Happy Together Leslie Cheung Tony Leung Chiu Wai

(aka "Happy Together" or "Cheun gwong tsa sit" )

Hong Kong 1997

For Happy Together (1997), Wong reduced his essential cast of characters to three and flew them halfway around the world, from Hong Kong to Buenos Aires (adding a couple of side trips to Iguacu Falls and Tierra del Fuego). The subject, moreover, is probably his boldest to date: an acrimonious and ultimately doomed gay relationship between two Hong Kong expatriates, a match that never quite becomes a triangle with a straight expatriate from Taipei. But far from concentrating or distilling his material, Wong winds up scattering it to the winds.

There are plenty of interesting aspects to this epileptic fresco. There's the passionate treatment of gay sex and romance by a straight director, featuring two of the hottest stars of Hong Kong cinema (Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung, both of whom have worked with Wong before). There's the charged and ambiguous friendship between Lai (Leung) and Chang (Chang Chen, the 14-year-old hero of Edward Yang's 1991 film A Brighter Summer Day, who's since become a big pop star in Taiwan). There's an oblique but pungent response to the end of colonial rule in Hong Kong, a sense that the characters aren't sure where or who they are as they approach the uncertainty of millennial crossover with fretful wanderlust. (A key phrase recurring in the narration and dialogue is, "We could start over.") There's also a sidelong glance at the way a particular subculture (Chinese) can reduce a dominant local culture (Buenos Aires) to a few pop staples: tangos and milongas by Astor Piazzolla, tunes by Frank Zappa, cigarettes, two sleazy bars, one lurid lava lamp. Ironically, what prevents Happy Together from becoming anything more than the sum of these parts is the same thing that keeps it alive: Wong Kar-wai's cult status.

Excerpt from Jonathan Rosenbaum at the Chicago Reader located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: April 29, 1997

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

DVD Comparison:

Mei Ah - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Kino - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Artificial Eye (NEW) - Region 2- PAL vs. Kino (Special Edition) - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Artificial Eye (OLD) - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Donald Brown for all but the new Artificial Eye (Thanks Fabi!) the Screen Caps!

DVD Box Covers

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DVD Box Cover

DVD Box Covers

1) Mei Ah - Region 0 - NTSC LEFT

2) Kino - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND

3) Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL THIRD

4) Kino (Special Edition) - Region 0 - NTSC - FOURTH

5) Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT

Distribution	Mei Ah Region 1 - NTSC	Kino Region 1 - NTSC	Artificial Eye (NEW) Region 2 - PAL	Kino Region 0 - NTSC	Artificial Eye (OLD) Region 2 - PAL
Runtime	1:38:08	1:38:30	1:31:58 (4% PAL speedup	1:36:54	1:32:54 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.73:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 4.33 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.77:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.74 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: ? 6.62 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.77:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.32 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.75:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.54 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Mei Ah
Bitrate: Kino
Bitrate: Artificial Eye (new)
Bitrate: Kino (Special Edition)
Bitrate: Artificial Eye (old)
Audio	Cantonese Dolby Digital 2.0	Cantonese Dolby Digital 2.0	Cantonese Dolby Digital 2.0, Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1	Cantonese Dolby Digital 2.0	Cantonese Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles	English + Chinese (burned in)	English (burned in)	English, none	English, none	English, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Mei Ah LaserDisc co. Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterboxed - 1.73:1 Edition Details: None DVD Release Date: November 11th, 1997 Blue keep case Chapters 21	Release Information: Studio: Kino Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterboxed - 1.77:1 Edition Details: None DVD Release Date: Aug. 13, 1999 Snapcase Chapters 13	Release Information: Studio: Artificial Eye Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Buenos Aires Zero Degree: The Making of Happy Together • Trailer • Cast And Crew Filmographies DVD Release Date: January 26th, 2009 Keepcase Chapters 12	Release Information: Studio: Kino Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.77:1 Edition Details: • Buenos Aires Zero Degree: The Making of Happy Together • Trailers • Filmographies • Stills gallery DVD Release Date: Oct. 19, 2004 Keepcase Chapters 12	Release Information: Studio: Artificial Eye Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.75:1 Edition Details: • Buenos Aires Zero Degree: The Making of Happy Together • Trailer • Filmographies DVD Release Date: Nov. 24, 2003 Keepcase Chapters 16

Comments

ADDITION: Artificial Eye - Region 2- PAL February 2009': Looks like a whole new ballgame with this 2009 Artificial Eye release. We've put the caps right in between the 2 Kino editions and as you can see - it's no contest at all. As contributor Fabi reminds me - "...please don't forget that this release isn't cropped, has a new title and the end credits are also white on black now, and one shot that was accidentally rendered to black on white on former remastered discs is back in color again. And it's got a 5.1 soundtrack."

Extras appear to mimic the first AE release - but who cares - this is the one to own. (Thanks Fabi!)

***

ON THE FIRST FOUR DVDs:

The Mei Ah disc can be excluded from these comments as it is easily the worst edition with the most contrast boosting and ingrained dual subtitles. It doesn't even have menus.

Gary Tooze

******

First of all, the Artificial Eye DVD is garbage, so let's just move on and discuss the two Kino editions.

The first Kino edition:

Pros

Excellent color

No apparent cropping

Cons

Non-anamorphic

Slightly soft, video feel (some color shimmer in B&W footage)

Burned-in subs

Blown-out highlights

No extras

The second Kino edition:

Pros

Anamorphic

Decent color, though a bit too cyan

Extras

Cons

Cropped image, especially on bottom and right

A 14-second color segment immediately after the opening credits has been rendered in black & white (see first set of captures), and the first few frames of it are missing

Lack of detail in dark scenes

A little soft

On the whole, the Kino Special Edition is an improvement over the first release, but probably not enough so to justify double-dipping, unless you have a widescreen display or want the making-of documentary (which is good). It's a shame about the cropping, and it's a mystery why the short color scene has been turned to B&W. I suspect all the B&W scenes were stripped of color to give them a neutral cast, and this small segment, which immediately precedes a lengthy B&W section, was grabbed and changed by accident.

- Donald Brown

Recommended Reading in Chinese/Hong Kong/Taiwanese Cinema (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)


Memoirs from the Beijing Film Academy by Zhen Ni, Chris Berry, Ni Zhen	Zhang Yimou: Interviews (Conversations With Filmmakers) by Frances Gateward	Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes by Chris Berry	Wong Kar-Wai: Auteur of Time (Bfi World Directors) by Stephen Teo	China into Film: Frames of Reference in Contemporary Chinese Cinema (Envisioning Asia) by Jerome Silbergeld	New Chinese Cinemas by Nick Browne	Once Upon a Time in China : A Guide to Hong Kong, Taiwanese, and Mainland Chinese Cinema by Jeff Yang	Chinese Film Theory by George S. Semsel

Check out more in "The Library"

DVD Menus

New Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL

(Kino - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Kino (Special Edition) - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)

NOTE: Mei Ah DVD has NO menus!

Subtitle sample

(Mei Ah - Region 0 - NTSC TOP vs. Kino - Region 1 - NTSC - 2nd vs. Kino (Special Edition) - Region 0 - NTSC - 3rd vs. Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)