Watch As Tears Go By For Free

So much average

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Wong Kar-Wai is currently became one of my favorite living directors, i just love his style, aesthetics, stories, just amazing visionary and artist. Because of that i wanted to watch his debut movie "As Tears Go By", this was one of the movies i didn't watch to this date, and in my opinion it is solid for debut movie. It reminded me more on the other Hong Kong Movies from that time (there is not that kind of atmosphere like in "Fallen Angels" and "Chunking Express") this movie is more action packed, there is romance also but i think it is secondary thing in the movie. Acting is okay but the worst from all of his movies, in some moments i found it even funny and comic but for some strange reason i found it adorable. Only good acting you can see from Andy Lau he is really great in his role and even in that time he was a major star in Hong Kong. The relationship between Wah (Andy Lau) and cousin Ngor (Maggie Cheung) is not that interesting it is even somehow unbelievable if you compare it to Wong's other movies. The most i like about this movie is aesthetics they are so great, neon-lights and Hong Kong at night, citchy synth 80's music, and Cantonese version of "Take My Breath Away" how not to love this. I think that many fans of his movies "In The Mood For Love" and "Chunking Express" will not like this movie, they will hate it, but for me it is totally okay, as i say it is not perfect(it is full of flaws) but as a big fan of his later work, Hong Kong Cinema and Asian Cinema at all i somehow love this movie, and i found it interesting to see Hong Kong from that time. My grade 6/10.

Kar-Wai's first film is more in line with the cinematography of other late 80's Hong Kong movies rather than his renown obscure style, seen later on in films like Chungking Express or In the Mood For Love. The characters are also normal in comparison to his later films too, as they take on archetypes seen in many Triad flicks from this era. The writing is classic Wong Kar-Wai however, and what he does with the characters is more interesting then their personalities themselves. In other words their actions speak volumes louder than their dialogue. Andy Lau plays a low-level Triad thug who in hopes of climbing the underworld's ranks becomes held down by his younger brother played by Jacky Cheung. The pair work well together and you begin to like the dynamic bond between them. Trouble ensues between the pair and their gang, and many hard decisions await Andy Lau as he tries to straighten out both his reckless brother and forbidden romance on the side. The ending has a real impact and Wong Kar-Wai's direction is responsible for such a memorable story. Although it feels Kar-Wai wasn't fully at the reigns of this one with some mediocre moments, overall his efforts can be felt wholeheartedly and the passion shines through to deliver a good experience. -7/10

There is an inherent danger in looking retroactively at early films from established directors. As with Jarmusch's "Permanent Vacation", Bertolucci's "The Grim Reaper" or even Kubrick's "Killer's Kiss", it can be difficult - after garnering an admiration for a director - to look back at their less refined beginnings.Such is the case with Wong Kar-Wai's As Tears Go By (Wong gok ka moon). During the film's early stages, it feels somewhat like an unhappy coupling between a flashy Hong Kong martial arts film and those really cheesy Chinese serials where the emperor's daughter accidentally falls pregnant to the chief eunuch warrior (or whatever, I've never watched one with subtitles). Having said that though, it doesn't quite reach the extremes of either: firstly because the action and violence, although the driving force of the film, are not in the least stylised but are in fact quite confronting; and secondly because the cheese of the soap opera elements is really only apparent through the use of dodgy 80's music. But this is simply dated, not inappropriate - after all, the same could be said about Blade Runner, although the montage about halfway through this film set to a Cantonese version of "Take my Breath Away" is just embarrassing.As Tears go By also happens to get better as it progresses. Perhaps this is because the romance between Ah-Wah (Andy Lau) and Ah-Ngor (Maggie Cheung), which seems ready to overpower the film early on, becomes sidelined to the underground-crime half of the plot, which is certainly the most successful and believable half. Wong craftily creates a hard-boiled atmosphere and there is a lot of emotional resonance in the relationship between Wah and his young protégé, Fly (Jacky Cheung). Unfortunately, the same cannot really be said of the male-female relationship between the two stars. It manages to gain a small amount of credibility purely through the fact that we have seen the quiet girl-bad boy romance explored to greater depths in other films. Put this small amount of believability aside however, and it has a very tacked-on, Michael Bay kind of feel to it.Although the film is easily criticised, one can nevertheless see Wong's style making its first appearance here, and I can certainly see the justification behind one reviewer's quote on the DVD case: "A promising debut". I would like to particularly single out his clever use of intimate but skewed, 'Dutch' camera angles to highlight the (forgive me for this expression) humanistic dehumanisation which would foreground his more recent and more famous films, "In the Mood for Love" and "2046". He also drives the film at an excellent pace, in spite of the fact that alternations between the subplots give it a slightly episodic, fragmented feel.Ultimately, my major complaint is simply that while both the romance and the action have a great deal of potential, used together in this way they don't work. Personally I think Wong could either expand on the romance more or eradicate it entirely, and he would have a more complete film.And while hoping not to contradict myself, I have to say that the above comments, which pervaded my thoughts for 90 minutes of this film, were quite rocked by the superb conclusion - framed within criminal violence but so much 'about' the romance - let me just say, whatever I may have thought about most of this film, it was definitely worth it for the ending. Overall, interesting mainly for being Wong's debut and definitely a taste of things to come.6/10

If you can see through the sheer eighties-ness of this film, you'll find hidden gold. I checked it out recently, being a big fan of Wong Kar-Wai's riotous "Chungking Express" and masterful "In the Mood for Love", and having been impressed by Andy Lau's performance in the excellent "Infernal Affairs".Wah (Andy Lau), seething with energy and anger, is trying to juggle life as a small-time gangster 'soldier', with keeping his wayward 'little brother' Fly (Jacky Cheung) under control, plus holding onto his relationship with a girl who's looking for a security he can't give her. Into this messy world, Ngor (Maggie Cheung), a sick cousin from a quiet holiday island across the water, is unexpectedly thrust on him for a few days' stay. He's a moody night owl, asleep through the day while she perches on the periphery of his clouded vision. But despite his brusqueness, in her quiet attentions to him she wins his notice – and their bond is confirmed when she silently assists him after he crashes back into his apartment one night, badly injured from another scrape caused by the troublesome Fly. With his life starting to crash around him, Wah finally realises that what he wants and needs is right there, if he will only take it. But his lifestyle is incompatible with the simple happiness he finds just within his reach, and something has to give.What might otherwise be a pretty run-of-the-mill Hong Kong gangster flick is elevated by the quality of its director and its stars. Lau was a huge star and pin-up even then, and co-star Maggie Cheung's simplicity and underplaying nicely offset Lau's electric energy. Stars and director are alike much improved with age. Wong Kar-Wai's romantic sensibility is irrepressible even in the midst of what can be quite violent fare. But I guess it's really his fundamental approach to film-making – his deconstructed storytelling and camera-work and his mastery of mood – that has earned him attention and accolades worldwide. Sorry if I frankly prefer the former. His style isn't quite fully fledged here, and isn't fully successful, but it has stirring moments. Recommended mostly as a glance back into time with the benefit of hindsight; a bit like looking at "The Duel" to see the germs of Spielberg's ascendancy.