The Sensuous Cinema of Wong Kar-wai

The widely acclaimed films of Wong Kar-wai are characterized by their sumptuous yet complex visual and sonic style. Bettinson argues that Wong’s films—from Days of Being Wild and Chungking Express to In the Mood for Love and The Grandmaster—are permeated by an aesthetic of sensuousness and “disturbance” achieved through techniques such as narrative disruptions, jarring cuts, the blocking of facial access, and other complex strategies. The effect is to jolt the viewer out of complete aesthetic absorption. This tenth-anniversary edition of The Sensuous Cinema of Wong Kar-wai includes a substantial new afterword bringing the story of Wong’s career up to date (including reflections on the mainland Chinese drama Blossoms Shanghai). Bettinson revisits and extends the arguments of the first edition, surveys the recent key debates on Wong’s filmmaking, and introduces fresh lines of critical investigation. “Gary Bettinson’s Sensuous Cinema of Wong Kar-wai is a major step forward in our understanding of this director. Bettinson scrutinizes Wong’s unique place in world film culture, his unusual production methods, and his debts to several cinematic traditions, both Asian and European. A close examination of Wong’s style shows, in unprecedented depth, how these lyrical, apparently loosely constructed films are underpinned by a strong formal and emotional coherence. The result is an unequaled study of a filmmaker whose work, from As Tears Go By to The Grandmaster, has redefined contemporary cinema.” —David Bordwell, University of Wisconsin–Madison “Seldom has the sensuous been subjected to such a scientifically rigorous and yet moving account as Gary Bettinson’s analysis of Wong Kar-wai. Chapter by chapter, the logic of specific choices underpinning Wong’s cinema produces a sense of revelation perfectly complementing the intense pleasures of watching the films. In this second edition, Bettinson focuses on the actor’s work, a stroke of genius for understanding an oeuvre where body language and gesture are so crucial.” —Chris Berry, King’s College London “In this essential study of acclaimed filmmaker Wong Kar-wai, Gary Bettinson exquisitely captures the director’s cinematic sensorium and digs deep below a seductive visual surface to uncover a creative roughness that disturbs narrative and generic expectations. Three cheers for this updated edition!” —Gina Marchetti, author of Citing China: Politics, Postmodernism, and World Cinema