Nights of Being Wild at the Film Society of Lincoln Center

Young Friends of Film Presents: Days of Being Wild event, photo by Susan Sermoneta

In his introduction to Thursday night’s screening of Wong Kar-wai’s Days of Being Wild, critic Jamie Wolf noted that when the film debuted in Hong Kong in 1990, it shared the same Chinese title as another movie that had swept the city off its feet more than fifty years earlier – Nicholas Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause. In spite of this, and barring certain similarities – Wong’s Leslie Cheung shares the same playboy abandon as a young James Dean – the film is distinctly and recognizably Wong’s own. Adapting Rebel’s 1950s malaise to what Andrew Chan refers to as “postcolonial-nostalgia cinema,” Wong casts aside coherent narrative in favor of carefully crafted ambiance, and the film progresses from one sequestered character to another before finally culminating in its own melodramatic, Dean-worthy ending.

As a lush pastiche of suffused colors and silenced emotion, Days of Being Wild is an early example of a masterful director’s emerging style, replete with the aesthetic and thematic motifs that would soon be recognized as signature Wong Kar-wai. Samba wafts across damp rooms and verdant landscapes; young lovers escape through smoky clubs and rainy nights, and ultimately, 1960s Hong Kong is transformed into a breathing backdrop for the quiet melodrama of its inhabitants. Days of Being Wild also marks the first collaboration between Wong and cinematographer Christopher Doyle, a partnership that is evident in the film’s distinctive camerawork, which alternates between brash voyeurism and inquisitive observation with equal ease. If there was any doubt, Days of Being Wild confirms Wong’s position as a filmmaker of the highest order, and one of the few great auteurs working in cinema today.

– Jessica Loudis

photo by Susan Sermoneta

We’re knocking on the House Next Door for this ace review of Days of Being Wild

“1990’s Days of Being Wild, the sophomore effort that established wandering souls and romantic misconnection as Wong’s enduring fetish subjects, still reverberates with some of the most haunting passages in any Hong Kong movie—and of course it is this colonial city, as much as the ache of love itself, that provides the cause for swooning,” writes Film Comment-er Andrew Chan over at The House Next Door. Check out the entire review for an in-depth look at where the film fits into Wong Kar Wai’s larger oeuvre.

See Days of Being Wild tomorrow night in a special Young Friends of Film presentation. There will be snacks and an open bar to follow.

Film Society Week Ahead February 5-11

All inclusive entertainment: Young Friends of Film presents Wong Kar Wai’s Days of Being Wild with a post-screening discussion and party with open bar and free snacks, Thursday February 5 at 7:30. [Buy tickets]

Celebrate Black History Month at the Film Society: We honor the remarkable career of pioneering filmmaker Oscar Micheaux with a series of films that are a rare glimpse of authentic and complex African-American characters during the pre-war period. Enjoy a special reception on opening night, February 6th.

Wikipedia Loves Art is here! Save the date for these meet-ups to mix it up with art-lovers like yourself:
Friday, February 7 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art [RSVP on Facebook]
Saturday, February 7 at the Brooklyn Museum [More info on Flickr]
Friday February 13th at the New York Historical Society [More info on Flickr]

Wong Kar Wai names the poet laureate of the filmlinc blog!

Photo via Wallpaper

Congratulations to Edwin Mak (aka commenter FTIN), for his prize-winning verse summation of Ashes of Time:

“Distance births desire;
Wine chides parole.
Swordsmen our agency,
fictions of the soul.

Worlds devoid of fathers,
brothers purport rule.
Money, loyalty equal
in the Jianghu.

Bodies efface gender;
Sand, victor o’er time.
Death a sop towards
Vicissitudes sublime.

Reliant on blindness
our faith is driven.
Betwixt love and pain:
Finitude forgiven.”

Wong Kar Wai has named Mr. Mak, a writer living in London, the winner of our Ashes of Time challenge! He will  receive the new Ashes poster, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics plus a copy of Criterion’s new Chungking Express DVD, courtesy of Criterion, and enjoy the special notoriety of being the official poet of the filmlinc blog!

Special thanks to this contest’s sponsor, Criterion.

A poetic twist in the Wong Kar Wai challenge

Photo via Wallpaper

From commenter FTIN, this verse summation of Ashes of Time:

“Distance births desire;
Wine chides parole.
Swordsmen our agency,
fictions of the soul.

Worlds devoid of fathers,
brothers purport rule.
Money, loyalty equal
in the Jianghu.

Bodies efface gender;
Sand, victor o’er time.
Death a sop towards
Vicissitudes sublime.

Reliant on blindness
our faith is driven.
Betwixt love and pain:
Finitude forgiven.”

REMEMBER: because this is the rare contest not tied to the whims of Lady Luck or even a couple of beleaguered blog editors, you still have a chance to win! That’s right, Wong Kar Wai himself is the sole arbiter of the Ashes of Time Challenge! He will select the winning entry from all the submitted entries, and that lucky winner gets the new Ashes poster, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics, a copy of Criterion’s new Chungking Express DVD, courtesy of Criterion, and ultimate bragging rights.

You have until midnight E.S.T., Wednesday December 3rd to concoct your own synopsis, free verse, or video interpretation. It’s still anybody’s game, people.

Read all the comments posted so far and post your own entry.

Special thanks to this contest’s sponsor, Criterion, owner of a spiffily redesigned website you should all bookmark now:

Video Q&A: Wong Kar-Wai talks about Ashes of Time

Video courtesy of Kevin Lee.

Don’t miss another Q&A! Subscribe to the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s YouTube channel.

And don’t forget to check the blog this week for a special “Ashes of Time” contest judged by Wong Kar-Wai himself!

Wong Kar Wai is back with Ashes of Time–Redux!

Wong Kar-wai has restored, rescored, expanded and re-edited his legendary 1994 exercise in swordplay pyrotechnics and melancholy temps perdu. He’s also digitally colorized the film, rendering master cinematographer Christopher Doyle’s images even more insanely gorgeous.

See it this Saturday at midnight.

NYFF: What’s playing this week that can I still get tickets to?

Photo: Susan Sermoneta

Trouble navigating the action-packed New York Film Festival schedule? Here are a few events that take place over the coming week that you can purchase tickets to online:

Waltz with Bashir: Documentary? Cartoon? War movie? I wager you won’t see a more inventive film this year. It’s incredibly moving, too. See my review or buy tickets…[Wed Oct 1: 9:15] [Thu Oct 2: 6]

Free Oshima panel: Warm up for the screening of Art’s pick Diary of a Shinjuku Thief with a free panel discussion at the Walter Reade Theater on Wednesday, October 1st.

Summer Hours: Olivier Assayas returns with this this story of a family in turmoil. [Thu Oct 2: 9]

Four Nights with Anna: Time Out New York says: “Polish-cinema bigwig Jerzy Skolimowski is back, and this creepy tale about a man obsessed with his female neighbor proves that he can still unnerve.”  [Fri Oct 3: 9:30] [Sun Oct 5: 3]

Views from the Avant-Garde: Is the medium the message? Take a walk on the wild side with Guy Debord’s In girum… or check out rarely screened Bruce Conner rarities. The always provocative Views opens this weekend.

Ashes of Time Redux: What’s better than 93 action-packed minutes of Wong Kar-Wai’s unmistakably distinctive swordplay pyrotechnics? A completely restored version of one of his classics, of course. What’s even better? A midnight screening! [Sat Oct 4: midnight]

From the archives: The New York Film Festival from A-Z

Just a tiny sampling of the films that have played during the festival’s four decade-long history.

A: About Schmidt (Alexander Payne, USA, 2002) – NYFF40 (2002)

B: The Belly of an Architect (Peter Greenaway, UK/Italy, 1987) – NYFF25 (1987)

C: Chloe in the Afternoon (Eric Rohmer, France, 1972) – NYFF10 (1972)

D: Down By Law (Jim Jarmusch, USA, 1986) – NYFF24 (1986)

E: Exotica (Atom Egoyan, Canada, 1994) – NYFF32 (1994)

F: The Fog of War (Errol Morris, USA, 2003) – NYFF41 (2003)

G: The Great City (Satyajit Ray, India, 1963)

H: Harlan County U.S.A. (Barbara Kopple, USA, 1976)

I: In the Mood For Love (Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong 2000)

J: Julien Donkey-Boy (Harmony Korine, USA, 1999)

K: Koyaanisqatsi (Godfrey Reggio, USA, 1982)

L: Last Tango in Paris (Bernardo Bertolucci, Italy/France, 1972)

M: My Name is Joe (Ken Loach, UK, 1998)

N: No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, US, 2007)

O: An Old Fashioned Woman (Martha Coolidge, USA, 1974)

P: Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronaud, France, 2007)

Q: Quilts in Women’s Lives (Pat Ferrero, USA)

R: The Ritual (Ingmar Bergman, Sweden, 1969)

S: Salaam Bombay! (Mira Nair, India, 1987)

T: The Trial of Joan of Arc (Robert Bresson, France, 1962)

U: Underground (Emir Kusturica, France/Germany, 1995)

V: Vera Drake (Mike Leigh, UK, 2004)

W: Washington Square (Agnieszka Holland, USA, 1997)

X: Xala (Ousmane Sembene, Senegal, 1974)

Y: Tu Mama Tambien (Alfonso Cuaron, Mexico, 2001) – NYFF39 (2001)

Z: Zebrahead (Anthony Drazan, USA, 1992)

Find your favorites.

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