As Tears Go By

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S. C Fantastic directional debut. Thrilling, emotional and even funny, it has amazing cinematography, complimenting ambient music, creative editing and a compelling cast. I especially found Jacky Cheung's performance to be in the spotlight. The fight choreography and make up is surprisingly authentic for it's time and also the sound design doesn't sound too bad, even passionately detailed at times. There's lots of great use of color and also light and shadows that brings the atmosphere and mood to life. Although the romance isn't as developed as the rest of the plot and the volume and timing of the music is often off it's still quite something artistic and shows promising talent. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 12/13/23 Full Review Kevin L It's easy to see this was made at the kick off of his directorial career, as Wong's "As Tears Go By" is a swirl of film school-level direction, with limited budget and production design. The performances are spotty, with Maggie Cheung standing out as Ah Ngor. This reminded me some of "Mean Streets", w/ the Jacky Cheung being a Tommy Boy screw up type and Andy Lau's Lah watching over and having to salvage what is worth saving of him. 2.8 stars Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/25 Full Review Cem Y You could feel that this is a very early Wong Kar Wai movie if you do not know that this was actually his debut. However, still he is doing such a good work in transferring the emotion to the viewer. Uncooked but promising... Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/21/23 Full Review Luca D As the name suggests it is in fact a sad movie. Like most of his films it starts with a fair amount of emotional tension and by the end you feel as if your overdosing on emotional tension. The romance in this particular movie wasn't as developed as the crime side, but it still was very potent in connecting to the main plot. I would say his movies aren't for the faint hearted as they mostly are as tragic as they are beautiful. I would definitely watch again and would recommend. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/05/23 Full Review DanTheMan 2 The directorial debut of Wong Kar-wai, As Tears Go By showcases so much of his style that would go on to define his career in this Mean Streets meets Hong Kong action romance. While the performances from Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung and Jacky Cheung are great, Kar-wai's gorgeous direction is complemented by his use of colour and a musical score to die for, it's with this movie's substandard writing and confused narrative where it stumbles. Although I can't lie, when Sandy Lam's cover of Take My Breath Away started playing, I got goosebumps. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/25/23 Full Review Audience Member As tears go by is the debut and an exception of Wong Kar Wai's other films, which have its signature narration, dialogues, characters psychological morbidity, stylised film techniques, and the inimitable atmosphere. As tears go by although have in fact used some of Wong Kar Wais signature styles like Step printing, Undercranking and slow mo, it doesnt have the key essence of Wong Kar wai's films. The film is fine, it really manages to portray the realism of these small gangsters in Hong Kar WangJiao area, who are considered as outcasts of the society, the neon colorful streets of Wongjiao, which even creates a greater contrast between the vulnerability and hopelessness of these poor but full of guts gangsters in this world that doesnt belong to them. I loved the realism of this film, and how unlike other gangster dramas of Hong Kong cinema at that time, such as a better tomorrow, a possible analogy is As tears go by is more like Scorsese's mean streets compared to some massive hollywood gangster epic production. It explores the brotherhood bond of gangsters in an unexaggerated way, it tends to focus on their desperateness to thrive and get involved in the society rather than gun fights and heroic doings. As tears go by proved the potential of Andy Lau, Jackie cheung and Maggie Cheung acting. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews

As Tears Go By

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