| Wong Kar Wai is internationally well-known as a postmodern art film director and is widely considered the Asian auteur of our time (Wright, 2002). Wong Kar Wai films have been judged to be significant from the standpoint of Asian cultural studies. The existing range of criticism on his oeuvre is quite diverse and is especially focused on social interpretations and the impacts on international consumption of the art film industry. In this research I combine criteria from auteur criticism with concepts of geopolitical identity in cultural studies to examine the 'trilogy' of Days of Being Wild, In the Mood for Love, and 2046. The relationships and meanings of time and memory in Wong Kar Wai's films create significant connections between the history and identity of Hong Kong as a uniquely westernized Asian metropolis. The changing circumstance of Hong Kong cultural identity, as the province returns to Chinese political administration, raises questions about whether western, eastern or some cosmopolitan combination of both traditions are possible options for national identity formation. The complexity of the argument bears on whether and how history might have created deep styles of expression about regional cultural identities. |
