New wave essay, bibliography and evaluation.

How well do the films directed by Wong Kar Wai reflect the social context of Hong Kong in 1980 to 2000.

In Hong Kong before the 1980s majority of the films involved martial arts, along with this an article from Filminquiry.com 2018 states that the "kung-fu craze in the sixties a worldwide phenomena" however after the 1980s when the United kingdom decided to hand over rule of Hong Kong back to China before the year 2000 many of the films shifted away from martial arts to focusing on things in the narrative themes such as change, expiration dates, loneliness and how the future is uncertain in the under belly of Hong Kong which lead to the Hong Kong new wave which is describes as new movement in the arts. An article from Annilna Koivula (2016) suggests that this change allowed for "raunchier sex scenes and more violence on screen" demonstrated in Fallen Angels 1995, which may have been brought on by "a surge in independent movie-making with directors experimenting with more artistic films". In this essay I am going to explore how films directed by Wong Kar Wai reflect the social context of what was happening in Hong Kong in the 1980s to 2000 while in the process of rule being handed over to China by focusing on the 3 texts Fallen Angels 1995, Chungking Express 1994 and In the Mood for Love 2000. I have chosen to focus on texts from Wong Kar Wai  as he often "delivers experimental, bold, and highly stylised cinematography and editing in his films".

When the audience is first introduced to Wong Kar Wais 1995 text Fallen Angels they can immediately tell that the text uses a lot of low key lighting within the cinematography and the mise-en-scene is almost always shown to be at night which could represent his 'unconventional style of cinema' (Stephen Teo 2005) or it could represent the mystery of the future for the characters as this is a common connotation of low key lighting. A reason as to why Wong Kar Wai may have used low key lighting to connote mystery is so the the audience can decode this as representing the rule of Hong Kong going from the United Kingdom to China and how 'Uncertainty lingers over Hong Kong handover'. The cinematography combining low key lighting and shots at night help convey to the audience that the characters and everyday people living in Hong Kong are unsure of what to expect when China take over rule, their life is suddenly surrounded in mystery and the fear of suffering as this is also a common connotation of night.

In the second text, 1994s Chungking Express one of the first narrative themes in He Zhiwu's story has a lot of emphasis on time as the mise-en-scene often features an expiration date or a clock along with this both the diegetic dialogue and the non diegetic internal dialogue has some reference to time.This narrative theme is particularly important in reflecting the social context of the time as an article from The Independent states that China once said 'that it would only take Hong Kong back "when the time is right"' which would involve evolving the lives of those who live there. For He Zhiwu he decides that the right time for him to move on and change from his relationship is exactly one month after his ex partner May leaves him and the date of his birthday. This is emphasised that the time is right to move on and that the time is running when a close up is shown of a clock going from April 29th to April 30th, the audience is able to decode this as time is running out for this characters love, which may also express the time running out as it's getting closer and closer to the handover date between the United Kingdom and China. An article from The guardian implies that the narrative theme of time is heavily used as the text is about 'characters waiting for something to come along and transform their lives' which reflects the lives of real people in Hong Kong at the time who were waiting for the handover to happen which would also eventually change their lives.

The narrative theme of time is also present in the film In the Mood for Love (2000) as the mise-en-scene often contains imagery of clocks and or time which is similar to Chungking Express. This is evident when the audience sees Su Li-zhen's work office as there is a clock almost in every shot of the scene towards the beginning, in particular a close up is used on a clock with a shallow depth of field which blurs out Su Li-zhen. An article from Senses of Cinema states that Wong Kar Wai believes that 'love is a matter of timing' which the clock in the scene may have been encoded for the audience to decode. The idea that is was only a matter of timing before Su Li-zhen and Mr Chow embark on thier 'love affair' could also reflect the social context as it was also only a matter of time before 'concern about the future of Hong Kong began to loom'. Therefore the mise-en-scene not only reflects the narrative theme of it only being a matter of time before the two protagonists reenact their partners affair but also it would only be a matter of time before the people on Hong Kong fear for the future. 

Wong Kar Wai's Fallen Angels not only reflects the protests that would take place during the handover but also the protests of modern day where residents occupying the city 'believe that its freedoms and relative autonomy are already eroding' The residents of Hong Kong are standing up for what they believe in but are beaten down eventually which is represented in the character the Hitman. In the book The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai it states that 'certain objects always appear in Wong Kar Wai's films to signify particular emotions ... Rainy and cloudy weather certainly is the signifier of a bad mood'. The signifier of cloudy weather is particularly used when the Hitman's character eventually dies after fighting and killing numerous people for a year, straight after he is shot a worms eye view is shown of the city looking at the sky where the mise-en-scene shows a dark cloudy night sky. This shot allows for the audience to decode that a tragic event has happened and connote an unpleasant mood which could also represent the mood of real people trying to protest the handover and keep their autonomy. They keep fighting but are eventually keep getting beaten down and seemingly forgotten about just like the Hitman, of which he could be a metaphor for.

In the book 'Wong Kar Wai' it states that the director said that there would be 'a new beginning in his works, one that would touch on the Hong Kong - China relationship post 97' (Stephen Teo 2005) and one of the first of this works would be In the Mood for Love (2000). The text In the Mood for Love has very ionic cinematography of double framing which connotes to the audience a sense of entrapment in the character, they are unable to escape. The use of double framing within this text is seen in almost every shot throughout the text to emphasise the entrapment of the Hong Kong citizens felt during and after the handover as 'More and more, there is a sense of futility'. This new wave film clearly reflects the social context of Hong Kong within this era.

Chungking Express also reflects the social context of the era as when the Hong Kong handover was announced 'many of its most talented directors, actors, and technicians fled to the West'. A reason that Chungking Express reflects this is through the use of westernised music, most noticeably the song 'California Dreaming' as it shows how people of Hong Kong long to leave as they don't want to conform to Chinese customs, the is mostly reflected in the character Faye as when she if first introduced she is playing the song in the diegetic soundtrack, she also listens the this song on repeat throughout the text even when cleaning Cop 663's apartment. Wong presents Faye constantly listening to the song 'because she’s similarly looking to escape a drab existence' just like the filmmakers and the public of Hong Kong in the 1980s to the 2000s. 

Another narrative theme of Fallen Angels is about things ending and expiring such at the Hitman's career and the relationship between the characters He Zhiwu and Cherry. During the text the audience hears the character He Zhiwu saying in the non diegetic dialouge 'After eating an expired can of pineapples when I was five I never spoke again' which not only lets the audience gain the gratification of information on the characters life but also how thing are ending in Hong Kong like how it was 'ending 156 years of British rule'. This non diegetic dialouge helps the audience understand the social context as it explains how things are constantly ending even when its unexpected, the ability to use his voice ended, professional and relationships end and Hong Kong being under British rule is ending.  

Although majority of narrative themes in Wong Kar Wais films focus on time and how people are curious or fearful for what time will bring in the hand over some people were also ignorant to the change about to happen. The leaders of Hong Kong seemingly refused to acknowledge how the handover would change the lives of Hong Kong citizens and this is reflected in the text Chungking Express with the character Cop 663 which is represented to show the character archetype of a stereotypical ignorant man. The audience sees a mid shot of Faye changing his blue flip flops to red and later the audience sees another mid shot of cop 663 wearing the changed flip flop almost as though he hasn't notice the change in colour as though he is ignoring the changes around him. This is similar to how China ignored how the handover would change the lives of the Hong Kong public as they only 'needed Hong Kong as a port, aviation hub and centre for foreign investment'. 

Overall the 3 texts directed by Wong Kar Wai clearly reflect the social context of what was happening in Hong Kong from 1980 to 2000 as they show the opinions and feelings of the Hong kong public when the 'British Prime Minister Margret Thatcher and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang sign an agreement committing Britain to return Hong Kong to China in 1997'. Wong Kar Wai manages to incorporate a range of cinematography, narrative themes, character archetypes and mise-en-scene in order to reflect the social context of the era. He manages to show the significance of time for the characters and the Hong Kong public, the mystery of the future and how people protested the change that was going to happen and still are protesting this change. Social context of 1980-2000 Hong Kong is effectively shown in Wong Kar Wai's Chungking Express (1994), Fallen Angels (1995) and In the Mood for Love (2000).

Bibliography

{1}Fallen angels 1995 

{2}Chungking Express 1994
{3}In the mood for love 2000

{4}Film inquiry(29th January 2015) (online) available from https://www.filminquiry.com (Accessed 10th October 2018)
{5}GB Times (11th October 2016) (online) available from https://gbtimes.com (accessed 10th October 2019)
{6}ttruong16 wordpress (18th April 2014) (online) available from https://ttruong16.wordpress.com (accessed 10th October 2018)
{7} Stephen Teo, British Film Institue (2005) Wong Kar Wai: Introduction, First edition, 21 Stephen Street London W1T 1LN , page 2
{8} The Irish Times (4th July 2017) (online) available from https://www.irishtimes.com (accessed 27th October 2018)
{9} Independnt (3rd January 1997) (online) available from https://www.independent.co.uk (accessed on 29th October 2018)
{10} The Guardian (14th September 1995) (online) available from https://www.theguardian.com (accessed 29th October 2018)
{11} Senses of Cinema (October 2010) (online) available form http://sensesofcinema.com (accessed 31st October 2018)
{12} Britannica (26th October 2018) (online) available from https://www.britannica.com (accessed 31st October 2018)
{13} The New York Times (1st July 2018) (online) available from https://www.nytimes.com (accessed 31st October 2018)
{14} Mengyan Cui, Chinese and Western Culture Differences in Narrative Cinemas (2007) Chapter 6, First edition, Boca Raton, Florida, USA, Universtity of Bedfordshire, Page 53
{15} Stephen Teo, British Film Institue (2005) Wong Kar Wai: Betrayed by Maggie Cheung: In the Mood for Love 2000 , First edition, 21 Stephen Street London W1T 1LN , Page 114
{16} The New York Times (29th June 2017) (online) available from https://www.nytimes.com (accessed 1st November 2018)
{17} Wheeler Winston Dixon and Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, (2008) Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey
{18} AV Film (10th May 2009) (online) available from https://film.avclub.com accessed 5th November 2018) 
{19] Britanncia (October 8th 1998) (online) Available from https://www.britannica.com (accessed 7th November 2018)
{20} Financial Times (28th June 2017) (online) available from https://www.ft.com/ (accessed 10th November 2018)
{21} History (August 21st 2018) (online) available from https://www.history.com (accessed 15th November 2018)

Evaluation of strengths and weaknesses of research and content.

One strength of my research is that I was able to find plenty of accurate sources that fully supported the points that I was trying to make for example when talking about In the Mood for Love I was able to reference the book 'Wong Kar War written by Stephen Teo marking the new beginning in his work as I was clearly able to show that there was a change in his work importantly the cinematography used in the text In the Mood for Love. As well as this having a wide range of accurate sources meant that my work had a very accurate influence therefore helping to make any points that I made about the 3 texts and the social contexts of the films to be more reliable and valid to the points I was explaining.

However a weakness of my research is that I was unable to find many books with appropriate research for my question, therefore there is a high influence from Internet sources rather than purely academical sources. This lack of research from academical books may cause some of my research to be biased in the points that I make, this can mean that when I was saying how the Hong Kong public felt about the handover may be more biased towards the United kingdoms views of it rather than and equal opinion of both the United Kingdom and mainland China.

Another weakness of my research is that I wasn't very specific when talking about In the mood for Love and only used generic points about the text such as the cinematography and mise-en-scene instead of going into detailed scene analysis. I feel that if i was to research this film again I would try and complete extra reading in to the text in order to show that I have gained a deeper understanding of the text rather than a broad one.

Although the research for In the Mood for Love wasn't very detailed a strength is that I did an in depth study of the texts Fallen Angels and Chungking Express. I was able to do this by conducting detailed scene analysis of the most important scenes in within the films, as evidenced by the scene in Chungking Express when Faye breaks into Cop 663s apartment and cleans where he is seemingly ignorant to the changes and in Fallen Angels when the Hitman is eventually killed off. This is a strength as it allowed me to compare these scenes with research on the social context in detail rather than just focusing on just the scene.

Overall I think that my research and context for my essay on how films directed by Wong Kar Wai reflect the social context of 1980-2000 was successful as I was able to find out what was happening around this time, most importantly the Hong Kong handover. It was also successful as I was able to conduct research about the texts in a varied manner such as looking at the narrative themes, soundtrack, mise-en-scene etc in order to make a balanced essay on all aspects of the texts that reflect the social context.