Wah has been a hotshot dept enforcer since his teens. Even though he is feared by many in the local mob scene, he is mostly busy cleaning up the mess his protégé Fly leaves behind. If it’s insulting a father-in-law on the wedding day or smashing the wrong guy’s car – Fly is really good at only one thing and that’s getting himself into trouble. One day a distant cousin is sent to stay with Wah for a few days. Even though Ngor is a country bumpkin, she quickly sees through his nightly business. After her departure he can’t stop himself imagining a life with Ngor in the countryside. But escaping the city is hard while his chosen brothers need protection, and he’s been in the game too long to earn an honest wage. Red and blue neonlights, self-proclaimed bad guys too tough to deal with their broken hearts and music full of longing – Wong Kar Wai’s debut already shows what he is still famous for. His gangster films stand out within the Hong Kong Cinema because they show what is in between the adrenaline-pumped moments, the emptiness and dreams usually hidden behind the square chins and heavy makeup. The distortion of the action in his films, reflecting the trauma and the highs his fighting or fleeing protagonists go through are only in the beginnings in As Tears Go By. Even though none of his later films got so broadly popular, he has managed to unite Western and Eastern cinema and remains a heavy influence for both.

Leihgabe der Filmkopie mit freundlicher Unterstützung vom Kommkino.