Wong Kar-wai films get showcase
No one interprets yearning and ill-fated love with the visual vividness or emotional range of Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai.
The celebrated 62-year-old is revered for his flourishes of sensual imagery — a lover’s hand tending lustfully to the skin of a new and willing lover, the symbolism of a cascading waterfall — and his heartrending stories of romances interrupted.
Because he creates such highly sensory cinematic experiences, viewers won’t passively sit down to watch a Wong movie, they’ll become caressed, seduced and entranced by them.
His work, though, needs preservation and protection. Luckily, Janus Films’ touring retrospective led to pristine 4K restorations of seven of his best-known titles: “In the Mood for Love,” “As Tears Go By,” “Days of Being Wild,” “Chungking Express,” “Fallen Angels,” “Happy Together” and “The Hand.”
Since audiences are unable to view these masterworks on majestic movie screens — where they belong — the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive and San Francisco’s Roxie Theater are inviting Bay Area movie fans to watch these cinematic treasures from the comfort of their home, as part of the Virtual Cinema series.
The Pacific Film Archive will also be showing “Ashes of Time” and “2046.” The retrospective, accessible at both venues’ websites, runs through Feb. 25.
Don’t miss out.
Here’s a look at five features from this outstanding series.
• “In the Mood for Love”: Frequent Wong acting collaborators Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-wai are luminous as 1960s next-door neighbors whose partners are having an affair. Rarely has unrequited love been portrayed with such aching clarity as Wong’s 2000 film. Lush cinematography, along with closeups of hands desperate for human connection — are some of his cinematic trademarks, along with clocks declaring the imminent passage of time and dropdead gorgeous costumes. All of