Happy Together (1997)
Directed by Wong Kar Wai
Written by Wong Kar Wai
Starring Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung, Chang Chen
Release Date May 30th, 1997
Published June 17th, 2024
Happy Together is a vibrant and wildly experimental movie that views a toxic relationship through various different lenses, literally and figuratively. The film stars Tony Leung as Lai. He will be who we spend most of our time with in the movie. Lai has come to Argentina with his lover, Ho (Leslie Cheung), with little money and less of a plan. Due to their own collective negligence, they've stranded themselves in South America until they can raise enough money to go home to Hong Kong.
That is surely what Lai wants. As for Ho, he's unpredictable and selfish. He abandons Lai after a falling out during an attempted trip to a legendary South American waterfall. The two seem to part ways but they can't stay apart for long. As Lai works an odd job as a doorman at a nightclub, he's forced to watch as Ho arrives regularly with a different man. Yes, it's quite sad and upsetting as he's left to watch Ho go home with men. It's not stated plainly that Ho is a sex worker but the implication is there.
Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here.