Small Scale Research Project - Wong Kar-Wai

1. Small Scale Research Project - Wong Kar-Wai Use of voice-over and narrative

2. Hong Kong • WKWs films are mainly set in Hong Kong. • Hong Kong is an island & port with 14 million population in a space not much bigger than the metropolitan area of Birmingham. • Many ideas & themes in films relate to HK life, its population and geographical location. • WKW is not a genre director, even though most Hong Kong directors are e.g. John Woo.

3. Character driven narratives • WKW has created a distinctive ‘look’ to the films with the Production Designer, William Chang, and Cinematographer, Chris Doyle. • They are human dramas, where characters are prone to neuroses and loneliness – modern representations of life in the big city. • He has managed to combine interesting visual style with originality in character and narrative

4. Unusual narrative & unconventional use of voice-over • (Focus film)Chungking Express (1994) • A ‘student film’, according to Kar-Wai. This is to do with the short time frame in which the film was shot, location shooting, as opposed to shooting in a studio, and the use of guerilla techniques, such as handheld camerawork and experimental ‘step-printing’ processes. • The conditions under which the film was made draw comparisons with the films of The French New Wave, and in in particular the influence of Jean-Luc Godard e.g. Breathless is apparent in the characters and dialogue. • The story centres around The Midnight Express takeaway in the Chungking area of Hong Kong, and is divided into two, focussing on two different sets of characters. At the mid-point, the two story strands overlap. “The film is split into two narrative and stylistic parts, with the fast food stall functioning as some sort of anchoring point.” (Lalanne, et al, 1998)

5. Unusual narrative & unconventional use of voice-over Chungking Express cont’d • All four main characters have voice-overs. This is unusual, as conventionally, the protagonist of the film acts also as the narrator. In Chungking Express there is no one clear protagonist, or narrator, instead a number of narrators of several stories. • Kar-Wai can be seen as something of an ‘auteur’, writing his own scripts and controlling every aspect of the production. “Since 1988 when he made the first feature-length film, As Tears Go By, he has scripted all her films and controlled all other aspects of the production, based on the auteur model. He explores a world of personal themes and obsessions, selects the actors, locations and duration of the shoot (often changed to allow for improvisation).” (Lalanne et al, 1998) When we learn of the production context we begin to understand why narratives in Kar-Wai’s films are unique and unusual.

6. Unusual narrative & unconventional use of voice-over – a step further • Fallen Angels (1997) • A multi strand, non-linear narrative. Unusually, all of the main characters have voice-overs. • Difference – one character is mute (but nonetheless his thoughts are communicated through voice-over), some characters communicate exclusively through voice-over. This highlights the distance between characters and their loneliness, despite their close proximity to one another in the bustling city. “Wong effectively highlights the fact that people (who make up part of the postmodern pastiche) are in close physical proximity, but can be so far apart, and indeed are so very far apart, at the same time.” (Wright, 2004) • There is an absence of traditional dialogue exchanges to develop character and deliver narrative information. Nevertheless, his penchant for voiceover monologues and written captions are also part of his signature compositions. • “The isolation of his characters often gives way to voiceover monologues in which his character’s status as outsiders is constantly reiterated. The alienating space of the city is often the backdrop for inhabitants who struggle to mentally articulate their own sense of place and identity within the urban landscape.” (Wright, 2004)

7. Response to counterfeiters • In The Mood For Love (2000) • Revolves around an unrequited love affair between two married couples, who are neighbours. • Never see respective husband and wives, even though they appear in scenes as voices or ‘ghosts’. Like Chungking Express, the film centres around a single location, in this case the adjacent apartments of the married couples. • The film is somewhat repetitious, and has many themes – memory, nostalgia, regret – but unlike Chungking Express, focuses primarily on just two characters.

8. Conclusion • It could be argued that Wong Kar-Wai is the ultimate auteur director; being the controlling force behind his films allows him to create off-beat and unusual narratives. • His transition from scriptwriter to writer/director is clear, and although influenced by the French New Wave, adds a modern twist, clearly influenced by his own Chinese culture. He achieves originality and experimentation within the mainstream feature film format. • Constant attempts to evolve, to reinvent cinema, are not always successful, but always interesting and massively influential on the rest of World Cinema.