If There’s an Extra Ticket... Would You Watch With Me?
「如果有多一張戲飛, 你會唔會同我一齊睇？」 Decidophobia. The irrational or prolonged fear of making decisions. From picking a lunch set, to choosing a cover photo for Instagram posts, I always take a few more moments beforeresorting to a random decision. Hence, to navigate you through the endless rummages in the sea of Netflix recommendations and exaggerated reviews, this snippet, a.k.a FILM 1000 “Introduction to East Asian Culture Through Movies,” serves to relieve your distressed concern on movie-picking.
Happy Together《春光乍洩》 [cheun1 gwong1 ja3 sit3] (1997), Dir. Wong Kar Wai Made in Hong Kong. As a highly acclaimed filmmaker and probably the most famous one in Hong Kong, Director Wong Kar Wai’s films are the ones to start with. Accompanied by handpicked soundtracks, lifestyle in 90’s Hong Kong projected under his lens seems exceptionally aesthetic and melancholic. Happy Together showcases the turbulent relationship between a homosexual couple, Po-Wing and Yiu-Fai. For non-Chinese speakers, the English title failed to do the movie justice, as their relationship is neither as shallow nor vibrant as the title makes it seem
Karen Tang
title makes it seem. The Chinese title, a proverb, can be described as “the blooming spark of light in spring has just been leaked out.” Spring (春 [cheun1]) does not only represent the colour green, it also signifies a spark of hope, and a rekindling love between the two. Released much earlier before blockbusters like Brokeback Mountain (2005) or Call Me By Your Name (2017), Happy Together stirred up numerous controversies among conservative regions. One is notably named as the ‘steamy sex scene’ which captures the intimacy between Po-Wing and Yiu-Fai under black and white lens. Another highlight of the movie is how Dir. Wong portrays the main characters Fai and Po-wing, to be insanely in love. This does not mean the movie is filled with swoony dialogues or skinships. Instead, their love is rather crooked, with Po-wing being the violent dominator, and Fai as a pitiful masochist. After several break-ups and makeups, the development of characters leads us to reconsider, what does love mean? When Powing suggested the two to part ways because he felt bored in a relationship, has their love died down? Or would the feelings rekindle once they meet again? An extreme version of love, known as domination, always seems to destroy affectionate feelings between a couple, and this
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