As Tears Go By is my first, and certainly not my last, Wong Kar Wai film. For a debut film, it's really solid. It's not without it's flaws, though. It follows a similar formula to other mafia films. There's your main character with death looming over their head, the love interest who has no hope of ending up happy. You know the drill, but what makes this film stand out is that you can feel Wong Kar Wai's unique touch in every aspect. Even without having seen any of his other films, I can already tell what some of his directing quirks are: different saturated colors depending on the mood and atmospheric music. Tears oozes the 80's. I think that's my favorite thing about it. The synth wave tunes, outfits, slow motion action scenes, over the top mob characters, so much smoking you can almost smell it. They stuck to that vibe and I'm so glad they did. It adds a lot to the overall enjoyment of the film.
As far as what I didn't like, the blurry slow motion during most of the action scenes were the worst. I've seen other directors use that before and I never could understand it. It makes those scenes confusing, annoying to watch, and it makes you wonder if they're trying to cover up mistakes. The romance also feels a little forced. She shows up at his place for the first time ever and they're almost immediately in love. Also, they definitely did not have to be cousins. I would have liked to spend a bit more time getting to know and understand the other members of the triad, especially the godfather. I typically like being thrown into the middle of conflicts like this, but when you have a complex hierarchy of characters, a lack of screentime can cause a disconnect.
All in all, I liked this. It wasn't incredible, but I was never bored. I'm very excited to see more of Wong Kar Wai's films.
As Tears Go By is my first, and certainly not my last, Wong Kar Wai film. For a debut film, it's really solid. It's not without it's flaws, though. It follows a similar formula to other mafia films. There's your main character with death looming over their head, the love interest who has no hope of ending up happy. You know the drill, but what makes this film stand out is that you can feel Wong Kar Wai's unique touch in every aspect. Even without having seen any of his other films, I can already tell what some of his directing quirks are: different saturated colors depending on the mood and atmospheric music. Tears oozes the 80's. I think that's my favorite thing about it. The synth wave tunes, outfits, slow motion action scenes, over the top mob characters, so much smoking you can almost smell it. They stuck to that vibe and I'm so glad they did. It adds a lot to the overall enjoyment of the film.
As far as what I didn't like, the blurry slow motion during most of the action scenes were the worst. I've seen other directors use that before and I never could understand it. It makes those scenes confusing, annoying to watch, and it makes you wonder if they're trying to cover up mistakes. The romance also feels a little forced. She shows up at his place for the first time ever and they're almost immediately in love. Also, they definitely did not have to be cousins. I would have liked to spend a bit more time getting to know and understand the other members of the triad, especially the godfather. I typically like being thrown into the middle of conflicts like this, but when you have a complex hierarchy of characters, a lack of screentime can cause a disconnect.
All in all, I liked this. It wasn't incredible, but I was never bored. I'm very excited to see more of Wong Kar Wai's films.
