Auteur (S7)

• WKW uses his auteur style, as an East Asian New Wave director, who has been influenced by French New Wave and US ‘cult’ films, to experiment with narrative to convey postmodern messages and values 
• Key quote from critic: “Emotion, and not necessarily story, is the content; style exists to evoke it”
• WKW is described by a critic as a “Pessimistic philosopher who questions our loneliness” 
• Visual style...
• Handheld tracking shots and Dutch angles


  Captures essence of HK life and the alienation of its inhabitants
• Manipulates film speed – undercranking, step printing


  Disrupts audience’s sense of how quickly time is passing, dreaminess
• Transfixed by small details – smoke swirling 
• Languid sensuality interrupted by jump cuts and freeze frames 
• Shimmering visual landscapes saturated in striking colours and hazy neon lights 
• Filmmaking methods...
• What's WKW's approach to scripts?

  Aversion to using scripts, he writes as he shoots
• Quote on WKW's writing approach:

  “Takes a musicians approach to filmmaking”
• Who is WKW's filmmaking process alike?

  French New Wave director Goddard
• What does he prefer for his actors to do instead of read from a script?

  Lets his actors improvise and develop their characters as they shoot
• Why is this?


  Captures spontaneity in cast
• What are the consequences of WKW's aversion to structured filmmaking/planning?

  This means his films can go over budget and take longer to shoot, they often have enough footage to make three films  
• Where did WKW start off in the film industry?

  Started off as a scriptwriter for Television Broadcasts
• What did this mean for his filmmaking?

  He shunned formulaic conventions that many HK filmmakers used at the time
• What's an auteur trademark of his in terms of sound?

  Poetic and romanticised voiceover, providing insight into the characters’ thoughts
• Quote from WKW on why he prefers to use VO to conversations:

  “People are far more likely to talk to themselves than other people”
• Key collaborators...
• Wong Kar-Wai is the obvious primary creative force, however he works closely with key collaborators 
• Who is the cinematographer that WKW has worked on 7 previous films with?

  Christopher Doyle
• Christopher Doyle is vital in understanding how WKW' signature aesthetic is created, what are his key cinematography features he brings?

  Renegade energy, eye for textures, taps into emotions of scenes, dreamy use of lighting, kinetic camerawork, vivid colours  
• Who's collaborator William Chang?


  Has worked on WKW's films as Production designer, art director, editor, costume designer
• What is Chang known for?

  Obsessive attention to detail
• Theme: love and happiness...
• His characters become unmoored – yearning for something they can’t have, or mourning something they once had  
• WKW’s work is dedicated to the anguish of unrequited love and missed opportunities which haunt his characters  
• Humanity and intimacy in characters despite detached aesthetic
• Hong Kong...
• When WKW was five, what significant event happened in his life?

  1958 - WKW moved from Shanghai, where he was born, to HK
• What challenge did he face when he made this move?

  Struggled to learn Cantonese and English
• What was the effect of this in his films?

  Sense of cultural displacement runs through his films  - characters emotionally and physically adrift, constantly in transition 
• How does the political environment in HK also effect WKW's work?

  HK’s changing identity and underlying political anxieties over the handover of power from Britain back to mainland China in 1997 form the backdrop of his work 
• Why is the year 2047 significant?

  It's the date HK and China’s one country, two systems arrangement will expire - WKW references it in his films
• Theme: loneliness...
• What type of people does Fallen angels focus on?

  Everyday people, particularly the loners, drifters, outcasts and broken hearted - seeking warmth from another
• Characters face urban alienation, feeling swallowed up by big city movement 
• Wong felt alienated when he moved to HK so a sense of loneliness permeates his work