Happy Together (1997)

7.7Not Rated96 minDirector: Wong Kar-wai

1997 Hong Kong film by Wong Kar-wai

Happy Together (Chinese: 春光乍洩) is a 1997 Hong Kong romantic drama film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai and starring Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-wai as a turbulent gay couple. The English title is inspired by the Turtles' 1967 song, which is covered by Danny Chung on the soundtrack. The Chinese title (previously used for Michelangelo Antonioni's Blowup) is an idiomatic expression suggesting "the exposure of something intimate".

A landmark of Hong Kong LGBT cinema, the film was regarded as one of the best LGBT films in the New Queer Cinema movement and received critical acclaim and screened at several film festivals such as the 1997 Toronto International Film Festival; it was nominated for the Palme d'Or and won Best Director at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.

In 2022, Happy Together was ranked the 225th greatest film of all time in the Sight & Sound critics' poll. In 2016, the film was ranked the 3rd greatest LGBT film of all time in the British Film Institute poll. In 2018, it was ranked the 71st greatest foreign-language film of all time in the BBC poll.

Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

FAQ

What is Happy Together about?
Happy Together (1997) — Yiu-Fai and Po-Wing arrive in Argentina from Hong Kong and take to the road for a holiday. Something is wrong and their relationship goes adrift. A disillusioned Yiu-Fai starts working at a tango bar to save up for his trip home. When a beaten and bruised Po-Wing reappears, Yiu-F
Is Happy Together based on a true story?
See the production background and source material details on the official Wikipedia article.
Is Happy Together scary?
Content rating: Not Rated. See the reviews tab for parental guidance and tone notes.
What is Happy Together (1997) about? Plot, synopsis and ending explained — Screencodex