HAPPY TOGETHER (1997) | Dir: Wong Kar-wai | I missed one day of my 30 DAYS OF QUEER FILM, so I’m posting two today - and they’re great companions: MAURICE by James Ivory and HAPPY TOGETHER by the great Wong Kar-wai. Made exactly ten years apart, this is the story of a gay couple in a tumultuous relationship who live in Hong Kong, but travel together to Buenos Aires for a vacation and end up breaking up. The two main characters (Fai and Po-wing) are studies in contrast and there’s a lot of debate about the message of the film: does it reward Fai’s conformity to more stereotypical heterosexual norms and punish Po-Wing’s more adventurous and destructive choices? What I remember most is its dreamy cinematography that created a sense of uncertainty and danger at every moment and the great performances by Leslie Cheung (Po-Wing), Tony Leung Chiu-Wai (Fai), and Chen Chang (as Chang). It was the one of the first gay Asian films that garnered international recognition. Another was FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE, which also starred Leslie Cheung, a major star who had identified as bisexual. Sadly, he died from suicide at age 46 in 2003. A great loss.
