Product Details

• Actors: Chang Chen, Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Chang Cheng
• Directors: Wong Kar-Wai
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Original recording remastered, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: Cantonese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Kino Video
• DVD Release Date: October 19, 2004
• Run Time: 97 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002X7GZ2
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #34,141 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  #2 in	Movies & TV > Action & Adventure > Hong Kong Action > Cheung, Leslie
  #4 in	Movies & TV > Art House & International > By Director > Wong, Kar-Wai
  #10 in	Movies & TV > Action & Adventure > Hong Kong Action > Leung Chiu Wai, Tony

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This chronicles the stormy affair of a gay couple living as expatriates in buenos aires. Studio: Kino International Release Date: 10/19/2004 Starring: Tony Leung Leslie Cheung Run time: 98 minutes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Happy Together / Buenos Aires Zero Degrees, November 13, 2004

By	The Nippon Newfie "The Nippon Newfie" (Tokyo Japan and Bangkok Thailand) - See all my reviews

Fans of Chinese director Wong Kar-Wai will be thrilled by this new DVD edition of his classic film Happy Together.

The movie is slow-paced, low-key, and often shot in black in white. It is the story of two gay Chinese men in Buenos Aires, who are more often unhappy together than happy together. It is not an easy movie to watch perhaps and will not appeal to everyone, but as an art film and a gay-themed love story it is a contemporary classic.

I had an earlier release of this DVD, but purchased this new edition to see the making-of documentary Buenos Aires: Zero Degrees, which is a special feature on the new release. The documentary itself is a gem as it reveals so many storylines that did not appear in the final film. It is fascinating to see the directions the film might have taken and how such a different film could have come out of the editing room. We can really appreciate Wong Kar-Wai's process, working without a script, and see the difficulties it causes for the actors. Lead actor Tony Leung's comments about working on the film are especially insightful.

Wong Kar-Wai's In the mood for love is the film that brought him the greatest international recognition perhaps, but Happy Together was an important step on the road to that masterpiece. Few new fans will be won by this DVD, but for those who already appreciate Wong Kar-Wai's work this DVD is a must-have.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So Many Cigarettes, May 27, 2006

By	Daitokuji31 (Black Glass) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

When it comes to the cinematic world of Wong Kar Wai I am still a novice. I watched his film Chungking Express for the first time almost three years ago and have watched it with various friends since then three or four times, but for his other films, In the Mood for Love, Days of Being Wild and even 2046 I have yet to watch them. However, after viewing Tony Leung Chiu Wai's excellent performance in Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung's Cyclo, I wanted to see more of this actor's work. Also, of course, I was familiar with the actor Leslie Cheung and his suicide, but as for his acting I had only viewed Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine. So having coming across Happy Together at my local DVD shop, I figured that I would give it a chance, and, as I felt after watching the films of many other directors that I kept on the backburner, I had to ask myself, Why did I wait so long to watch this film?

Happy Together tells the story of Lai Yiu Fai and Ho Po Wing's on again and off again relationship. Much more serious and steadier than his lover, Lai Yiu Fai loves Ho Po Wing dearly, and even though the other man cheats on him, Lai Yiu Fai always takes Ho Po Wing back when the latter says "Let's start over." Hoping to rekindle their relationship, Fai and Po Wing travel to Argentina, however, while looking for waterfall called Iguazu, the couple becomes lost and Po Wing breaks off their relationship. Being completely broke, both Yiu Fai and Po Wing stay in Buenos Aires with the former working at a tango bar as a doorman and the latter earning his way through his way through his rich beneficiaries. Knowing that Yiu Fai still has feelings for him, Po Wing often flaunts himself with his multitudes of lovers and even calls Yiu Fai a couple of times to engage in more intimate activities, however, Yiu Fai, with the aid of strong alcohol, tries to keep himself from becoming ensnared by Po Wing once again. Yet when Po Wing comes to Yiu Fai one day with his face and hands bloodied, Yiu Fai finds himself once again in Po Wing's grasp.

One of the things that I like the most about Happy Together is that while the lead couple is homosexual little is made of this. This is not a film that is trying one way or another to make an issue of gay relationships, all it is trying to do is display a relationship between two individuals and how it comes apart. Tony Leung does an extraordinary job of portraying someone who loves deeply and whose displays of affection are displayed quietly. Moments such as when Yiu Fai checks on Po Wing while he is sleeping are truly touching and the scene in which he "talks" into his friend Chang's tape recorder is nearly heartbreaking. Combine these elements with an awesome soundtrack and some truly gorgeous cinematography by Christopher Doyle make Happy Together a truly wonderful film.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hints of Treasures to Come, August 10, 2006

By	Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Two Chinese lovers drift around Buenos Aires, attempting to come to grips with a relationship that is clearly on the skids in this interesting and frustrating film `Cheun gwong tsa sit' (Happy Together) by the very talented Kar Wai Wong. On vacation from Hong Kong, Yiu-Fai (Tony Leung ) and Po-Wing (Leslie Cheung) are presented in an obviously unhappy state, but we are not privy to the cause of their unhappiness. Yes, there is infidelity, there are outside attractions, and all of the `things' that could create this state, but we are left to look at this sad young couple as a metaphor for the struggles in emotions and loves that so often surface in a dying relationship, not only in the gay relationship we are seeing but in straight relationships as well. The universals hold true.

Kar Wai Wong loves the non-linear approach to story telling and in this early film the method of his direction feels a bit too disjointed, too uninvolved in the character development. Not that the actors do not render fine performances: both Leung and Cheung give brave portrayals of lost souls and we cannot help but care for both of them. And the remainder of the cast is on target (Chen Chang and Gregory Dayton).

What holds the little hints of greatness that were to come (this film dates back to 1997) is suggested in the lighting and camera work, both of which provide as major a role in the film as the actors and chaotic storyline. The unity of mood and story is solidly at one in this little film, showing us just how creative the writer director was to become. Grady Harp, August 06