As Tears Go By (1988) Wong gok ka moon (original title)

Director:

Kar Wai Wong

Writers:

Jeffrey Lau (writer)
Kar Wai Wong (writer)

Release Date:

2 May 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Two parallel stories of Wah caught in the mist of a love affair with his beloved cousin, Ngor and his relationship with his triad brother, Fly, who seems to never far out of trouble.

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Brutality | Pregnancy | Cat | Playing Pool

Awards:

2 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Andy Lau	...	Wah
Maggie Cheung	...	Ngor
Jacky Cheung	...	Fly
Alex Man	...	Tony
Ronald Wong	...	Site
To-hoi Kong	...	Fat Carl
Ching Wai	...	Uncle Kwan
Kau Lam	...	Uncle Ba
William Chang	...	Ngor's doctor
Ang Wong	...	Mabel
Pa-Ching Huang	...	Boss of Mahjong Den
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chi Fai Chan	...	Billiard parlor thug
Tseng Chang	...	Wah's triad elder
Wing-Cheung Cheung	...	Bodyguard
Kam Kong Chow	...	Bodyguard
Kwai-Bo Chun	...	Bodyguard
Tai Woh Dang	...	Billiard parlor thug
Hui Fan	...	Site's mother-in-law
Chi Kit Lee	...	Billiard parlor thug
Kong Long	...	Billiard parlor thug
Chi Wai Wong	...	Bodyguard
Kim Fung Wong	...	Tony's thug

Directed by
Kar Wai Wong

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jeffrey Lau		writer
Kar Wai Wong		writer

Original Music by
Danny Chung		(as Ting Yat Chung)
Teddy Robin Kwan

Cinematography by
Wai-keung Lau

Film Editing by
Bei-Dak Cheong
William Chang		(uncredited)

Production Design by
William Chang

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Johnnie Kong	....	first assistant director

Other crew
Ji-chiang Kuo	....	general affairs

Production Companies

• In-Gear Film Production

Distributors

• Cinema Mondo (2006) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Kino International (2008) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Kino International (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (UK) (all media)
• Palisades-Tartan Acquisitions (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• Tartan Video (2005) (UK) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Wong gok ka moon" - Hong Kong (original title)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | Sweden:15 | South Korea:18 | New Zealand:R18 | Italy:VM14 | Australia:M | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | UK:18

Company:

In-Gear Film Production

Trivia:

First film directed by Kar Wai Wong.

Goofs:

Continuity: Wah's facial bruises shift tremendously near the final scene from the time he got on the bus to the time he met Fly.

Quotes:

Wah:I did a lot of things for our godfather too. By the age of 14, I was already getting paid to kill. I've got more guts than most guys, right? But look at me now. I'm just an ordinary guy!
Fly:At least you were a hotshot for a while! But what about me? What about me? Everyone looks down on me. Does that make you happy? People think I'm nothing, like some stray dog just following you around! Did you know that? I'd rather be a hero for one day than go on being a fly all my life!

Soundtrack:

Take My Breath Away

Streets of Mean

No better one day film school can be found in watching "Mean Streets" and then this.

Superficially they seem the same and Kar-Wai has told us that he patterned this, his first feature after Scorsese's first.

Here's the lesson: Scorsese belongs to a school of thinking where actors create characters, real extreme and powerful characters. These characters literally create the situations around them. The filmmaker's job is to attach the camera to the characters. Nearly all Italian and Italian-American filmmakers believe this. This is fine if you can live on espresso, but most of us in a film life need something to sustain us.

Kar-Wai in his later films is clearly in another camp. He literally starts with no script. He creates a cinematic tone. Into that tone is spun a place and his actors are expected to find their way within it. Only then do we see characters, and the camera is never, ever glued to personalities.

It is a world of difference, as different as people who can talk only about other people contrasted to those who can create another world in a conversation.

Sooner or later, all lucid watchers must make a choice about how big their film universe can be. This was Kar-Wai's beginning. It is hard to see unless you know his later stuff. But it is there, like the pollen in the air.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.