Film program: In the Mood for Wong Kar-wai

Petty gangster Yuddy leaves his ex-girlfriend, the naive saleswoman Su Li-zhen, for the eccentric dancer Mimi. In this broken-hearted state, Su is found on Yuddy's porch by the silent but caring policeman 6117, with whom she develops a friendship that never grows into anything more serious. Meanwhile, Yuddy learns from his adoptive mother, a former prostitute Rebecca, that his biological mother is a Filipino aristocrat and decides to find her at all costs. 

Representing Wong Kar-wai’s finest cinematography, The Hand is the protagonist’s painful flashback of many years of unrequited love. Initially included in the almanac on love and sex entitled Eros (2004), Kar-wai later made a new, extended, and re-edited version of the picture telling the story of a submissive tailor and his arrogant client, a call girl losing her beauty.

The Russian premiere of the restored director’s cut will be introduced by Garage Screen curator Yevgeny Gusyatinsky.

Wah (Andy Lau) is a Hong Kong mob debt collector, well respected but not ambitious in the slightest. His impulsive junior subordinate Fly (Jacky Cheung), contrarily, is constantly getting into debt but has a lot of ambitions. Unexpectedly, Wah is visited by his cousin Ngor (Maggie Cheung), who he has never met before, who comes to Hong Kong for an operation. As a mutual affection flares up between them, Fly involves Wah in trouble, from which none of them may be able to escape. Following a successful release in cinemas in Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai's debut feature film was screened within the Directors' Fortnight at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. Garage Screen presents the Russian premiere of its restored version.

She memorizes the building’s plan—and he cleans up. He is a stylish hitman—and she is his model-thin crime partner. They never meet in person, communicating exclusively via faxes and jukeboxes to avoid affection. She lives in the same house as the third protagonist—a weird numb guy who escaped from prison. At night, he breaks into other people’s premises to sells various stuff, from meat to ice cream. Chungking Express’s dark counterpart, originally supposed to be its third story, Fallen Angels is one of the most underrated films of both Kar-wai’s rich filmography and 1990s cinema. Garage Screen presents the Russian premiere of the restored version of the film.

Wah (Andy Lau) is a Hong Kong mob debt collector, well respected but not ambitious in the slightest. His impulsive junior subordinate Fly (Jacky Cheung), contrarily, is constantly getting into debt but has a lot of ambitions. Unexpectedly, Wah is visited by his cousin Ngor (Maggie Cheung), who he has never met before, who comes to Hong Kong for an operation. As a mutual affection flares up between them, Fly involves Wah in trouble, from which none of them may be able to escape. Following a successful release in cinemas in Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai's debut feature film was screened within the Directors' Fortnight at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. Garage Screen presents the Russian premiere of its restored version.

In an attempt to save their relationship, Ho Po-wing and Lai Yiu-fai move from Hong Kong to Buenos Aires. The monogamous Yiu-fai works as a security guard in a bar where Po-wing, constantly looking for new sex partners, brings his lovers. Capricious and persistent, impulsive and cautious, they are opposite in everything. Po-wing proposes to “start all over again” now and then, however, stirring up discord and dragging Yiu-fai into a whirlpool of unthinkably toxic relationships. Happy Together won Kar-wai the 1997 Cannes Film Festival Best Director award, cementing his status as an art-house superstar. Garage Screen presents the Russian premiere of the restored version of the film.

Two Hong Kong cops recovering after splitting up with their girlfriends fall in love again. 223 meets a mysterious woman wearing sunglasses, a beige trench coat, and a white wig in a bar, unaware that she is a drug smuggler. Meanwhile, 663 buys a salad day after day at a 24-hour eatery, where he meets Faye, a dreamy shop assistant. The two fleetingly intersecting stories—a noir comedy and a pure rom-com—combine for Wong Kar-wai's second-best-known film after In the Mood for Love, a picture full of unbridled energy and love for life that brought him worldwide recognition. Garage Screen presents the restored version of the movie.

Petty gangster Yuddy leaves his ex-girlfriend, the naive saleswoman Su Li-zhen, for the eccentric dancer Mimi. In this broken-hearted state, Su is found on Yuddy's porch by the silent but caring policeman 6117, with whom she develops a friendship that never grows into anything more serious. Meanwhile, Yuddy learns from his adoptive mother, a former prostitute Rebecca, that his biological mother is a Filipino aristocrat and decides to find her at all costs.

As the dying Miss Hua asks her tailor Xiao Zhang “Remember how we met?” he recalls how once he came to Hua as an apprentice to hand over an order and learned that she worked as a call girl; how Hua seduced him and promised that he would always remember her hand; and how he fell madly in love with Hua, while she, despising his poverty, made him jealous. Representing Wong Kar-wai’s finest cinematography, The Hand is the protagonist’s melancholic recollection of unrequited love. Initially included in the almanac on love and sex entitled Eros (2004), Kar-wai later made a new, extended, and re-edited version of the picture. Garage Screen presents the Russian premiere of the restored director’s cut.

In 1960s’ Hong Kong, journalist Chow Mo-wang and secretary Su Li-zhen, who live in neighboring apartments, find out that their spouses are cheating on them. Looking for solace, they occasionally rent a hotel room and work together on martial arts novels. Realizing a romantic feeling arises between them, they agree not to copy their spouses and fall into somewhat a limbo, being in a forever ongoing state of falling in love.

She memorizes the building’s plan—and he cleans up. He is a stylish hitman—and she is his model-thin crime partner. They never meet in person, communicating exclusively via faxes and jukeboxes to avoid affection. She lives in the same house as the third protagonist—a weird numb guy who escaped from prison. At night, he breaks into other people’s premises to sells various stuff, from meat to ice cream. Chungking Express’s dark counterpart, originally supposed to be its third story, Fallen Angels is one of the most underrated films of both Kar-wai’s rich filmography and 1990s cinema. Garage Screen presents the Russian premiere of the restored version of the film.

Writer Chow lives in room number 2047 and composes a fantasy short story. Its protagonist is the only passenger of a futuristic train who managed to escape from a place called 2046, where nothing changes and from where no one has ever returned. As one might easily guess, this is an autobiographical story: a few years ago, Chow used to spend hours in the oppositely located room 2046, writing martial arts novels together with a woman named Su, whom he lost but cannot forget. He sees fragments of her in his three current lovers: one, the gambler, has the same name; the second, a call girl, wears similar qipaos; the third, a dreamer, is fond of martial arts novels. Chow tries as hard he can to escape from 2046—and by all means, return there. 

In an attempt to save their relationship, Ho Po-wing and Lai Yiu-fai move from Hong Kong to Buenos Aires. The monogamous Yiu-fai works as a security guard in a bar where Po-wing, constantly looking for new sex partners, brings his lovers. Capricious and persistent, impulsive and cautious, they are opposite in everything. Po-wing proposes to “start all over again” now and then, however, stirring up discord and dragging Yiu-fai into a whirlpool of unthinkably toxic relationships. Happy Together won Kar-wai the 1997 Cannes Film Festival Best Director award, cementing his status as an art-house superstar. Garage Screen presents the Russian premiere of the restored version of the film.

Two fleetingly intersecting stories—a noir comedy and a rom-com—combine for Wong Kar-wai's second most popular film after In the Mood for Love, a picture of unbridled energy and love for life that brought him worldwide recognition. Two Hong Kong police officers, going through a breakup with their girlfriends, fall in love again: 223, with a nameless blonde femme fatale, 663 with the dreamy shop-girl Faye.

Writer Chow lives in room number 2047 and composes a fantasy short story. Its protagonist is the only passenger of a futuristic train who managed to escape from a place called 2046, where nothing changes and from where no one has ever returned. As one might easily guess, this is an autobiographical story: a few years ago, Chow used to spend hours in the oppositely located room 2046, writing martial arts novels together with a woman named Su, whom he lost but cannot forget. He sees fragments of her in his three current lovers: one, the gambler, has the same name; the second, a call girl, wears similar qipaos; the third, a dreamer, is fond of martial arts novels. Chow tries as hard he can to escape from 2046—and by all means, return there.