Internationally renowned director Wong Kar Wai's directorial debut came in 1988 with As Tears Go By which screened at Cannes the following year. In 1991 he made another critically acclaimed film Days of Being Wild, just as honored at film festivals. They now come in a boxset!
A stylish triumph for genre fans and film fans alike, As Tears Go By more than lives up to its billing as the first film from celebrated director Wong Kar Wai. Andy Lau is Ha Tau, a small-time triad leader whose responsibility for the pathological Fly (Jacky Cheung, in an award-winning performance) threatens to be his downfall. While Ha Tau struggles with his troubles on the streets, he finds solace in a surprising intimacy to his cousin, Ah Ngor (the luminous Maggie Cheung)... Mixing stylish MTV-style filmmaking with potent triad melodrama, As Tears Go By is an exemplary genre film, and an intriguing beginning to Wong Kar-Wai's celebrated filmography.
Wong's Days of Being Wild sets up Wong's consistent themes of alienation and isolation. The film pools together a star-studded cast including Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Carina Lau, Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, and Tony Leung Chiu. The film centers around a stubborn and careless young man York's yearning for finding out who his biological mother is. He gets acquainted with a lonely submissive bar girl (Maggie Cheung) and a beautiful club hostess/dancer (Carina Lau) before leaving his whole life behind in search of the truth which may ultimately destroy him... Leslie Cheung's superb performance in Days of Being Wild was honored with the trophies for Best Male Actor in the Hong Kong Film Awards of the relevant year. The film also captured the Best Director and Best Picture awards.