“As Tears Go By” Chinese Theatrical Poster
AKA: Mongkok Carmen
Director: Wong Kar Wai
Cast: Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Alex Man, Ronald Wong, Chan Chi Fai, Lam Kau
Running Time: 102 min.
By Brmanuk
Wong Kar-Wai’s debut feature is a moving look into the lives of two brothers; Ah-Wah (Andy Lau) and Fly (Jacky Cheung), two small time gangsters. When Ah-Ngor (played wonderfully by Maggie Cheung) comes to stay with her cousin Ah-Wah, she doesn’t realize and he and his brother are gangsters working for their local godfather. Eventually she falls in love with Ah-Wah and he tries to leave his gangster life but can’t due to his brother always getting in trouble with other members of their Triad family, in particular Tony (Alex Man) and his gang.
It’s a simple story used hundreds of times before, but Wong Kar-Wai’s film-making set’s it apart from the others. Instead of lacing the film with violent shoot-outs, he takes time to develop the films characters and the motives behind their actions. Eventually the viewer starts to understand them and can relate to the ‘big brother protecting his little brother’ theme that runs throughout.
When the violence does begin (and it’s very brutal), the audience feels sympathy for the two stars, and it’s on this level that the film works. The film certainly isn’t for everyone and is very different to WKW’s later works as it lacks the ‘new wave’ style of those films, but it does contain the characterization, especially of the two main characters, that occurs again and again in his movies.
The movie does have it’s flaws though, some parts do seem to drag out and it’s a bit predictable at times when you know Fly is going to get his head kicked in again, but despite this WKW fans should definitely check this out.
Brmanuk’s Rating: 7/10
