UI Press | Peter Brunette

Wong Kar-wai

Exploring Wong Kar-wai's groundbreaking use of sound and visual technique to create a new form of cinema

Wong Kar-Wai traces this immensely exciting director's perennial themes of time, love, and loss, and examines the political implications of his films, especially concerning the handover of former British colony Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China.

This book is the first in any language to cover all of Wong's work, from his first film, As Tears Go By, to his most recent, the still unreleased 2046. It also includes his best-known, highly honored films, Chungking Express, Happy Together, and above all, In the Mood for Love. Most importantly, Peter Brunette describes the ways in which Wong's supremely visual films attempt to create a new form of cinema by relying on stunning, suggestive visual images and audio tracks to tell their story, rather than on traditional notions of character, dialogue, and plot. The question of Wong Kar-wai's use of genre film techniques in art films is also explored in depth.

"Brunette traces the love, longing, and regret on view in all of Wong's films, and he rightly emphasizes their 'graphic expressivity'--that is, the distinctive, visually kinetic approach that continues to be the director's hallmark as he matures."--Booklist

"Highly recommended."--Choice

“An insightful and encompassing look at an important director.”--Film International

"Film scholars and movie buffs alike will surely welcome [Brunette's] stimulating discussion."--Ruby Cheung

Peter Brunette was the Reynolds Professor of Film Studies at Wake Forest University. He wrote books on Roberto Rossellini and Michelangelo Antonioni and was the coauthor of Screen/Play: Derrida and Film Theory. He was chief critic for indieWIRE.com and reviewed regularly for the British trade journal, Screen International.

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