Happy Together

They weren’t happy nor were they together. This film does a good job at making you feel claustrophobic, then you realize this feeling intensifies when Fai and Po-Wing are together. Their individual moments apart from each other suddenly feel like a weight has been lifted off, but instead of light and airy this lost weight feels hollow and empty. This film lives and breathes in these contradictions making you feel uncomfortable when they are together but confused when they’re not. The moments of air between them when the film allows you breathe are rare but it gives the audience a glimpse into their love for one another underneath all the dirt and suffocation. They love each other, so disgustingly much, but they are never happy together. Everything about Happy Together is simultaneously heartbreaking, passionate and disgustingly romantic. Both Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung are simply perfect and play their roles so convincingly you almost forget these are two of Hong Kong’s most legendary actors you’re watching. I commend Wong Kar Wai for making a film about the relationship between 2 men that is allowed to just exist as a counterpart to other straight romance dramas and not be “a gay film” when this could’ve easily gone in a more fetishizing route especially for its time. A perfect movie no notes.