Happy Together (1997 film)


Happy Together is a 1997 Hong Kong romance film directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-wai, that depicts a turbulent romance. The English title is inspired by the Turtles' 1967 song, which is covered by Danny Chung on the film's soundtrack; the Chinese title is an idiomatic expression suggesting "the exposure of something intimate".
The film regarded as one of the best LGBT films in the New Queer Cinema movement and received positive reviews and screened at several film festivals such as the 1997 Toronto International Film Festival; it was nominated for the Palme d'Or and won Best Director at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.

Plot outline

Ho Po-Wing and Lai Yiu-Fai, a couple from Hong Kong, visit Buenos Aires hoping to renew their relationship. The movie begins in Hong Kong with a sex scene between the lovers and their discussion of a lamp with the Iguazu Falls that Ho Po-Wing bought, deciding that they would visit it together. In Buenos Aires, the couple take a road trip to the falls, however, they get lost and their car breaks down, making them get into an argument and break up. Fai's voice-over tells the audience that breakups are typical in their relationship and the rekindling of their romance often reignites when Po-Wing says to Fai "let's start over". Both without enough money to fly back home, Fai ends up as a promoter for a tango bar in Buenos Aires serving mainly groups of women tourists from Taiwan, and Ho Po-Wing begins engaging in sex work, bringing many of his clients to the bar. Ho Po-Wing tries to get back together with Fai but instead they end up arguing about Po-Wing's irresponsible use of their money. Later, Po-Wing returns to apologize and gives Fai a watch to sell which he supposedly stole from one of his clients because he returns the next day after being beat up. Po-Wing asks Fai to return the watch, which he does, but the next day Po-Wing turns up even more badly hurt than the first time, prompting Fai to take Po-Wing to the hospital. Due to the severity of his injuries, Po-Wing is unable to care for himself and he thus moves into Fai's apartment. Fai cooks and cares for Po-Wing as he recovers slowly, but rejects Po-Wing's romantic advances at first. As time passes, they start falling in love again, culminating in them practicing the tango together in their apartment and in the kitchen.
At the tango bar, Fai sees one of Po-Wing's old clients, supposedly the one who hurt Po-Wing and follows him into the bar, smashing a beer bottle on his head and therefore losing his job. Fai then starts to work as a cook helper at a Chinese restaurant, where he meets Chang, a young Taiwanese man. Chang has exceptionally good hearing, and he often overhears Fai's call with Po-Wing during work. In one scene he answers Po-Wing's phone call for Fai. Po-Wing starts to suspect that Fai is sleeping with another man to which Fai gets annoyed and prompting an argument, with Fai asking Po-Wing about his past boyfriends. Fully recovered, Po-Wing begins going out again much to Fai's dismay as he starts to feel lonely and jealous. One night, Po-Wing demands that Fai return his passport which he stole when Po-Wing was first injured. This causes another argument as Fai firmly refuses to return it and Po-Wing destroys the apartment looking for it, ending with Po-Wing leaving for good. Fai's voice-over returns, explaining that he was happiest when Po-Wing was injured and a part of him wanted Po-Wing to remain that way in order to preserve their romantic relationship.
Meanwhile, Fai befriends Chang at the restaurant. Chang rejects a female coworker's invitation to go to a movie together, preferring to stay at the restaurant with Fai. Chang claims it is because he is attracted to women with deep, low voices. Fai and Chang play soccer as a team together with their coworkers, and they win quite often. Chang quits his job during the summer, telling Fai that he has made enough money to continue his journey, and he hopes to visit the lighthouse at the southern-most tip of Argentina, or the end of the world. On his last night in Buenos Aires, Chang explains that he does not like photographs but rather voice recordings to remember Fai, his only friend in Argentina. Chang also tells Fai that he would play the recording when he reaches the end of the world, where it is said that one can let go of their past troubles. Fai gives his voice recorder to Fai and asks him to say something from the heart but all Fai can do is sob. After Chang has left, Fai begins going to public bathrooms and theatres to hookup with other men, and he sees Ho Po-Wing unexpectedly. He then realizes that loneliness is the reason Po-Wing had so many lovers in the past and that Fai himself is now in the same situation.
Later, Fai narrates that in Hong Kong, he worked for a close friend of his dad, and had stolen money from him to fund his and Po-Wing's trip to Buenos Aires. Since then, Fai has been saving money hoping to repay what he took and restart his life in Hong Kong. He calls his father to apologize and update him on his current life but is rejected. Then, Fai begins writing a Christmas card to his father, which turned into a long letter in which he comes clean implicitly about his theft and relationships with men. Fai starts to work in a slaughterhouse because it pays well and enables him live his life in Hong Kong time. He realizes that Argentina is at the opposite end of the earth, and begins to wonder what Hong Kong is like upside down. Po-Wing calls Fai demanding his passport back but Fai doesn't pick up the phone. Fai narrates that he would like to return Ho Po-Wing's passport but he doesn't want to meet him and restart the cycle of their relationship all over again.
Soon, Fai has made enough money to return to Hong Kong. He finally visits the Iguazu Falls before leaving Argentina. Meanwhile, Ho Po-Wing calls Fai only to learn that he is not there. Ho Po-Wing dances the tango with a random guy at the bar where Fai used to work, while reminiscing dancing with Fai. Po-Wing cleans Fai's room while waiting for Fai to return and fixes the lamp of the Iguazu Falls before weeping mournfully. Fai is at the Iguazu Falls alone and narrates that he is regretful because he thinks that two people should be visiting the falls together, paralleling the two figures on the lamp. Chang visits the lighthouse at the end of the world and plays his recorder, hearing Fai weep. Before Chang ends his trip in Argentina, he returns to Buenos Aires hoping to say goodbye to Fai, but no one knows where he is. Chang wonders about the other end of the world, specifically the Liaoning Street night market in Taipei. Coincidentally, Fai makes a stop in Taipei for one night before going home to Hong Kong and visits the booth run by Chang's family in Liaoning Street night market. Through his voice-over, Fai realizes that Chang is able to wander around so freely while travelling because Chang knows that he has a home that he can return to. Before Fai leaves the booth, he takes a photo of Chang, saying that even though he doesn't know if he will ever see Chang again, he knows where to find him. The last scene shows Fai on a train in Taipei listening to Danny Chung's cover of the Turtles' song "Happy Together".

Cast

Box office

During its Hong Kong theatrical release, Happy Together made HK $8,600,141 at the box office.
Happy Together also had a limited theatrical run in North America through Kino International, where it grossed US$320,319.

Censorship

The producers of the film considered censoring the film, specifically the opening sex scene for certain audiences. Posters for the movie featuring the two leads fully clothed with their legs intertwined was banned from public places in Hong Kong and removed all together before the movie's release.

Critical reception

The film was generally well received in Hong Kong and has been since heavily analyzed by many Chinese and Hong Kongese scholars and film critics such as Rey Chow and 陳劍梅.
A Hong Kong film review site called it an "elliptical, quicksilver experiment" that is "pure Wong Kar-Wai, which is equal parts longing, regret, and pathetic beauty” and applauding it for its cinematography.
Due to the international recognition that the film received, it was reviewed in several major U.S. publications. Edward Guthmann, of the San Francisco Chronicle, gave the film an ecstatic review, lavishing praise on Wong for his innovative cinematography and directorial approach; whilst naming Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs amongst those who would have been impressed by his film. Stephen Holden, of the New York Times, said it was a more coherent, heartfelt movie than Wong's previous films, without losing the stylism and brashness of his earlier efforts.
Derek Elley for Variety gave an overall positive review despite its lack of plot, calling it Wong's "most linear and mature work for some time". Elley praised the mise-en-scène, music, and William Chang's production design. He emphasized that Christopher Doyle was the "real star" of the film for his grainy and high contrast cinematography. Both Elley and Andrew Thayne for Asian Movie Pulse stated that both Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai excelled as the main characters in the film.
However, Jonathan Rosenbaum gave the film a mixed review in the Chicago Reader. Rosenbaum, in a summary of the film, criticised it for having a vague plotline and chastised Wong's "lurching around". In Box Office Magazine, Wade Major gave the film one of its most negative reviews, saying that it offered "little in the way of stylistic or narrative progress, although it should please his core fans." He deprecated Wong's cinematography, labelling it "random experimentation" and went on to say this was "unbearably tedious" due to the lack of narrative.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 79% based on 34 reviews, with an average rating of 7.23/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Happy Together's strong sense of style complements its slice of life love story, even if the narrative slogs." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 69/100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Awards and nominations

In 1997, Wong Kar-wai was already well-known in the art house Chinese cinema world because of the success of his previous films: Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, and Ashes of Time. However, by winning the Cannes festival award for Best Director for Happy Together, his first major award, Wong was given a spotlight on the international stage.

Music

In this film, Wong Kar-wai moved away from his previous centralization of American and British music, instead, mostly favouring South American music. This transnationalism "decentralizes America" and forms new connections between cultures that are not conventionally linked. The first song of the film, Caetano Veloso's cover of "Cucurrucú Paloma", a sad ballad about a man waiting for his lover to return plays when the couple breaks up for the first time in the film. Here, the Iguazu Falls are seen for the first time and it is also the first shot of the film that is in colour. The song extends Fai's thoughts where he is imagining the waterfall which he associated with Po-Wing, his sadness and lovesickness becoming apparent in this South American setting.

Musical motifs

, an American experimental rock artist's song "Chunga's Revenge" is played throughout the movie "emphasizing difficult relationship with ". The loud guitar chorus represents Po-Wing's "volatile, flamboyant nature" which contrasts the somber trumpet and slower beat representing Fai's sensitivity and steadiness. This song is also linked to Lai's loneliness and his longing to be "happy together" while showing the difference between the two characters and the increasing emotional distance between them as the film progresses.
Astor Piazzolla's "Finale " and similar bandoneon songs play when the couple is both together and apart, representing their relationship. These songs play during romantic scenes such as the taxi scene, tango in the kitchen. However it is also played after Fai and Po-Wing break up for the last time and Po-Wing dances the tango with a random man while thinking about when he danced with Fai. The last time this song is played when Fai reaches the waterfall and the same shot of the Iguazu Falls as the beginning of the film is seen but this time with the "Finale" song. This "eulogizes that relationship" as Po-Wing breaks down in Fai's old apartment, realizing that he has abandoned their relationship because Fai left behind the lamp while Fai mourns their relationship at the falls. Wong Kar-wai discovered Astor Piazollo's music when he bought his CDs in the Amsterdam airport on his way to Buenos Aires to film this movie.
"Happy Together", the Turtles' song covered by Danny Chung is the last song to be played in the film when Fai is on the train in Taipei. This song is used to subvert Western music tropes that use it "to celebrate a budding romance or as an ironic commentary on the lack of such a romance". It also shows that "Lai is at peace with their relationship, making it a crucial narrative device denoting the meaning of the film".
While interpretations vary, Wong Kar-wai has said that:

Themes and interpretations

Nationality, belonging, and cultural identity

At the very beginning of the movie, Wong includes shots of Fai's British National Overseas Passport as a way to indicate to the audience that this film will be dealing with issues of nationality.

The Handover of Hong Kong

Released in May 1997, intentionally before the handover of Hong Kong from the British to China on June 30, 1997 after 100 years of colonial rule, the film represents the uncertainty of the future felt by the Hong Kong people at the time. The films subtitle: "A Story About Reunion" also implies that the film would comment on the handover. The inclusion of the date in the opening and the news broadcast of Deng Xiaoping's death on February 20, 1997 serve to place the audience explicitly in the time period immediately before the Handover of Hong Kong. Some have suggested that the English title of the film is in relation to the uncertainty around if Hong Kong and China would be "happy together" after their reunion.
In one interpretation, Po-Wing and Fai represent two sides of Hong Kong that cannot be reconciled: Po-Wing stays in Buenos Aires without a passport, like Hong Kong Chinese people who don't have a real British passport, representing an "eternal exile and diaspora". Fai, however, is able to see the waterfall and go to Taiwan but it is not shown whether Fai is able to reconcile with his father or not. Since Po-Wing wants his passport, meaning he wants to leave Buenos Aires, both main characters show that they feel uncertain about their place in the diaspora.
A different interpretation stated that Fai, a gay man, represents the social freedoms that the Hong Kong people possess and the runaway son who travelled to the other side of the world: Buenos Aires in the film and Britain historically. But, this son "must return and reconcile his differences with old-fashioned China” which is represented by Fai's father. Chang here, represents Taiwan, a country with a similar past as Hong Kong with China, who comforts Fai, showing him that there is hope for the future. This hope is demonstrated through the increasing saturation of the film as Fai's life becomes more and more stable.

Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Buenos Aires

Wong's choice of Buenos Aires is particular because it is the antipode of Hong Kong, meaning it is on the opposite side of the world and in an opposite time. This had been interpreted as a place where Fai and Po-Wing were looking for the opposite of home and Hong Kong. They do not describe this as a political allegory but rather a questioning of cultural identity and the definitions of "home, belonging, and migrancy". Another interpretation viewed the scenes of Hong Kong shot upside down not as a political allegory either, but a way to show how far the characters were from their roots.
Similarly, the theme of displacement from Hong Kong to Buenos Aires interestingly emphasizes their similarities rather than their differences when compared to the shots of Hong Kong in Wong Kar-wai's previous films. Despite being on the other side of the world and far from their "home", the couple experiences the same problems, implying the inevitability of their relationship's deterioration. By emphasizing the similarities between these two places, Wong emphasizes the homelessness and lack of belonging of both Fai and Po-Wing.

Confinement

Another theme of the film is the sense of confinement and claustrophobia that accompanies the sense of non-belonging of Fai and Po-Wing. This is conveyed through the shaky handheld camera, the small size poor lighting, and dirtiness of Fai's apartment, the kitchen, alleys, the tango bar, the restaurant kitchen, and the public bathroom corridor. This confinement is also manifested through Po-Wing's confinement to Fai's apartment because his injured hands prevent him from taking care of himself. Later, Po-Wing is also confined to Buenos Aires because Fai refuses to return his passport. Yet, the imagery of the Iguazu Falls contrast the theme of confinement with the symbolic openness of possibility and hope of Po-Wing and Fai's relationship.

Marginalization

One interpretation explained that the lack of a sense of belonging due to a combination of their marginal race, sexuality, and language in Buenos Aires and Hong Kong prevented Po-Wing and Fai from forming a stable relationship. This instability is in part shown through the instability of the camera in some shots, relating to the character's inability to find their own place in the world. Neither place is welcoming and the couple experiences the same problems in both places.
The marginalization of Fai specifically is demonstrated by the way he visually cannot blend into the crowds and environments in Buenos Aires in comparison to Taipei. It is only in Taipei that Fai smiles, and it is implied that he feels a sense of belonging as he visits the Chang family noodle shop and takes the train. The movie does not definitively show that Fai returns to Hong Kong, making it possible that he stayed in Taipei, where he feels like he belongs and begins to have hope for the future.

The Iguazu Falls and the lamp

The importance of the Iguazu Falls is established early on in the film when it is shown on the lamp that Po-Wing bought for Fai and is said to be the entire reason the couple chose to go to Buenos Aires in the first place. The real waterfall is then shown in Fai's imaginings after the first break up as the first shot in colour. It is also shot from a birds eye view and given unrealistic blue and green colouring, giving it a supernatural visual effect.
One scholar interpreted the representation of the falls as a contemplation on the immensity of mother nature's power and the unpredictable nature of the future since the end of the waterfall is imperceivable. It also evokes a feeling of powerlessness in the face of nature and the future, paralleling the inevitability of the deterioration of Po-Wing and Fai's relationship
Another scholar interpreted the waterfall itself as a symbol of Po-Wing and Fai's relationship because “their passion is indeed torrential, destructive, always pounding away as it falls head forward and spirals downward towards an uncertain end”.
The falls are seen throughout the film on the lamp in Fai's apartment, representing the continued hope and investment in his relationship with Po-Wing. However, when Fai finally visits the Iguazu Falls but without Po-Wing, leaving the lamp behind, Po-Wing understands that Fai has finally abandoned their relationship. Both Fai and Po-Wing mourn their relationship by looking at the waterfall, Fai seeing it in reality, and Po-Wing after having fixed the lamp's rotating mechanism.

Queerness

The queerness of the film is highly contested. On one hand, it is characterized as "one of the best films chronicling gay love ever made" because of the universality of the problems that Fai and Po-Wing face in their relationship that exist in any relationship no matter the gender of the participants. Many scholars and film critics agree that while being gay is not the subject of the film, its portrayal of gay romance is realistic. The film was praised for not casting the characters on gendered lines, questioning their manliness, and showing the complexity of gay men as social beings and individuals.
Wong Kar-wai explained that:
"In fact, I don’t like people to see this film as a gay film. It’s more like a story about human relationships and somehow the two characters involved are both men. Normally I hate movies with labels like ‘gay film,’ ‘art film’ or ‘commercial film.’ There is only good film and bad film”
On the other hand, some scholars argue that one of the reasons that Po-Wing and Fai ended up in Buenos Aires is because they are gay and are thus exiled queer men. Jeremy Tambling, an author and critic noted that the universalization of the gay relationship is not a positive aspect of the film because it erases the specificity of their experiences and the film's theme of marginalization. Furthermore, the film broadly portrays neo-Confucian values of hard work, frugality, and normativity, highlighting its lack of queerness and emphasis of heteronormativity. Fai is rewarded for following these values as he works constantly, cooks, cares for other, wants to reconcile with his father, and saves his money. While Po-Wing lives in excess through his numerous sexual encounters, spending, lack of traditional work, and flamboyance. At the end of the film, Fai is able to reach his destination, Hong Kong/Taiwan and the Iguazu Falls while Po-Wing is stuck in Buenos Aires without a passport. Chang also represents these values as he works hard at the restaurant, saves enough money for his trip to the 'end of the world', and has a loving family to return to in Taipei. The characters who conform to this normativity are rewarded while others are punished, thus emphasizing a "straight" narrative.

Legacy

Since its release, Happy Together has been described as the "most acclaimed gay Asian film", remaining in the public conscience.
South African singer, songwriter, and actor Nakhane cited Happy Together as one of their three favourite films of all time.
James Laxton, the cinematographer for the critically acclaimed film Moonlight explained in a Time article that he was inspired by the colours and lighting of Happy Together and In the Mood for Love to create a "dream-like sense of reality". More specifically, he cited the scene where Chiron's mother scolds him and pink light emanated from her bedroom as particularly inspired by Wong Kar-wai and Christopher Doyle's work.
At the 2017 Golden Horse Awards, Happy Together was re-screened in celebration of the film's 20th anniversary. The main promotional poster for the award ceremony used a screenshot from the film of the main actors as well as shots of the Iguazu Falls.