As Tears Go By

I finally watched the first Wong Kar-Wai flick, and subsequently the last full-length feature I needed to see to complete his filmography.

I gotta say, it starts off kinda rough. I know it was his fist flick and it was 1988 in Hong Kong...but that music is inexcusable. I could point to far too many other Directors that weren't using crap like that in 1988. But let's not dwell on it. Moving on. It seemed a little shoddy right off the bat, but as the film went on it was almost like Wong Kar-Wai was putting it all together right in front of your eyes. Things just got better and better as time ticked by. By the end of the flick you've forgotten about any rough spots and you're fully immersed.

It's cool to watch because you can see Wong Kar-Wai planting the seeds for his future masterpieces. His trademark color and chiaroscuro is already in play. We don't have Christopher Doyle on hand just yet, but the DP does a great job on this, too. Many of Wong Kar-Wai's trademark visual cues are employed even in this first film. It's instantly recognizable as one of his own. It's rough, but that's alright. Sometimes it reminded me of a Samo Hung / Jackie Chan flick. That's both good and bad as it relates to As Tears Go By.

The plot is a pretty straightforward Chinese gangster story. Of course there's love, there's violence, there's culture and tradition, and there's tragedy mixed into every Wong Kar-Wai flick, and this one is no different. The acting is great. I really dug the characters and the plot. It's pretty rad actually.

Having said all this...of all the Wong Kar-Wai films out there, I wouldn't put this at the top of your queue. I'd want to see some of his classics before digging into something as raw and maybe early as this. If like me you've seen all the rest, then I definitely think you'll enjoy this. It starts out rocky but it soon brings you into the fold. It's some good shit.