Wong Kar-wai's Hong Kong through his films.

Wong Kar-wai's cinematic style is expressed through his camera angles, colors, and composition. From the vibrant, warm hues of love intertwined with the cold tones of overwhelming loneliness, from the dim streetlights to the moss-covered, dilapidated apartment buildings, these are not merely means for Wong Kar-wai to tell love stories, but also to convey the heartfelt emotions of a director who "loves Hong Kong for a million years."

A Phi's True StoryOne of his early films, *The Hong Kong of the Year*, is a tragedy about disoriented young people in the 1960s. The Hong Kong depicted in the film is dark and melancholic, with empty rooms and dilapidated buildings contrasting with the shimmering city lights reflecting on stagnant puddles in narrow alleyways, where lovers pass each other without touching, and peeling telephone booths on street corners ring endlessly without anyone answering. Hong Kong and the youth of these people are like a vague dream, both very close and very far, lingering endlessly in the hearts of the audience.

InChongqing ForestIn this groundbreaking film that propelled Wong Kar-wai to international fame, he captured the quintessential beauty of Hong Kong just three years before the city ceased to be a British colony and rejoined mainland China. During a New Year's Eve party in 1993, a stampede killed 21 people (mostly teenagers) in Lan Kwai Fong, one of the film's main settings.Chongqing ForestIn 1994, Governor Chris Patten introduced several political reforms aimed at the younger generation, such as lowering the voting age to 18, in the twilight of Hong Kong's colonial era. Amidst the upheavals of the times, Hong Kong inChongqing ForestIt exploded with deafening sounds and blindingly bright colors. Like a Polaroid photo.Chongqing ForestThe film captured Hong Kong in a moment that was both crazy and romantic. Did the film capture the soul of the city, or was the city already as beautiful as it was in the film?

Nearly 30 years after the film's release, Hong Kong has undergone a dramatic transformation, but the Chongqing Grand Building, despite numerous renovations, retains its original appearance. Located in Tsim Sha Tsui, a district in northern Hong Kong, this commercial center is one of Hong Kong's most iconic and notorious buildings, and also known for its high crime rate. Wong Kar-wai described this crowded and dangerous building as "easily flammable," and its chaotic beauty has remained unchanged since its appearance in the film.Chongqing Forestry.Nowadays, movie fans can easily rent rooms here through Airbnb, and the building continues to have a "notoriety" for having been the site of numerous robberies and scams targeting tourists.

The Midnight Express diner from the movie no longer exists; instead, there's a 7-Eleven convenience store.

Another highlight is Hong Kong's escalator system, comprising 18 escalators and 3 tracks, transporting thousands of people daily. Hong Kong has many hills, so this outdoor escalator system was built in 1993 to serve tourists and commuters as a way to alleviate traffic congestion in the city. The escalators descend from midnight to 10:30 am and ascend until midnight the following day, traversing 14 routes, from Conduit Street in the west to Queens Road in the east. This escalator has appeared in several films by Wong Kar-wai.

Hong Kong at night appears dazzling but also tinged with bitterness.Fallen AngelsWith most of the filming taking place in Tsim Sha Tsui, where Wong Kar-wai lived from his childhood, it's not a gentle, classic Hong Kong, nor a Hong Kong brimming with neon lights. It's the Hong Kong of...Fallen AngelsThose were just fast-food restaurants, convenience stores, and cheap, smoke-filled bars... but now, more than two decades later, many Hong Kong residents truly realize how precious those memories are.

Mood when in loveThis romantic drama, released in 2000 and set in 1960s Hong Kong, is widely recognized as Wong Kar-wai's most outstanding work. The film's ending takes place in 1966, a poignant moment marking the beginning of the Chinese Cultural Revolution and a year before the Hong Kong riots. The final scene shows Chow Mo-man whispering her secrets into a hollow tree, reminiscing about lost years. This is not just an unfinished ending to a love story, but also marks the end of an era and the dawn of an uncertain future, much like the fate of Hong Kong.

To accurately recreate the streets of Hong Kong in the 1960s, Wong Kar-wai and cinematographer Christopher Doyle filmed much of the movie in Bangkok. However, the scene of the two main characters (Chow Mo-man and So Lai-chun) dining together was filmed at the Goldfinch restaurant, a classic Western-style eatery in Causeway Bay. Opened in 1962, Goldfinch is considered an iconic local restaurant with its dimly lit interior, smoked mirrors, and distinctive leather seating. After appearing in two of Wong Kar-wai's films,Mood when in loveand2046Goldfinch has become internationally renowned. However, the original Goldfinch restaurant closed in 2018 after more than half a century in operation. A new Goldfinch restaurant opened at Kyoto Plaza on Lockhart Street, but it no longer retains the romantic, nostalgic atmosphere of the past, even though it still uses all the old furnishings.

The next part ofA Phi's True StoryandMood when in loveTo be2046This is Zhou Muwen's room number.Mood when in loveThis is also the setting for the science fiction novel he is writing. And for the people of Hong Kong, this number has a special meaning: it marks the end of half a century of "one country, two systems" under the agreement that handed Hong Kong back to China.2046It carries with it Wong Kar-wai's anxieties about the future of Hong Kong and a deep love for Hong Kong's past.

Perhaps that's why Hong Kong...2046Almost no real-life locations were used; most scenes were filmed on set. The Oriental Hotel in the film is actually a building known locally as the "White House," with plain white, unadorned walls, located at the intersection of Victoria and Mt. Davis streets. The building has no official name and is not numbered. Locals say the White House was originally a prison for political prisoners during the British colonial era. Currently, the White House is abandoned and only occasionally used as a filming location.Form, realmIn director Ang Lee's works, this place was used as the secret home of Mr. Yi (also played by Tony Leung) in Hong Kong. The history associated with the house also contributes to the dark, oppressive atmosphere of the films shot there.

Hong Kong's unique beauty seems to stem from the interplay of old and new, tradition and modernity, bursting forth through revolutionary periods yet concealing the poignant memories of the past. Amidst this chaos of colors and sounds, as Police 223 says, Wong Kar-wai's enduring love and nostalgia for Hong Kong "never expires."

Huong Thao