Happy Together

1997 Drama

Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai directs the strange, intimate drama Cheun Gwong Tsa Sit (Happy Together). Australian cinematographer Christopher Doyle employed multiple film speeds and different color film stock during the shooting. Ho (Leslie Cheung) and Lai (Tony Leung) are lovers from Hong Kong who have run away to live in Buenas Aires, Argentina. However, Ho is immature and unwilling to settle down, which makes Lai depressed. When they break up, Lai works as a doorman in a tango bar in order to save money and go home. The restless Ho becomes a prostitute. After Ho is beaten and injured in an attack, Lai takes him to his apartment to recover. Ho tries to rekindle the romance, but Lai isn't interested. He leaves the tango bar and works in a kitchen, where he meets the young Chang (Chang Chen) from Taiwan.

Director: Wong Kar-Wai

Starring: Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Chang Chen

Reviews

  • Loose, buoyant and bracingly original.

    Edward Guthmann - The San Francisco Chronicle

    19 January 2013

  • The result is a take-no-prisoners movie from one of Hong Kong's most idiosyncratic, shoot-from-the-hip filmmakers that's the very antithesis of sentimental gay love stories.

    Kevin Thomas - Los Angeles Times

    19 January 2013

  • Thanks largely to the raw bravery and intensity of the two leads' performances, Happy Together takes a quantum leap forward in terms of visceral power.

    Russell Smith - Austin Chronicle

    19 January 2013

  • Stylistically brash, pulsing with life.

    Stephen Holden - The New York Times

    19 January 2013

  • Style oozing from virtually every frame.

    Ken Fox - TV Guide

    19 January 2013

Awards

  • Most Popular Foreign Film

    Arizona International Film Festival (1998)

  • Kar Wai Wong

    Cannes Film Festival (1997)

  • Best Actor

    Golden Bauhinia Awards (1998)

  • Best Cinematography

    Golden Horse Film Festival (1997)

  • Best Actor

    Hong Kong Film Awards (1998)