HAPPY TOGETHER 1997
(春光乍洩)
Directed by Wong Kar-Wai
96 minutes
Mandarin/ Cantonese/ Spanish
With English subtitles

One of the sharpest voices to come out of Hong Kong during the 90s was 'second wave' director Wong Kar-Wai. His movies always have a lush visual style, and a keen knack for music. His early films charted the emotional world of Hong Kong youth, and in this case he shifts the story to Buenos Aires to focus on the break-up of a gay couple. The fact that the two young men are from Honk Kong gives the thick Latin American mood a beautiful edge. They seem stranded in an exotic world, as they go through a series of break-ups and attempts to save their connection. In previous films the director showed incredible skill at juggling multiple stories at the same time, but here he develops a more linear narrative style, focusing on a single relationship. There is both illuminated poetry and anguish in this difficult journey. The atmosphere is deep and intimate, the images simply ravishing - not in a glossy way, but in a raw heartfelt way.

The visuals are once again by cinematographer Chris Doyle, and they are fused with an eclectic music score ranging from Astor Piazzolla to Frank Zappa (I Have Been in You). Luscious, intimate, edgy, dazzling. As one viewer said "For stylistic magic, nothing surpasses Happy Together." It's considered to be one of the milestones of international LGBT cinema, and was winner of the Best Director prize at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. A flick capturing a devastating romance, starring Tony Leung and iconic Cantonese pop singer Leslie Cheung.

This will be a high-definition projection.

HET KLOKHUIS
Zeeburgerpad 22
20:30 - (doors open at 20:00)
Free screening