Notes on the Lincoln Center Tony Leung Retrospective

I've seen all but two of the films playing the Tony Leung retrospective that is playing at Lincoln Center. I have not seen the new film SILENT FRIEND yet, nor have I seen CYCLO. I am going to try to see both so keep your fingers crossed.

I am telling you that because I am going to repost the reviews I've run before  here at Unseen and I'm going to write a few lines about the one's I haven't.  The hope is that you will be able to use the pieces to decide what to see, but the truth is since the tickets went on sale at the beginning of the month most of the screenings have sold out.

What can I say Tony Leung is a huge star and his coming to America is a big deal. If you've never seen one of his films, beg borrow or steal your way into the screenings. Leung is just a great actor. He's been on my radar since I started to really get into Asian cinema in the 1990's. He was one of the faces in the John Woo films that were my gateway drug. While some of his films are better than others his just being in a film makes it worth seeing.  It's not just that he's worked with some of the best directors in the world but more because he is a great actor.

I will be re-running reviews of HARDBOILED, IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, THE GRANDMASTER (HK Cut), The full version of RED CLIFF which is one the greatest films ever made (the review ran earlier today), and INFERNAL AFFAIRs (the basis of the Oscar winning but inferior THE DEPARTED). See them all.

As for the one's I haven't written up previously here at Unseen, here are a few thoughts:

BULLET IN THE HEAD will make you want to die. A bleak tale about friends lost in Vietnam it's a gut punch followed by an eye poke. A classic.

CHUNGKING EXPRESS-  Wong Kar Wai masterpiece about two cops drifting through the city. It was the first film to put Leung on to the radar of the world and the first film to indicate Wong Kar Wai as a master diurector.  It was a pairing made in heaven and it rattled the pillars of cinematic heaven and turned Leung into a heart throb for everyone. 

HAPPY TOGETHER Wong Kar Wai reteams with Leung in a queer tale that  resonated with everyone everywhere. This film cemented Leung as one cinema's greatest actors in a tale of broken romance. It's a quiet favorite of many people I know that its fans return to time and time again because they are moved deeply by it.

HERO cinematic masterpiece is one part martial arts film and another part art house film. Its poetry (literally) in motion. Its a visual delight and a staggering achievement as the ruler of China questions the action of four heroes.

2046- Wong Kar Wai and Tony Leung strike again in a film that acts as a sequel to DAYS OF BEING WILD and IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE. The title has multiple meanings. Mostly its the story of relationships broken across time. While I like the film on its own terms, I'm not certain  how it plays in connection to the earlier films or even with in itself as self contained film. Regardless its a masterful film by a director and his seeming prefered collaborator

LUST, CAUTION- historical drama where sex is a weapon. Ang Lee's film was a cause celebe for a while since it's sexual nature caused it to get an NC 17 rating.  Some people love it. Some people think's over rated. Wade in and decide for yourself. 

Long ago I watched FLOWERS OF SHANGHI on some sort of DVD I picked up in Chinatown. It was a film whose look stayed with me but which otherwise completely disappeared from my brain. Trying it again for the NYFF in 2020 I was instantly struck by it’s beauty to the point where I shouted “That’s the film!”. I then hunkered down to watch the film again for the first time in a couple of decades…. And then the film started to do what it did the last time and I found I was loving everything about it but I simply wasn’t connecting and Turned it off. Its a gorgeous film but might be the least film in the retrospective.(Sorry-one had to be)

For tickets and more information go here