[Limelight] A Man Who Speaks of Solitude and Wandering Without a Single Line

Busan International Film Festival 'Asian Filmmaker of the Year' Tony Leung
'Chungking Express' Police 663: A Lonely Soul Contrasting with Glamorous Hong Kong
'Happy Together' Peak of Eye and Facial Expressions: "An Acting Only He Can Do"
'In the Mood for Love' Extremely Subtle and Delicate Expressions... Conveying Emotions Through Minor Facial Details

Director Wong Kar-wai was born in Shanghai in 1958 and later moved to Hong Kong. His unique upbringing deeply imprinted on his creative unconscious. The protagonists in his films experience isolation while exploring their cultural identities. His distinctive solitude and wandering are embodied by Tony Leung’s face. Chow Mo-wan in In the Mood for Love (2000) drifts from place to place, unable to realize love with Mrs. Chan (Maggie Cheung). In Happy Together (1998), Lai Yiu-fai also drifts in Argentina with Ho Po-wing (Leslie Cheung).

The beginning is with Cop 663 in Chungking Express (1994). After finishing his patrol, he walks toward the camera, takes off his hat, and orders a salad. Director Wong Kar-wai shows this from the subjective perspective of the waitress Faye (Faye Wong). Sharing her curiosity with the audience, he indulges in an eccentric romance. Tony Leung responds with his unique personality. Even in seemingly trivial ramblings, he portrays an ambivalent character. Sitting on the toilet, he fondles a worn bar of soap with a sense of regret. "You’ve gotten too thin. You used to be fat, look how thin you are now. What’s wrong? Have confidence."

The highlight is the scene where 663, sensing a breakup with his girlfriend, drinks coffee in front of a restaurant. Only 663 and Faye, who gazes at him silently, move at a normal pace. People passing by on the street move quickly, their forms blurred. This expresses that everything around a couple is just colorful motion without meaning. It is organic, humorous, and visually vibrant. Leaning against a display case, Tony Leung drinks coffee and stares into the distance. Leaving behind the city’s noisy cheerfulness, he shows longing and thirst. In that moment, Hong Kong transforms into a city of lonely souls where bright faces and lonely hearts fail to connect.

The gaze and expressions that even change the city’s colors reach their peak in Happy Together. Buenos Aires, Argentina, far from Hong Kong, is portrayed as a world of wandering. The original theme was an escape from reality. Director Wong Kar-wai said, "The more we tried to leave Hong Kong and run away, the more we found we couldn’t separate ourselves from it," adding, "Hong Kong existed everywhere."

Lai Yiu-fai is much more cold and cautious than Po-wing, who lives carelessly without worries. With secretive expressions and glances, he resists the fin de si?cle time. However, he cannot break the vicious cycle of making love, quarreling, and breaking up with Po-wing. In this sense, Happy Together evokes the end of time mentioned by critic Fredric Jameson in his essay on postmodernism. Author Steven Teo wrote in his book Wong Kar-wai’s Time that "time seems to have turned into a moving train chasing Lai Yiu-fai all the way to Hong Kong," and that "Happy Together is the terminus and the closure of a certain period in life."

At the time of release, the film stirred controversy over obscenity due to its theme of "love beyond gender." Tony Leung hesitated to appear for the same reason. Even upon arriving in Argentina, he felt the same. Although he trained physically while learning tango, he hesitated before the first day’s love scene. Ultimately, he removed his towel but acted out the passionate love scene while still wearing underwear. Later, he expressed regret to Director Wong Kar-wai, saying, "What I regret most now is not having the courage to take off my underwear that day." Wong Kar-wai was unconcerned.

"Tony Leung was an actor who could perform any role as well as anyone else. In Happy Together, he goes beyond that to show a performance only he could deliver. The film was tailor-made for him, and Leslie Cheung effectively supported him by practically playing the role of Carina Lau (Tony Leung’s wife)."

Lai Yiu-fai’s microcosm is also a space Wong Kar-wai had not reached before. Tony Leung draws the audience in with secretive expressions and glances. This intense energy becomes the prototype of the extremely subtle and delicate expressions he engraved in In the Mood for Love. Wong Kar-wai treats secret affection as typical Chinese timidity and suppressed desire. Chow Mo-wan and Mrs. Chan move into the same rented apartment on the same day. Suspecting their spouses of infidelity, they become enveloped in a strange atmosphere. Their relationship, which soon falls into love, remains physically pure. They cannot escape self-denial and do not know what to do next.

Tony Leung expresses yearning through subtle and private expressions. His nervousness lends realism and conveys heart-wrenching emotions. Behind this gentle awakening was originally a hidden desire for revenge. Mrs. Chan says, "I’m different. I’m not like your wife. I don’t do things like infidelity." Chow Mo-wan has no way of knowing why she is so sure she is better than his wife. She tries to inflict a sense of loss on Mrs. Chan, who believes herself superior not to her husband or his wife but to herself.

The affection mixed with various identities is metaphysical in itself. Tony Leung mutters toward a hole in the ruined wall of Angkor Wat with a calm face. This synergy creates a secret and a truth-like mystery. The sealed memories work as Director Wong Kar-wai intended. Love and happiness oscillate endlessly behind the equation’s equal sign. Along with Chow Mo-wan’s indifferent face...

"Tony Leung has matured like fine whiskey, refined over time. Now he is respected by all his fellow actors. He has become a true classic."