Happy Together: A Romantic Expression of Loneliness

One of Wong Kar-Wai’s most human films is a success in capturing the loneliness of romance.

Wong Kar-Wai is a filmmaker obsessed with isolation. He perfectly captures this through his ethereal visuals, dream like scores, nuanced dialogue, and unique editing that makes time pass at a hauntingly quick pace. I’m happy to say as a Wong Kar Wai devotee that upon finally watching Happy Together I was treated to more of everything that makes Wong Kar Wai one of the most unique directors ever.

After Lai Yiu-Fai and Ho Pi-Wang break up during a trip to Argentina, they both aim to revisit their old lives, but what constitutes their desires of the past could not be more different. After Ho arrives at Lai’s door beaten to a pulp, Lai agrees to house Ho as he returns to health. While Ho, in all of his selfishness and charming annoyance, strives to get together with Lai, the other half of this tumultuous relationship craves the opposite. After weeks of living together, dozens of arguments and a few slow dances, Lai eventually meets Chang, a young man aspiring to return home and complete a journey of self discovery. As Lai’s relationships tragically crumble before him, the audience learns of his deep craving for human connection, and by the end, Wong Kar Wai presents us with a fact of life: That every one wishes for the warmth of another.

While this narrative sounds simple, it never lacks in emotional depth, and the presentation is more than capable of entrancing the viewer in a seemingly mundane story. As the film progresses, Lai becomes one of Wong’s most human characters yet. His dialogue is layered with subtext, where a screaming match with Ho covers the deep yearning he has for his lover turned enemy. He both hates and loves Ho, hiding his passport as a way to protect Ho as much as it is to keep him within arm’s reach. However, as their feuds progress Lai has no choice but to confide in Chang, who provides a particular sense of loneliness of his own. The three characters all struggle with their inner feelings and being away from anything they recognize. In other words, the characters and narrative are all thematically sound and brilliantly convey human’s need for love, and the eventual acceptance of loneliness we all face.

This emotional story is amplified by Wong’s stunning and entrancing visuals. Although his most approachable film in terms of style, Happy Together is by no means a bland film. Switching between color and black and white provides an emotional punctuation to the loneliness of the characters. The editing can evoke tension when it chooses, such as when Lai and Ho argue over Ho’s passport with there being at least twenty different shots in the span of a few seconds. However, the editing shines in the way it accentuate the feelings of loss and love felt by the characters. Careful manipulation of frames force the audience to relish in painful goodbye’s. When Chang leaves Lai the frame pauses the moment their hands touch, it’s so subtle that one might think their screen is lagging, but because Wong has established this pattern of editing before, its purpose in conveying emotion is never misunderstood. Wong indulges in mirrors and staging characters within natural frames, with both of these elements working to build the never ending loop of desire and lack these characters venture through.

The story flows, the cinematography is as stunning as Wong’s other films, and the characters are some of Wong’s most personal yet, but I struggle to say this movie is perfect. It is typical for Wong to leave characters in the wind or make films that are difficult to follow, and while Happy Together is his most approachable film, the notoriously difficult shooting rubs off on the film in some aspects. By the end I felt a strange disconnect to some components of the film, particularly in terms to Ho’s ending. Although I appreciated the symmetry of him now being as lonely as Lai was initially, I felt a hole where I expected closure. Again, Wong is not one to shy away from leaving viewers guessing, but I find it hard to believe that with its troubling production and numerous script changes that some of these lacking moments were done so on purpose.

Nevertheless, Happy Together is a film that perfectly matches visuals with theme, that is style as much as it is substance, and is guaranteed to hypnotize any viewer into its atmosphere of romantic loneliness.