AS TEARS GO BY (1988)
January 27th, 2011 by Mr. C
Director: Wong Kar Wai
Actors: Andy Lau,Maggie Cheung,Jacky Cheung,Alex Man
Genre: Triad, romance, action, violence
AS TEARS GO BY is a classic hong kong triad movie in my books with all the motherloads of stylistic cliches that might have started the trend in HK cinema to begin with! Evidences of slow motion, blurred action, gang violence, romance, canto pop ballads, & canto-remixes of classic american 80’s soundtracks in this case Berlin’s TAKE MY BREATH AWAY from TOP GUN – reigns supreme in this directorial debut of WONG KAR WAI ! This movie is heavily casted with HK brat pack stars in the making that would make THE BREAKFAST CLUB look like crack addicts! Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Jacky Cheung, & Alex Man with the addition of the director himself rocked the movie set like no other!
The story revolves around gangster lean, AH WAH played by Andy Lau & one of his followers named FLY played by Jackie Cheung. Ah Wah is a well respected henchman in this triad who is constantly bailing out his best friend FLY from all sorts of trouble. Whether it’s collecting extortion money, gambling debts, or creating family dissention when organizing his younger brothers’ wedding reception on their apartment building’s roof! Fly literally attracts “triad flies” & trouble has no problem finding him. These triad conflicts are all within the same gang, though. The character development in this film is very fresh, & you get an understanding of the emotional struggles that FLY is going through when he tries to do better for himself, but digs himself deeper in the hole when his mouth proves to be a liability. AH WAH stands by his buddy like BEN E. KING’s song, STAND BY ME for better or for worse with the help of some best friends like the chinese cleaver, ginsu knives, & automatic firearms! Andy Lau does a great job in playing the kickass pretty boy heartthrob which he is known for! In tandem to this soap opera another story brews in parallel, ah wah develops feelings for his cousin played by MAGGIE CHEUNG from lan tau island. Gotta say, Maggie Cheung was a real cutey ‘patooty’ in this film as she melds in front of the camera like a cripsy thin layer of fresh batter incorporated into some general tso’s chicken! Yummy! Maggie also develops some wonton love for her cousin AH WAH as they both rendezvous on lan tau island! With all this yearning & earning for desire, FLY gets into some major trouble with a bad bad character in the same triad played by ALEX MAN! This confrontation will lead up to a finale that will definitely go out in a bang in true Hong Kong cinema fashion! AS TEARS GO BY definitely was a golden piece of chivalry that snowballed WONG KAR WAI to fame! Now, go away so I can play back that old 45 of Berlin’s, TAKE MY BREATH AWAY! Ree-Wind!!
New Kids on the Block, move over! Andy Lau & Jacky Cheung on the same movie set?! Game over! Canto-pop forever, mang!
Tags: alex man, andy lau, as tears go by, jacky cheung, maggie cheung, wong kar wai
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