(aka "As Tears Go By" or Wong gok ka moon" or "Carmen of the Streets" or "Mongkok Carmen" or "Rexie Naner" )

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/direct-chair/wong.htm
Hong Kong 1988

Though as gritty as any 80’s Hong Kong gangster picture, AS TEARS GO BY is a watershed film heralding one of the most auspicious directorial debuts in international cinema. Wong Kar-Wai’s visually stunning, tough and romantic 1988 first feature deftly smuggles the director’s now celebrated genius into an incendiary "Heroic Bloodshed" street opera of the John Woo mold.

Already stretched to breaking in a loyalty tug of war between Triad bosses and his loose cannon partner, Wah (Andy Lau - FULLTIME KILLER, DAYS OF BEING WILD), a rising star in the HK underworld, finds himself saddled with beautiful, ailing country cousin Ngor. As an escalating test of wills with a stubborn debtor explodes into bloodshed and a mob turncoat instigates a ruthless police crackdown, Wah’s growing fascination with Ngor becomes his last chance for escape from a violent past and a dubious future.

Cast in comic eye candy roles prior to AS TEARS GO BY, Maggie Cheung (IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE) cites Ngor, her first of many collaborations with Wong Kar-Wai, as the character that truly began her dramatic career. Under Wong Kar-Wai’s direction, Jacky Cheung (DAYS OF BEING WILD) earned the 1988 Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actor Award for his portrayal of Wah’s guilt-ridden, out of control partner Fly. Balancing epiphanous imagery with experimentation and realism with brazen romanticism, Wong Kar-Wai’s AS TEARS GO BY offers a tantalizing glimpse into the nascent brilliance of one of the most influential filmmaking talents of the last twenty years.

Posters

Theatrical Release: September 9th, 1989 - Toronto Film Festival

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

 

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DVD Comparison:

Tartan (The Wong Kar-Wai Collection) - Region 2 - PAL vs. Kino - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Tartan - Region 2 - PAL vs. Mega-Star - Region 0 - NTSC

Big thanks to Gary Tooze and Henrik Sylow and for the Screen Caps!

(Tartan (The Wong Kar-Wai Collection) - Region 2 - PAL TOP LEFT vs. Kino - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP RIGHT vs. Tartan - Region 2- PAL - BOTTOM LEFT vs. Mega-Star - Region 0 - NTSC - BOTTOM RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers

     

 
Distribution

Tartan

Region 2 - PAL

Kino

Region 0 - NTSC

 
Tartan
Region 2- PAL		 Mega-Star
Region 0 - NTSC
Distribution

Tartan

Region 2 - PAL

Kino

Region 0 - NTSC

 Tartan
Region 2- PAL		 Mega-Star
Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime 1:35:08 (4% PAL speedup) 1:39:21 1:35:04 (4% PAL speedup) 1:38:30
Video

1.82:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 7.46 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

1.75:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 4.93 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

1.78 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 5.0 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

1.75:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 5.54 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:

Tartan (WKW Collection)

 

Bitrate:

 

Kino

 

Bitrate:

 

Tartan

 

Bitrate:

 

Mega-Star

 

Audio 2.0 Dolby Digital Cantonese Cantonese (2.0 Dolby Digital)

Mandarin (2.0 Dolby Digital)

Cantonese (5.1 Dolby Digital)
Subtitles English, None English, None English, None English, Japanese, Korean, Bahasa Malaysian, Bahasa Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese (traditional), Chinese (simplified), None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Tartan

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.82:1

Edition Details:
• Audio Commentary by Richard Jobson
• In The Mood For Love Trailer
• 2046 Trailer

DVD Release Date: November 13, 2006
Box

Chapters 16

 Release Information:
Studio: Kino

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.75:1

Edition Details:
• Trailers for 4 Wong Kar-wai films
• Stills gallery (8 in click through)
• Filmographies of cast

DVD Release Date: October 19th, 2004
Keep case

Chapters 12
 

 Release Information:
Studio: Tartan

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78

Edition Details:
• Trailers
• Booklet

 

DVD Release Date: January 24th, 2005
Keep case

Chapters 16

Release Information:
Studio: Mega-Star

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.75:1

Edition Details:
• Trailer
• More Attractions

 

DVD Release Date:
Keep Case

Chapters 9

 

 

Comments

ADDITION - Tartan (WKW Collection) -  Tartan made promise of their word and have now re-released both "Days of Being Wild" and "As Tears Go By" in correct Cantonese language, part of their WKW box, also including "2046".

As the previous edition, this also is the uncut version of the film. The image is minutely better defined in Tartans new transfer, but not visible when viewing.

Added to the DVD is an audio commentary by director Richard Jobson ("Sixteen years of Alcohol"). It is much the commentary of a fan, of a fellow film maker, who not only is influenced by WKW, but also uses music in a similar way in his own films.

 - Henrik Sylow

ADDITION - Tartan - Jan- 05

The Tartan is significantly different in all aspects.

It is a DVD5 edition. The film itself only takes up 3.5 GB.

The source is lacking the blue-ish sterile look of the Asian, and other, version(s). The source is on the other side less grainy. Details are virtually the same.

It is also a different scan. The frame has 2% to 2.5% less frame information left (depending on frame), and 2% to 2.5% more frame information right (depending on frame). And in one scene (frame #7), the scan is approx 11% different vertically, preferring cropped feet rather than cropped head.

The image itself is quiet decent, with a minimum of compression artifacts, as minor halos and some colour banding.

Where all other DVD releases of this film is in Cantonese, Tartan comes with a 2.0 Dolby Digital Mono Mandarin track. As this is a Hong Kong production, the language should be Cantonese. According to Tartan, they did request the Cantonese version, but recieved Mandarin.

But the real critical issue here is, that apart from the booklet, this is a DVD5 bare-boned release, and to ask £19,99 is really pushing the envelope to cash in on Wong and the January UK premiere of "2046".

BBFC originally cut the film by a few seconds. This version is uncut, showing Fly being hit in the chest by the metal gas container (57:16).


Henrik Sylow

Well it looks like a port. Perhaps Mega-Star sold their master to Kino. The image is too close to call, both show some film grain and have non-progressive frame ghosting between scenes (not encoded each frame separately) . The Kino looks very minutely sharper and similarly superior contrast - but I am looking very closely. There are a few other differences - The Kino subtitles, though more grammatically accurate, are a little sparse in comparison. My Cantonese wife says it is pretty negligible. Personally I like the Kino subs for clarity. The Kino does have better extras, but hardly worth even mentioning. Kino have some wonderful animated menus. If you require there are bountiful subtitles selections on the Mega Star. I'm a little confused by my DVD software which says the Kino has 2 audio channels and 8 audio streams. I know the Mega Star has 5.1 (bumped). Anyway, bottom line is I wouldn't recommend trading up for the Boxset based on this... Maybe for Days of Being Wild (Mega Star's is so green!) Lets see what the rest of the set is like. I am pretty pleased so far. I wasn't expecting the moon, but any improvement over the strong Mega-Star editions would be a surprise.
 

Gary W. Tooze

 

 




DVD Menus

Tartan (The Wong Kar-Wai Collection) - Region 2 - PAL

 



(Kino - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Tartan - Region 2- PAL - MIDDLE vs. Mega-Star - Region 0 - NTSC - RIGHT)


 

   

 

 

Screen Captures

(Tartan (The Wong Kar-Wai Collection) - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Kino - Region 0 - NTSC - 2nd vs. Tartan - Region 2- PAL - 3rd vs. Mega-Star - Region 0 - NTSC - BOTTOM)
subtitle sample (English only) - captures resized to 800px width from 1016px original

 

 

(Tartan (The Wong Kar-Wai Collection) - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Kino - Region 0 - NTSC - 2nd vs. Tartan - Region 2- PAL - 3rd vs. Mega-Star - Region 0 - NTSC - BOTTOM)

 

 

(Tartan (The Wong Kar-Wai Collection) - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Kino - Region 0 - NTSC - 2nd vs. Tartan - Region 2- PAL - 3rd vs. Mega-Star - Region 0 - NTSC - BOTTOM)

 

 

(Tartan (The Wong Kar-Wai Collection) - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Kino - Region 0 - NTSC - 2nd vs. Tartan - Region 2- PAL - 3rd vs. Mega-Star - Region 0 - NTSC - BOTTOM)

 

 

(Tartan (The Wong Kar-Wai Collection) - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Kino - Region 0 - NTSC - 2nd vs. Tartan - Region 2- PAL - 3rd vs. Mega-Star - Region 0 - NTSC - BOTTOM)

 

 

(Tartan (The Wong Kar-Wai Collection) - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Kino - Region 0 - NTSC - 2nd vs. Tartan - Region 2- PAL - 3rd vs. Mega-Star - Region 0 - NTSC - BOTTOM)

 

 

(Tartan (The Wong Kar-Wai Collection) - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Kino - Region 0 - NTSC - 2nd vs. Tartan - Region 2- PAL - 3rd vs. Mega-Star - Region 0 - NTSC - BOTTOM)
Note: an 11% vertically difference in the scan

 

 

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Image:

Tartan

Sound:

Kino for original
Extras: Tartan (booklet)
Menu: Tartan

 

DVD Box Covers

     

 
Distribution

Tartan

Region 2 - PAL

Kino

Region 0 - NTSC

 
Tartan
Region 2- PAL		 Mega-Star
Region 0 - NTSC

 




 

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