The shoot for the resulting movie, Ashes Of Time (1994), was protracted and hugely over-budget. WKW then went to work on adapting - in his own idiosyncratic way - a modern wu xia classic Jin Yong's Eagle Shooting Heroes.
WKW finally made moves to ensure the creative freedom which he previously lacked, by setting up his own production company: Jet Tone Studios. Despite the commercial underperformance, critics were enthralled by Hong Kong's new maverick, as well as the cinematography of a now WKW stalwart, Chris Doyle. His next movie as director was the commercially disastrous Days Of Being Wild (1990), a movie which earned WKW a reputation for being a director who would not compromise to please everyone. It was a commercial and critical success, and actors (and backers) were queuing up to work with WKW. With this to his name, WKW was given the director's reins, and he directed (with friend William Chang as production designer) his debut, As Tears Go By (1988), based on the first script of the Final Victory trilogy. In 1987 he scripted Final Victory for director Patrick Tam, it being the intended third film in a trilogy of scripts. WKW has said that he hasn't actually seen every movie which he contributed to script-wise (one such movie he simply recalls as being 'shot in Thailand').Īfter a while, his scripts started to get noticed, particularly as he was friends with some established directors. WKW recalls that many crew members were too poor to rely on movies for their income, and often had to take on other jobs (citing an unnamed director who was also a debt collector on the side). However, at the time, this was not seen as a 'cool' indie style, more a dead end for stragglers caught between the large studios. Moving on, he worked on scripts more fully, outside of the mainstream studios. He did not quite flourish in this environment.Īccording to WKW, for a year he almost 'lived out of' close friend and director Ringo Lam's apartment, but failed to provide much material for Cinema City. WKW worked in the script department, ostensibly to provide ideas and gags, moving on to full scripts. If the daily work did not fill the quota which the bosses demanded (usually a gag quota, as Cinema City's staple was the type of wacky comedy which was then growing in popularity), then a reshoot was demanded. At Cinema City, a regime was imposed whereby directors had to have their daily rushes vetted by the bosses (one of whom was popular actor/comedian Eric Tsang, who would later actually star in a WKW-scripted film, Final Victory (1987)). It wasn't a move which allowed him to exercise much more creative freedom than before though, as he was working with the ruthlessly commercial Cinema City. In 1982, WKW made the move into the film industry. props reappearing on different sets - maybe this is where WKW got all his ideas about repetition!) I don't know which serials he worked on, but those who watched Hong Kong television and have long memories may recall that most Hong Kong serials of the time had incredibly sparse productions - i.e. (Quite exactly what he did during this period, I have no idea.
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Growing up in predominantly Cantonese Hong Kong whilst being a native Shanghainese speaker, WKW recalls spending much of his youth going to the cinema with his mother.Īfter graduating from Hong Kong Polytechnic in Graphic Design, WKW enrolled to work with the TVB television station, becoming a production assistant on serial television dramas. His father's occupations included that of sailor and nightclub manager. His family moved to Hong Kong when he was 5 years old. Wong Kar Wai was born in 1958 in Shanghai, China. Check out the IMDB itself for a full filmography - including scriptwriting credits and producer's credits.) (Some of this biography is from the Internet Movie Database - There may be some mistakes/incorrect recollections, as well as some glaring omissions.
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