lead actors, stunning locations, cinematography, great atmosphere, mood and spirit; and an overall approach to cinema that is poetic, to say the least.

A poignant portrait of a relationship between two men uprooted from their home country, Happy Together explores the ups and downs, the pros and cons of commitment, as the lead characters careen and collide against each other with their discordant personalities acted out wonderfully.

In "Happy Together" Director Wong Kar Wai tells us the story of a relationship that does not survive the alienation inside and outside.

The film is set in Argentina where two lovers are stranded because they don't have enough money to return to their native Hong Kong.

The film shows us that Fai and Po-wing are unable to find equality or balance in their relationship. It is a story about the way most relationships are defined by the balance of power.. and how this leads to despair. Fai reflects that their relationship was the happiest when Po-wing was ill and had to be cared for like a child. As Po Wing's health improves Fai draws away from him and refuses his attempts of closeness, illustrated by the constant battles over couch and bed. When Po-Wing is well enough to go out again by himself the balance of the power in relationship shifts. Po-wing slowly but surely slips away into the world of hustling. He never finds his way back to Fai who eventually saves enough money to go home.

Both are emotionally devastated by the loss of their lover. We only see them being happy together in a glimpse, as they dance a slow dance together in their room. It seems the happiness in their relationship that Fai refers to in connection with Po-Wing's illness, is an isolated kind of happiness that he himself enjoys without Po-wing's knowledge. If they are ever indeed Happy Together we see it only in facial expressions, in their tone of voice but these are expressions of love and tenderness that never seem to reach the surface that remain unspoken.

Wong Kar Wai's visual style is absolutely stunning. He conveys the alienation inside the relationship - and the alienation outside - (I am referring to the fact that they are in a different country) through colors and camera-movements. We are constantly looking at the protagonists from a corner high above or through the window of a seedy bar. Every single shot feels claustrophobic and it irritates the viewer. It makes the viewer long for closeness and clarity. It imitates the longing of the characters and their attempts - and failure - at connecting to each other. Their feelings, as does the eye of the lens, float above them in a silent, detached loneliness.

"Happy Together" is one of those films that I do not really enjoy watching. It is actually physically painful to watch because it hurts the eye as much as it hurts the soul. The film makes its style and subject matter into one flesh, a "happy" marriage of form and content.

9/10

In this Wong Kar Wai production, loneliness takes on the face of 3 Chinese travellers who, after alienating themselves from the society they came from, end up at the end of the world. Argentina, which is the antithesis of HK, may be the farthest place you can get from HK, but still they cannot entangle themselves from the emotional baggage they have been carrying. Loneliness is a state of mind which follows you no matter where you are, and ensnarls you when you are at your most vulnerable.

While the story may be more famous as a film about gay relationship, it is in fact, not so. The lead characters just happen to be gay, and loneliness, with all the jealousy and melancholy that comes with it, takes centrestage.