Landscape as a Labyrinth of Memory. Images of Hong Kong in the Films of Wong Kar-wai

Abstract

Images of Hong Kong have become hallmarks of Wong Kar-wai's oeuvre, combining with with the director's characteristic theme of memory and passing. The article distinguishes two main types of space. The first is related to the dynamic image of the metropolis in the 1990s, recording the specificity of a place doomed to inevitable change. The second is a vision of Hong Kong as a city from the past, filtered through the deceptive mechanisms of memory. In both cases, the landscape takes on a labyrinthine character, emphasised by the non-obvious relationship between open and closed space, fragmentation and repetition relating both to the setting of the film in question and to the locations appearing in the different narratives. The counterpoint to the locations thus depicted are spaces external to the city, immune to the effects of time. The analysis also addresses the problem of an imagined Hong Kong, found by the director in other metropolises as diverse as Taipei, New York or Buenos Aires.