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Kar-wai WongJohn Powers. WKW is known for his elliptically plotted pieces that explore--in lush, cinematic scenes--themes of love, longing, isolation and the burden of memory with melancholy, often misfit characters. His style reveals a fascination with mood and texture over a more straightforward narrative approach; his films feature slow motion action scenes, distorted close-ups, and fight sequences shot from several disoriented angles. A sense of place figures prominently in Wkw: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai films; each has an urban backdrop, with myriad cultural influences, that assumes the importance of a character. He is also known for working many of the same actors film after film, such as the Wkw: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai and glamorous Maggie Cheung, who he has helped make famous. After an opening critical and personal essay by Powers, the book is structured as 5 nights in 4 places different areas of Hong Kong, which is where WKW has always lived and worked. The 5 nights will each include a conversation between Powers and WKW. Along the way, the texts will explore larger themes on questions of beauty and making films in China. Wong owns the independent production company Jet Tone Films. John Power is a writer and film critic. Powers covers film and politics for Vogue and Vogue. He previously served for six years as the film critic. Weeklywhere he spent twelve years as a critic and columnist. He is a former professor at Georgetown University. WKW: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai : Wong Kar Wai :

Two years ago, I was in Cannes covering the film festival when my phone rang. He was calling from Hong Kong, he said, and wanted to ask me a question. He was thinking of putting together a book on his career with Rizzoli, but he needed the proper person to write it. Who would I recommend? Taking the plunge, I offered to do it, and he instantly agreed. This was true. I spent the evening across from Wong, who was then a formidably hip young man who, for some reason, wore sunglasses indoors at night. For the record, I actually do look a bit like Tam. Now, Wong is a man who likes familiarity, and my resemblance to his onetime collaborator somehow made me stand out to him. Along the way, he began taking off his sunglasses. I remember, even more vividly, how calm and un-defensive he was listening to my criticisms. What made his equanimity all the more remarkable was that my complaints were utterly misguided. Our Wkw: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai comradeship went on for 20 years, all of them blessedly unconstrained by the inhibiting, red-eyed presence of a tape recorder. We never did a proper interview, much less anything so large as a book. This meant we had to race against the clock. This gave us. The clock ticking, I flew to Hong Kong in August to start interviewing him. I had failed to reckon with one thing: Wong is the Usain Bolt of delay. His films are notorious for their seemingly endless shooting schedules and their constantly postponed release dates. Wong himself freely admits that he finds it hard to get cracking on a project until he feels under the gun. Only then can he truly concentrate; only then will his best self emerge. Until that point, well. We spent my first two days in town hanging around his company, Jet Tone, whose Causeway Bay offices were in the process of being dismantled. As Wkw: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai, Wong was excellent company—friendly, solicitous, good-humored. But Wong has his methods, and on the third day, we hopped into a car with his wife, Esther, and he began showing me his world. Wong grew up here when it was a bustling melting pot, filled with arrivals from Shanghai like his parentsmovie stars, writers, ladies of the night, tailors, kung fu masters, Indian shopkeepers, and Filipino musicians. His eyes light up when he talks about them. From there, we moved to the Chungking Mansions, the teeming, multistoried, multicultural bazaar immortalized in Chungking Express. Over samosas from a hole-in-the-wall shop, he told me that his father—who is usually described as a sailor—had managed the biggest nightclub in Hong Kong in that very building. But to his chagrin, it, like so much of the Hong Kong he loved, was gone—replaced by a cut-rate jewelry outlet. To my vast relief, they had run out. Although Wong is famous for Wkw: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai stories of romantic disappointment, he and Esther have been together since they first met selling jeans as teenagers nearly four decades ago. We went on recording until we were both talked out. As it was, we still had 10 movies to talk about, not to mention much of his life. How could we possibly get all this done? As I flew home to L. Flying back home this time, I thought it possible that we would actually make our deadline. This only goes to show how foolish I am. There could be no arguing with that—especially when Wkw: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai book was about Wong, not me. Besides, how can you take it personally when a legendary procrastinator is running late on a project that you entered knowing full well that legend? We pushed back the release date indefinitely, and I began to wonder if it might never get done. After all, Wong is a man whose mind is forever teeming with endless possibilities. He re-edited—and rereleased—his martial arts film Ashes of Time more than a decade after its original release. As with his films, Wong began tinkering and tinkering with the text of his interview, periodically sending me his latest revisions to make sure they flowed properly. He was still tinkering six months later, in early Maywhen we met up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Watching this in action, I understood better how it would have been impossible Wkw: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai Wong to have let our book go out on the original schedule. He asked about Scorsese when was Silence coming out? Like Hong Kong, places there stay open until all hours of the morning. Oh, what? Vogue Daily The best new culture, style, and beauty stories from Vogue, delivered to you daily. WKW: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai - Rizzoli New York Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. John Powers. The long-awaited retrospective from the internationally renowned film director celebrated for his visually lush and atmospheric films. Wong Kar Wai is known for his romantic and stylish films that explore—in saturated, cinematic scenes—themes of love, longing, and the burden of memory. His style reveals a fascination with mood and texture, and a sense of place figures prom The long-awaited retrospective from the internationally renowned film director celebrated for his visually lush and atmospheric films. His style reveals a fascination with mood and texture, and a sense of place figures prominently. The book is structured as six conversations between Powers and Wong each in a different localeincluding the restaurant where he shot In the Mood for Love and the snack bar where he shot Chungking Express. Get A Copy. Hardcoverpages. More Details Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about WKWplease sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Wkw: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai Average rating 4. Rating details. More Wkw: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai. Sort order. Sep 22, Michael Losasso rated it it was amazing. For anyone who has seen any of Wong Kar Wai's work and has felt any kind of emotional resonance which I hope is everyone who watches his films this work will add another dimension to his work. Hearing the creative exegesis of each film to stories of their making you see not only the artist at work but get a sense of the man himself, how humble and specific he is how he cares more about what is in his characters pocket than about following a script. This has deepened my love and esteem for Wkw: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai For anyone who has seen any of Wong Kar Wai's work and has felt any kind of emotional resonance which I hope is everyone who watches his films this work will add another dimension to his work. This has deepened my love and esteem for Kar Wai and I cannot recommend it enough. Jun 09, Jia Chan rated it it was amazing. A must read for all WKW and movie fans. I have been waiting for a book like this after watching his first movie "Days of being Wild" more than a decade ago. This book is beautiful with lots of photography of all his movies from "As Tears Go By" to his latest "The Grandmaster". The book has many anecdotes of his movies conducted through a series of interviews between the book author and the auteur. After reading it, I intend to re-watch all his movies with a deeper sense of awe. Apr 24, Ilse van der Spoel rated it really liked it. Great insights into WKWs persona and methods. A must have. Lots of interesting Wkw: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai. Great interviewer. Feb 08, David Kilmer rated it really liked it. Great book marred only by inordinate number of typos. May 24, Daphne rated it it was amazing. I don't read retrospective books like this often, so I can't exactly tell you if this is something to be expected as per the norm, but any fan of Wong Kar Wai would definitely enjoy this journey into his thoughts with respect to his films. May 17, Andrew rated it it was amazing. Gorgeous, huge hardcover retrospect of Wong Kar Wai. I highly recommend it for fans of his films. Tons of interviews and literature by John Powers and Kar Wai himself, glorious film stills and insight into ALL of the directors' filmography. Well worth the price. May 21, Jack Syron rated it it was amazing Shelves: 5-art-shelf. Wkw: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai life; awesome piece of movie history condensed in a very glossy sexy book. WKW still leaves enough for the imagination to ponder on. Most of his films I've seen only once but they are stagnant to the mind and this book brought back memories of certain parts of his films where I shared the same questions. WKW is well informed as I thought he would be, I wish there was an appendix to his references and influences. Still it was a fever to read but bittersweet like his films, thus why I've Awesome life; awesome piece of movie history condensed in a very glossy sexy book. Still it was a fever to read but bittersweet like his films, thus why I've seen most of his films once; they're too good. May 31, Kai Wong rated it it was amazing Shelves: minorityreport. Eric rated it it was amazing Mar 19, Anne Santos rated it it was amazing Mar 27, Wing Wong rated it it was amazing Jan 17, Bella rated it it was amazing Aug 14, Gunnar Lukari rated Wkw: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai it was amazing May 17, Randall Pink Floyd rated it liked it May 16, Jack Wkw: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai rated it it was amazing Jun 18, Silvano rated it really liked it Sep 11, Kristin rated it it was amazing Mar 29, Charlie rated it really liked it Jun 22, Oliver Olivo rated it it Wkw: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai amazing Feb 12, Andrew Swafford rated it liked it Jul 05, Xing Zhang rated it really liked it Jun 03, Eric rated it it was amazing Jul 12, Tom Shu Yu Lin rated it it was amazing Dec 01, Samantha rated it really liked it Dec 09, Victor rated it it was amazing Nov 23, Sophie He rated it it was amazing Nov 11, Aphinya C. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Readers also enjoyed. Media Tie In. About Wong Kar-Wai. Wong Kar-Wai. Books by Wong Kar-Wai. 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