Could it be that even the bodyguards are tired? Coming out of the press conference, a limo whisks Greta Scacchi away to the Carlton Beach where she's having a press luncheon. Another limousine takes Carmen Chaplin away. As a result, director Philippe Rousselot is stranded at the door of the Palais. No problem. He's an old friend. I take him on the back of my scooter all the way to the Carlton.
At 38, director Wong Kar-Wai ("Ashes of Time," "Chungking
Express") is one of Hong Kong's best known filmmakers. He has decided
to stay in the former British colony after the Chinese takeover.
Considering the problems experienced by Zhang Yimou and particularly
Zhang Huan, it's not going to be easy. Taking place between Hong Kong
and Buenos Aires, "Happy Together" is the story of a couple that is
falling apart and the beginning, perhaps, for one of them, of a new
affair. But - and it's a big but - it's a homosexual couple that
we're dealing with here and the "newcomer" is barely coming out of
adolescence. An indication, perhaps, of the high esteem in which Wong
Kar-Wai is held in Hong Kong: the roles are played by Leslie Chung,
Tony Leung Chiu Wai and, as the newcomer, Chang Chen. The equivalent
in Western terms would be Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Ewan MacGregor.
The direction is dazzling, and so was the party on the beach.
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