#0000D: KAR-Wai, Wong: As Tears Go By [1988] {Hong Kong}

KAR-Wai, Wong {Hong Kong}

As Tears Go By [1988]

Spine #0000D

Blu-ray

Wong Kar Wai's scintillating debut feature is a kinetic, hypercool crime thriller graced with flashes of the impressionistic, daydream visual style for which he would become renowned. Set amid Hong Kong's ruthless, neon-lit gangland underworld, this operatic saga of ambition, honor, and revenge stars Andy Lau Tak Wah as a small-time mob enforcer who finds himself torn between a burgeoning romance with his ailing cousin (Marrige Cheung Man Yuk, in the first of her iconic collaborations with the director) and his loyalty to his loose-cannon partner in crime (Jacky Cheung Hok Yau), whose reckless attempts to make a name for himself unleash a spiral of violence. Marrying the pulp pleasures of the gritty Hong Kong action drama with hints of the head-rush romanticism Wong would push to intoxicating heights throughout the 1990s, As Tears Go By was a box-office smash that heralded the arrival of one of contemporary cinema's most electrifying talents.

98 minutes

Color

Monaural
in Cantonese

1:85:1 aspect ratio

Criterion Release 2021

Director/Writer

Wong Kar-wai was 30 when he directed As Tears Go By.

Other Wong Kar-wai films in the Collection:

#0000D: Days Of Being Wild (1990)
#0000D/#453: Chungking Express (1994)
#0000D: Fallen Angels (1995)
#0000D: Happy Together (1997)
#0000D/#147: In The Mood For Love (2000)
#0000D: 2046 (2004)

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Commentary

Video tribute

Documentary 1

Documentary 2

Documentary 3

Controversial altered ending

Theatrical trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

99

By Director
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