Wong Kar-Wai

Wong Kar-Wai (Berlin, 2013)

Wong Kar-Wai ( Chinese  王家衛  /  王家卫 , Pinyin Wáng Jiā Wèi , Jyutping Wong ⁴ Gaa ¹ Wai ⁶ , Yale Wòhng Gà Waih , born July 17, 1958 in Shanghai ) is a screenwriter , film producer and film director from Hong Kong . The auteur filmmaker is known for a special, exquisite aesthetic in terms of image, light and rhythm, which exerted a great influence on Asian and other contemporary filmmakers.

Life

Wong Kar-Wai was born in Shanghai. The family moved to Hong Kong when he was five years old. He studied graphic design at Hong Kong Polytechnic until 1980 , after which he worked for two years as a television production assistant. Between 1982 and 1987 he wrote over ten scripts in various genres as a screenwriter, from romantic comedy to action drama. Final Victory ( 最後 勝利  /  最后 胜利 ; 1986, producer: Patrick Tam ) thinks Wong himself is his best work.

Since 1988, Wong has directed ten feature films and won numerous awards. His collaboration with cameraman Christopher Doyle began in 1991 with the feature film Days of Being Wild . In 2001, Wong Kar-Wai turned the short film The Follow as part of the promotional short film series The Hire of BMW . He also made a commercial for Lacoste , again with the Taiwanese actor Chang Chen , who also appeared in the films "Happy Together" and " 2046 ".

Four years after “ In the Mood for Love ”, Wong Kar-Wai completed its sequel “ 2046 ” in 2004 with a considerable delay . The production had been postponed again and again, which caused jokes about the announced premiere date in relation to the title. The film finally celebrated its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival , and not without causing another stir there too. The press screening was canceled due to "transport difficulties"; for the first time in the history of the festival this took place at the same time as the gala performance. According to rumors, however, the film was still in the works for subtitling until the end. In any case, the critics were enthusiastic about the extraordinarily staged work, but also noted some problems of understanding, as is so often the case with pictorial poetic films.

Wong Kar-Wai was the 2006 jury president at the Cannes Film Festival . A year later he was represented in the competition there at the 60th film festival with the opening film “ My Blueberry Nights ” .

In 2013, Wong was the jury president of the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival . At the same time, his non-competitive martial arts film The Grandmaster (original title 一代 宗師  /  一代 宗师 , Yī Dài Zōngshī ) opened the festival about two rival Kung Fu masters (played by Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi ).

Filmography (selection)

Movies

• 1988: As Tears Go By (Wàngjiǎo kǎmén)
• 1991: Days of Being Wild (Ā Fēi Zhèngzhuàn)
• 1994: Chungking Express (Chóngqìng Sēnlín)
• 1994: Ashes of Time (Dōngxié Xīdú / Dung che sai duk)
• 1995: Fallen Angels (Duòluò Tiānshǐ)
• 1997: Happy Together (Chūnguāng Zhà Xiè)
• 2000: In the Mood for Love (Huāyàng Niánhuá)
• 2004: 2046
• 2007: My Blueberry Nights
• 2008: Ashes of Time Redux
• 2013: The Grandmaster (Yī Dài Zōngshī)

More work

• wkw / tk / 1996 @ 7'55 "hk.net (1996) - short promotional film for the Japanese industrial and fashion designer Takeo Kikuchi
• Huayang De Nianhua (2000) - short film
• The Hire: The Follow (2001) - short promotional film for BMW
• Six Days (2002) - music video for DJ Shadow
• Eros (2004) - episode "The Hand" - co-director (together with Michelangelo Antonioni and Steven Soderbergh )
• There's only one sun (2007) - commercial for Philips Aurea

Awards

• Best Director, Cannes International Film Festival 1997
• Screen International Award, European Film Prize 2000
• Best Foreign Film, César 2001
• Best non-European film, European Film Award 2004
• Admission to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009

See also

• Chinese film
• Hong Kong movie

literature

• Brunette, Peter: Wong Kar-Wai. University of Illinois Press, Urbana 2005, ISBN 0-252-07237-5 .
• Dissanayake, Wimal & Wong, Dorothy: Wong Kar Wai's Ashes of Time. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong 2003, ISBN 962-209-585-2 , online text .
• Koebner, Thomas and Mauer, Roman (ed.): Wong Kar-Wai: Film poet in Hong Kong cinema. edition text + kritik , Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-88377-944-7 , table of contents .
• Lalanne, Jean-Marc et al. (Ed.): Wong Kar-Wai. Dis voir, Paris 1997, ISBN 2-906571-67-9 .
• Rayns, Tony (Ed.): Wong Kar-Wai on Wong Kar-Wai. Faber, London 2002, ISBN 0-571-19397-8 .
• Schnelle, Josef & Rüdiger Suchsland : signs and wonders. Zhang Yimou and Wong Kar-Wai's cinema . Schüren Verlag, Marburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-89472-438-2 .
• Tambling, Jeremy: Wong Kar Wai's Happy Together. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong 2003, ISBN 962-209-588-7 .
• Teo, Stephen: Wong Kar-Wai. Author of Time. BFI , London 2005, Series: World directors, ISBN 1-84457-029-0 .

documentary

• The Grandmaster - or how the filmmaker Wong Kar Wai brings Kung Fu to Berlin. Conversation with video recordings, France, Germany, 2013, 43 min., Moderation: Vincent Josse, production: arte France, editing: Square , first broadcast: February 10, 2013 at arte, interview on the occasion of Wong's presidency of the jury during the Berlinale 2013.

Web links

• Wong Kar-Wai in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Wong Kar-Wai / WÁNG Jiā Wèi (王家衛 / 王家卫) [1] - Chinese Movie Database (Chinese, English)
• Wong Kar-Wai / WÁNG Jiā Wèi (王家衛 / 王家卫) [2] - Hong Kong Cinemagic (French, English)
• Wong Kar-Wai / WÁNG Jiā Wèi (王家衛 / 王家卫) [3] - Hong Kong Movie Database (Chinese, English)
• Elizabeth Wright: Wong Kar-Wai , Senses of Cinema (English)
• Fansite , wongkarwai.net

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cannes (4): 2046 (Wong Kar Wai, HK 2004) , filmtagebuch.de, 2004

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Wong is the family name here, Kar-Wai is the first name.