Happy together was the first well-known film of Wong Kar-Wai. After that one came "In the mood of love", "2046", My blueberry nights and others... This splendid film was the tenth movie of the author but the first big successful work of Wong in western countries. The movie is a gripping tale of homosexual love. It's an exercise of striking visual virtuosity and unequivocal postmodern affiliation. The story itself and the way of filming are strange and captivating. Iguazu's falls scene with Caetano singing "Cucurrucucu paloma" is one of the most beautiful in Wong Kar-Wai's filmography: [...]

I owned this film before it was realeased in America, and the copy quality left a great deal to be desired. This new release brings this absolute Masterpiece by Wong Kar Wai (special Kudos to fine performances from Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung, and Cinematographer Christopher Doyle)to full, vibrant, and multi-dimensional life!!! Kar Wai is simply at his best here; from the wide variety of musical selections, to the varied usages of film stock.

Long before "Brokeback Mountain" tittilated American imaginations, this film was breaking major-league ground technically and artistically with the international community, and people in the know. Twelve years after it's initial release, it still boldly goes where most Directors fear to tread . . .

My favorite Won Kar Wai film; along with a great soundtrack.

CLASSIC & untouchable.

"Happy Together," winner of the 1997 Best Director prize at Cannes, examines a relationship in which two partners seem destined to be together, even when they decide to split up. Ho and Lai, a gay young couple from Hong Kong, are passionate lovers but continuously snip at each other and bicker. They relocate to Buenos Aires, hoping to mend their troubled relationship, but ultimately break up. Ho (Leslie Cheung) hustles for a living. Lai (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) takes a job as doorman at a seedy tango club. After Ho is beaten up by a client, Lai nurses him back to health. Yet even during Ho's recuperation, he is demanding, selfish, and thoughtless.
The film raises questions as to what constitutes relationships, how fragile they can be, how they are constantly tested, and how even seemingly doomed relationships run deep. There is also an irony throughout. Wong is saying that distance, illness, temporary separation, and recriminations aside, some relationships are destined to be. Bonus extras include three behind-the-scenes featurettes and an interview with Director of Photography Christopher Doyle. The remastered DVD's soundtrack is in Cantonese with optional English subtitles.

"Happy Together"

Loneliness and Alienation

Amos Lassen

Two young Asians, Yiu-Fai and Po-Wing arrive in Argentina from Hong Kong and start their holiday. However, something happens and their relationship turns sour. Yiu-Fai decides that he should return home and starts working in a tango bar so that he can buy a plane ticket. Suddenly Po-Wing appears and he is bruised and beaten. Even though Yiu-Fai shows empathy, he cannot enter into a romantic relationship with his friend. Po-Wing, unlike his friend, is not ready to settle down. After changing jobs, Yiu-Fai meets a young guy from Taiwan, Chang and his life changes again while Po-Wing is shattered.
Kar Wai Wong directed this little gem of a film about the nature of loneliness. It is a non-linear film that shows the truth about modern relationships. Here is a story about emotion and love and it challenges the title it was given. It is about those difficulties that surround a relationship on the skids. Alienation both within and outside of the relationship is what dooms it. In the beginning we see that the two young men cannot find equality or balance together and this leads them to despair. When Po-Wing had been ill and had to be cared for, their relationship thrived but as his health improved, Fai drew away from him and refused any attempt at intimacy. Now that Wing was well enough to do for himself, the balance of power between them shifted, Po-Wing slowly slips away from the guy he loved and entered the world of street hustling.
Each of the men are devastated by the loss of love. We sense the alienation between them as well as the alienation they feel in society. I am not sure that this is necessarily a gay film--the lead characters just happen to be gay but this is a story that can apply to anyone--loneliness is universal as is the melancholia that comes with it.
The actors are wonderful in their roles and we feel what they feel--making this not an easy film to watch. The film is basically a look at a couple falling in and out of love--their sexual identification does not matter. They guys are lost souls who are lonely and longing and lovelorn. Their escape to Argentina proves to be their undoing but it would have happened anywhere. Argentina physically represents their relationship--claustrophobic and oppressive, something that might have been beautiful yet becomes a symbol of escape.
What really makes this film so absorbing is the emotional authenticity. The director aimed at the heart and he hit his target.