History Creator / WongKarWai

Born in UsefulNotes/{{Shanghai}} in 1958, he moved to Hong Kong with his mother as a child. Separated from his father, prevented from leaving China and speaking Mandarin rather than the local Cantonese dialect, he grew up with [[MiseryBuildsCharacter a feeling of exile and alienation]], both themes that he explores in his oeuvre.

He graduated from Hong Kong Polytechnic College in graphic design in 1980, enrolled in the Production Training Course organized by Hong Kong Television Broadcasts Limited and became a television screenwriter. After a stint at Cinema City, he struck out as a freelance screenwriter, and directed his first movie, ''As Tears Go By'', in 1988. It belonged to the urban thriller genre which Creator/JohnWoo was in the process of reviving, and also took inspiration from Creator/MartinScorsese's ''Film/MeanStreets''.

With his second film, ''Film/DaysOfBeingWild'' with Creator/LeslieCheung in the main role in 1990, he defined his SignatureStyle, based on narrative ellipses, a melancholic atmosphere, and off-kilter characters. Although a commercial failure, this movie is hailed by critics as one of the best ever in Hong Kong cinema. Creator/LeslieCheung won a Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor for his role in the film.

After creating Jet Tone, his own independent production company, he started working on personal projects, such as ''Ashes of Time'', a deconstruction of the {{Wuxia}} genre, and ''Film/FallenAngels'', a neo-FilmNoir. But his most successful movie of the period, which ironically was only intended as a semi-improvised filler project, was ''Film/ChungkingExpress''--a film that earned such gushing praise from Creator/QuentinTarantino that he founded his own distribution company just to release it in the US.

Wong got further international recognition with his next film ''Happy Together'' (with Creator/LeslieCheung and Creator/TonyLeungChiuWai in the lead roles playing lovers), which earned him an award for best director at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival; unlike all his previous movies, this one was shot in a foreign location, namely Buenos Aires. He finally got both critical and commercial success in 2000 with ''Film/InTheMoodForLove'', an elegiac and understated love story set in the Hong Kong of the early 1960s.

His following film, ''Film/TwoThousandFortySix'', a sequel of sorts to ''Film/InTheMoodForLove'' (which was itself a sequel of sorts to ''Days of Being Wild''), was several years in the making, and was finally released in 2004 (a running joke among the crew was that the film would only be finished in time for year 2046). It's partially set in the year 2046 because that is the last year before UsefulNotes/HongKong's period of self-rule ends and, in 2047, the Chinese government begins to run it just like it runs the rest of the country. In 2007 he directed ''My Blueberry Nights'', his first English-language film, starring Norah Jones, and in 2012 ''Film/TheGrandmaster'', a biopic of martial arts master Ip Man.

He chaired the jury of the Cannes Film Festival in 2006. He is never seen in public without his CoolShades.

WKW is also a [[PrimaDonnaDirector quite frustrating director to work with]] to a [[http://wkwmemes.tumblr.com/ meme-tastic degree]], owing to his [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants freeform, on-the-spot filmmaking style]]. He doesn't like to use scripts, doesn't really know what he wants in advance, improvises while filming and expect his actors doing the same thing without telling them how the story should be (as he doesn't know it himself yet) and spends lengthy amounts of time all but creating the finished film in editing, at some points only barely finishing it in time for its premiere.

Wong Kar-wai (王家衛 "Wang Jiawei" in Hanyu Pinyin, born 17 July 1958) is a UsefulNotes/HongKong filmmaker.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: He certainly has an unusual way of making movies, but judging by the acclaim he gets it works for the best.
** Also somewhat of a real life deconstruction. Since his films take years to make, many investors are hesitant to work with him.
* CoolShades: He’s never seen without them.

* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: His recent restoration of his movies for Creator/TheCriterionCollection box set of his filmography has caused [[https://www.indiewire.com/2021/03/wong-kar-wai-interview-restorations-1234625897/ something of a break among fans]], from aspect ratio changes (going from the stretched 1.85 on the initial DVD releases to the intended 1.66), to ''Happy Together'' missing bits of voiceover and [[https://www.cinemaescapist.com/2021/01/fallen-angels-restoration-wong-kar-wai/ most contentiously]] making notable changes in coloring and aspect ratios to ''Fallen Angels''.

His following film, ''[[Film/TwoThousandFortySix 2046]]'', a sequel of sorts to ''Film/InTheMoodForLove'' (which was itself a sequel of sorts to ''Days of Being Wild''), was several years in the making, and was finally released in 2004 (a running joke among the crew was that the film would only be finished in time for year 2046). It's partially set in the year 2046 because that is the last year before UsefulNotes/HongKong's period of self-rule ends and, in 2047, the Chinese government begins to run it just like it runs the rest of the country. In 2007 he directed ''My Blueberry Nights'', his first English-language film, starring Norah Jones, and in 2012 ''Film/TheGrandmaster'', a biopic of martial arts master Ip Man.

* ''[[Film/TwoThousandFortySix 2046]]'' (2004)

* PrimaDonnaDirector: His temper doesn’t play a part in it, but his shooting style leads some actors to vow to never work with him again. Wong generally throws scripts out the window and relies on the cast and crew to improvise a lot of the material, after which he goes into editing and takes a Creator/TerrenceMalick-esque approach, either cutting actors and scenes out entirely, or reducing them to irrelevance.

* PrimaDonnaDirector: His temper doesn’t play a part in it, but his shooting style leads some actors to vow to never work with him again. [[note]] To elaborate, Wong generally throws scripts out the window and relies on the cast and crew to improvise a lot of the material, after which he goes into editing and takes a Creator/TerrenceMalick-esque approach to editing, either cutting actors and scenes out entirely, or reducing them to irrelevance. [[/note]]

* SlidingScaleOfPlotVersusCharacters: On the "Characters" side of the spectrum from the word “Go”.

WKW is also a [[PrimaDonnaDirector quite frustrating director to work with to a]] [[http://wkwmemes.tumblr.com/ meme-tastic degree]], owing to his [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants freeform, on-the-spot filmmaking style]]. He doesn't like to use scripts, doesn't really know what he wants in advance, improvises while filming and expect his actors doing the same thing without telling them how the story should be (as he doesn't know it himself yet) and spends lengthy amounts of time all but creating the finished film in editing, at some points only barely finishing it in time for its premiere.

* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: His [[https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/4117-world-of-wong-kar-wai recent restoration of his movies]] has caused [[https://www.indiewire.com/2021/03/wong-kar-wai-interview-restorations-1234625897/ something of a break among fans]], from aspect ratio changes (going from the stretched 1.85 on the initial DVD releases to the intended 1.66), to ''Happy Together'' missing bits of voiceover and [[https://www.cinemaescapist.com/2021/01/fallen-angels-restoration-wong-kar-wai/ most contentiously]] making notable changes in coloring and aspect ratios to ''Fallen Angels''.

* HeartbreakAndIceCream: A very prominent motive in a lot of his movies, but the kind of food is very different. The most prominent examples are canned pineapples in Film/ChungkingExpress and the blueberry pie in Film/MyBlueberryNights.

* ''Film/AsTearsGoBy'' (1988)

Wong got further international recognition with his next film ''Happy Together'' (with Creator/LeslieCheung and Creator/TonyLeung in the lead roles playing lovers), which earned him an award for best director at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival; unlike all his previous movies, this one was shot in a foreign location, namely Buenos Aires. He finally got both critical and commercial success in 2000 with ''Film/InTheMoodForLove'', an elegiac and understated love story set in the Hong Kong of the early 1960s.

After creating Jet Tone, his own independent production company, he started working on personal projects, such as ''Ashes of Time'', a deconstruction of the {{Wuxia}} genre, and ''FallenAngels'', a neo-FilmNoir. But his most successful movie of the period, which ironically was only intended as a semi-improvised filler project, was ''Film/ChungkingExpress''--a film that earned such gushing praise from Creator/QuentinTarantino that he founded his own distribution company just to release it in the US.

Wong Kar-wai (王家衛, born 17 July 1958) is a UsefulNotes/HongKong filmmaker.

* PrimaDonnaDirector: His temper doesn’t play a part in it, but his shooting style leads some actors to vow to never work with him again. [[note]] To elaborate, Wong generally throws scripts out the window and relies on the cast and crew to improvise a lot of the material, after which he goes into editing and takes a Creator/TerrenceMalick-esque approach to editing. either cutting actors and scenes out entirely, or reducing them to irrelevance. [[/note]]

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: A major theme of his work is exploring the cultural differences between the east and the west.

* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: His [[https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/4117-world-of-wong-kar-wai recent restoration of his movies]] has caused [[https://www.indiewire.com/2021/03/wong-kar-wai-interview-restorations-1234625897/ something of a break among fans]], from aspect ratio changes (going from the stretched 1.85 on the initial DVD releases to the intended 1.66), to ''Happy Together'' missing bits of voiceover and [[https://www.cinemaescapist.com/2021/01/fallen-angels-restoration-wong-kar-wai/ most contentiously]] making notable changes to ''Fallen Angels''.

* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: His [[https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/4117-world-of-wong-kar-wai recent restoration of his movies]] has caused [[https://www.indiewire.com/2021/03/wong-kar-wai-interview-restorations-1234625897/ something of a break among fans]], from aspect ratio changes (going from the stretched 1.85 on the initial DVD releases to the intended 1.66), to ''Fallen Angels'' being recolored and ''Happy Together'' missing bits of voiceover.

* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: His [[https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/4117-world-of-wong-kar-wai recent restoration of his movies]] has caused [[https://www.indiewire.com/2021/03/wong-kar-wai-interview-restorations-1234625897/ something of a break among fans]], from aspect ratio changes (going from the stretched 1.85 on the initial DVD releases to the intended 1.66), to ''Fallen Angels'' being recolored and ''Happy Together'' missing bit of voiceover.

* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: His recent restoration of his movies has caused [[https://www.indiewire.com/2021/03/wong-kar-wai-interview-restorations-1234625897/ something of a break among fans]], from aspect ratio changes (going from the stretched 1.85 on the initial DVD releases to the intended 1.66), to ''Fallen Angels'' being recolored and ''Happy Together'' missing bit of voiceover.

* HeartbreakAndIceCream: A very prominent motive in a lot of his movies, but the kind of food is very different. The most prominent examples are bananas in Film/ChungkingExpress and the blueberry pie in Film/MyBlueberryNights.

* ''The Hire'' (2001 BMW promotional series; segment "The Follow")

WKW is also a [[PrimaDonnaDirector quite frustrating director to work with to a]] [[http://wkwmemes.tumblr.com/ meme-tastic degree]], owing to his tendencies to [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants write by the seat of his pants]]. He doesn't like to use scripts, doesn't really know what he wants in advance, improvises while filming and expect his actors doing the same thing without telling them how the story should be (as he doesn't know it himself yet) and most of the time doesn't decide on how the film would end until the final editing.

[[caption-width-right:350: Combining CoolShades and [[ContemplateOurNavels existentialism]] since 1988.]]

WKW is also a [[PrimaDonnaDirector quite frustrating director to work with to a]] [[http://wkwmemes.tumblr.com/ meme-tastic degree]]. He doesn't like to use scripts, doesn't really know what he wants in advance, improvises while filming and expect his actors doing the same thing without telling them how the story should be (as he doesn't know it himself yet) and most of the time doesn't decide on how the film would end until the final editing.

* ''Film/AshesOfTime'' (1994) * GenreDeconstruction of conventional {{Wuxia}} genre