1. Quotes
  2. Authors
  3. Wong Kar-wai

Wong Kar-wai Quotes

Wong Kar-wai is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films are characterised by nonlinear narratives, atmospheric music, and vivid cinematography involving bold, saturated colours. A pivotal figure of Hong Kong cinema, Wong is considered a contemporary auteur, and ranks third on Sight & Sound's 2002 poll of the greatest filmmakers of the previous 25 years. His films frequently appear on best-of lists domestically and internationally.

Born in Shanghai, Wong emigrated to British Hong Kong as a child with his family. He began a career as a screenwriter for soap operas before transitioning to directing with his debut, the crime drama As Tears Go By . While As Tears Go By was fairly successful in Hong Kong, Wong moved away from the contemporary trend of crime and action movies to embark on more personal filmmaking styles. Days of Being Wild , his first venture in such a direction, did not perform well at the box office. It however received critical acclaim, and won Best Film and Best Director at the 1991 Hong Kong Film Awards. His next film, Ashes of Time , met with a mixed reception because of its vague plot and atypical take on the wuxia genre.

Exhausted by the time-consuming filming and post-production of Ashes of Time, Wong directed Chungking Express , a smaller film that he hoped would rekindle his love of cinema. The film, expressing a more lighthearted atmosphere, catapulted Wong to international prominence, and won Best Film and Best Director at the 1995 Hong Kong Film Awards. Wong followed up with the crime thriller Fallen Angels in 1995. Although it was initially tepidly received by critics, Fallen Angels has since come to be considered a cult classic of the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema, being especially representative of Wong's style. Wong would go on to consolidate his worldwide reputation with the 1997 drama Happy Together, for which he won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival.

The 2000 drama In the Mood for Love, revered for its lush visuals and subtle storytelling, concretely established Wong's trademark filmmaking styles. Among his other work are 2046 and The Grandmaster , both of which received awards and nominations worldwide. Wikipedia  

✵ 17. July 1958   •   Other names Kar-Wai Wong
Wong Kar-wai photo
Wong Kar-wai: 8   quotes 0   likes

Famous Wong Kar-wai Quotes

“I never want to make beautiful pictures. I just want to make sure it’s right. Every set up, every shot, represents a choice: what you want to see, and what you don’t want to see.”

Wong Kar-wai

"Interview: Wong Kar-wai on The Grandmaster" in Slant (15 August 2013) https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/interview-wong-kar-wai/

“It takes less effort to stream a film at home these days. However, streaming should not fundamentally affect how a film is made, as long as the pleasure of watching films doesn’t change, and we as filmmakers continue to serve that purpose.”

Wong Kar-wai

"5 Questions for Wong Kar Wai" in Notebook Feature (19 March 2021) https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/5-questions-for-wong-kar-wai

“When I was young, the idea of “world cinema” didn’t exist. We would watch any films that we could find in the cinemas. Today, some of those films have become accessible again on streaming platforms. In a way, it doesn’t matter as much where they exist as long as people have access to them.”

Wong Kar-wai

"5 Questions for Wong Kar Wai" in Notebook Feature (19 March 2021) https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/5-questions-for-wong-kar-wai

“Filmmaking is an organic process from start to finish, so there should be many surprises along the way. You never know what film you really have until it is delivered.”

Wong Kar-wai

"5 Questions for Wong Kar Wai" in Notebook Feature (19 March 2021) https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/5-questions-for-wong-kar-wai

“Of course, people are more affected by actors or acting. But as a filmmaker, I need some logic. And this was my logic in making these two films, and how I connected these stories and these films together. People say my films don’t have any plot or storyline, but in my logic there is a storyline.”

Wong Kar-wai

"Wong Kar-wai by Han Ong" in Bomb Magazine (1 Janaury 1998) https://bombmagazine.org/articles/wong-kar-wai-1/

“You try to cope with the mass audience, but in fact you are not doing something for them—I would be fighting with myself. I thought, I don’t have to make big films, I can make small films that I can be happy with. I can find my own audience.”

Wong Kar-wai

"Wong Kar-wai by Han Ong" in Bomb Magazine (1 Janaury 1998) https://bombmagazine.org/articles/wong-kar-wai-1/

“It was my dream! I wanted to know what exactly martial arts is. When you look at martial arts films, the later ones became more and more exaggerated. It’s like, wow, is martial arts only a show?”

Wong Kar-wai

"The Demonstrative Wong Kar Wai" in Interview Magazine (22 August 2013) https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/wong-kar-wai-the-grandmaster

“We all need stories. What happens in our daily lives changes our stories.”

Wong Kar-wai

"Decade: Wong Kar-wai on “In The Mood For Love” " in Indie Wire (2 February 2001) https://www.indiewire.com/2009/12/decade-wong-kar-wai-on-in-the-mood-for-love-55668/

Similar authors

Bruce Lee photo
Bruce Lee 193
Hong Kong-American actor, martial artist, philosopher and f…
Charles K. Kao photo
Charles K. Kao 1
Hong Hong-British-American physicist
Hayao Miyazaki photo
Hayao Miyazaki 34
Japanese animator, film director, and mangaka
Sylvester Stallone photo
Sylvester Stallone 8
American actor, screenwriter, and film director
Barbra Streisand photo
Barbra Streisand 5
American singer, actress, writer, film producer, and direct…
Orson Welles photo
Orson Welles 53
American actor, director, writer and producer
Walt Disney photo
Walt Disney 102
American film producer and businessman
Pier Paolo Pasolini photo
Pier Paolo Pasolini 3
Italian film director, poet, writer and intellectual
Al Pacino photo
Al Pacino 2
American film and stage actor and director
Billy Wilder photo
Billy Wilder 23
American filmmaker