"I wanted to capture the mood of that period, and show what happened to the first generation that grew up after the war" (Wong Kar Wai - 1997, Hong Kong Babylon - Fredric Dannen and Barry Long, 3 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AU)
"In 1997, Hong Kong ceased to be a British colony and became a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China" (N. K. Leung, 2000, World Cinema - John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP)
"International interest was maintained through the stylish movies of Wong Kar Wai. However, since 1993 the film industry has experienced a period of sluggish box office returns, escalating costs and shrinking markets (with only 29 million tickets sold in 1994 compared with 44.8million sold in 1989). As a result, the China market is destined to become especially important for the future Hong Kong film industry given the hand-over of Hong Kong in 1997." (N. K. Leung, 2000, World Cinema - John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP)
"But Hong Kong’s future as a vibrant cinematic center was put in doubt when the British handed over the tiny nation to mainland China in 1997, and many of its most talented directors, actors, and technicians fled to the West." (Wheeler Winston Dixon and Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, 2008, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey)
"At midnight on June 30/July 1, 1997, the crown colony of Hong Kong officially reverted to Chinese sovereignty, ending 156 years of British rule." (Steven Levine, 2018, [online] Hong Kong's Return to China -
"Many observers, however, expressed considerable skepticism about China’s pledge to abide by the "one country, two systems" plan outlined in the agreement. They feared that China would drastically curtail the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents." (Steven Levine, 2018, [online] Hong Kong's Return to China -
About Wong Kar Wai & Films:
"The very latest auteur produced by the second wave, Wong Kar-wai, focuses on the problem of identity in Hong Kong" (Stephen Teo, 1997, Hong Kong - The Extra Dimensions, pg. 193, 21 Stephen Street, London, W1T 1LN)
"Wong Kar-wai's visual style is intricate and complex as well as relentless, using a ticking clock as it's central metaphor - this is an obvious allusion to the 1997 syndrome yet again." (Stephen Teo, 1997, Hong Kong - The Extra Dimensions, pg. 194-195, 21 Stephen Street, London, W1T 1LN)
“two shorter films stitched together - apparently - by only
the thinnest of threads.” (Nick Cooper, 2006, [online] Chungking Express - Before Viewing/Before Reading Synopsis,
"Wong Kar-wai improvises quite a bit – rather than working
from a script, the director prefers to let actors develop their characters and
dialogue." (Richard Lord, 2018, [online] How Wong Kar-Wai's 'In the Mood for Love' rewrote the story for one literary agent' -
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