"Mean Streets" Meets "Stranger Than Paradise": As Tears Go By

I have started reading Stephen Teo’s book length study on the films of Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai, one of my favorite contemporary directors. After reading each chapter on the film in question I have decided to re-watch the said film. The first up is his debut, As Tears Go By. My first impression was that it was more conventional than the films that followed and that parts of it looked amateurish.  And while, it might be his most conventional film-it is by no means amateurish. The one fight scene in particular that I remember the most from my first viewing is a bit garish, but I was impressed that he had already discovered some of his best visual techniques. There is the opening sequence where the tittles are shown alongside a row of TV monitors that is very modern and sleek. These include slow motion fight scenes, neon night scenes, scenery shots and fluid editing and effective use of music to score particular scenes.  Teo points out that Wong’s film was inspired by Scorsese's Mean Streets and unexpectedly Jim Jarmusch's Stranger Than Paradise. The relationship between the veteran triad brother, Andy Lau, and the mess up-Jacky Cheung-mirrors that of Scorsese’s first success. The romantic story, which introduces Maggie Cheung to the film industry, is based on Jarmusch’s film, where the cousin comes to visit. This film is strongly character based-a trend that becomes a recurring motif in the work of Wong. In addition, there is the romantic gesture made by Maggie Cheung to Andy Lau when she leaves she says she has bought him new glasses, but has hid one glass knowing that he will eventually need it. And that he will need to call her to find it. This becomes a sort of inside joke between the eventual lovers and is a gesture that is repeated in subsequent films. This is not his best film, but it is a surprisingly mature work masquerading as a  mere genre film.