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As Tears Go By

Play trailer Poster for As Tears Go By Released May 2, 2008 1h 42m Crime Drama Romance Play Trailer Watchlist
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85% Tomatometer 13 Reviews 67% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Love for a distant relative causes a Chinese gangster (Andy Lau) to consider leaving the triad.
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As Tears Go By

Critics Reviews

View All (13) Critics Reviews
J. R. Jones Chicago Reader Some of the editing has a giddy, overeager quality, the natural excess of a young prodigy, but when the action and the tempo align, the results are exhilarating: an early brawl in a pool hall fairly leaps off the screen. Jan 30, 2014 Full Review Wesley Morris Boston Globe This sounds like a fairly standard debut. But Wong smothers the story with tremendous style. Rated: 3/4 Aug 22, 2008 Full Review V.A. Musetto New York Post As Tears Go By doesn't measure up to Wong's later classics, such as In the Mood for Love (2000) and Chungking Express (1994), but it shows a master in the making. Rated: 3/4 May 2, 2008 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy A so-so variation of Mean Streets. Rated: 2.5/4 Mar 27, 2021 Full Review Michael Frank The Spool Stylish as ever, Wong's melodramatic crime story serves as a singular debut. Mar 19, 2021 Full Review David Phelps MUBI ...so reckless that once it starts it never stops to breathe. Dec 1, 2017 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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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 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 Chung 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 out of 5 stars 10/15/23 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 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 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 out of 5 stars 05/25/23 Full Review Fra B It's a more engaging variation of "mean streets", but even watching it in retrospective, considering what came after it, the movie stands its ground. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/07/22 Full Review Read all reviews
As Tears Go By

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Movie Info

Synopsis Love for a distant relative causes a Chinese gangster (Andy Lau) to consider leaving the triad.
Director
Kar-Wai Wong
Producer
Alan Tang
Screenwriter
Kar-Wai Wong
Genre
Crime, Drama, Romance
Original Language
Chinese
Release Date (Theaters)
May 2, 2008, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 17, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA)
$8.4K
Runtime
1h 42m
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