Happy Together - actors, characters and roles

All actors and their roles in the film "Happy Together"

春光乍洩 (1997)

Timing: 1:36 (96 min)

7.57/10
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7.372/10
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7.7/10
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All about film

Video 3

Photo 71

Actors and characters

Tony Leung Chiu-wai

Character Lai Yiu-fai

Leslie Cheung

Character Ho Po-wing

Chang Chen

Character Chang

Gregory Dayton

Character Lover

What's left behind the scenes

In one scene, Tony Leung Chiu-wai's character tells Zhang Chen's character that he resembles a blind swordsman. Tony Leung Chiu-wai played a swordsman losing his sight in the film "Ashes of Time" (1994).
The inclusion of the Zhang Chen storyline was an improvisation. The film's director, Wong Kar-wai, accidentally came across a restaurant called "China Central" and, taking advantage of Leslie Cheung's absence, decided to continue filming. This is how the Zhang storyline was created.
Tony Leung Chiu-wai agreed to star in this film because he was deliberately given the wrong script. He only learned about the need to portray a homosexual relationship upon arriving in Argentina for filming.
Wong Kar-wai decided to film abroad, realizing that continuing filming in Hong Kong after its transfer to the jurisdiction of the PRC would be difficult. He managed to negotiate funding with the Spanish authorities – with the condition that he would film in a Spanish-speaking country. The director chose Argentina because he had always liked the work of the Argentine writer Manuel Puig (1932-1990).
Tony Leung Chiu-wai had no idea that his character was involved in boxing. Director Wong Kar-wai made him take boxing lessons and even filmed several boxing scenes that were ultimately not included in the film. According to the director, the boxing lessons made the actor's performance more energetic.
Working on the film took the director longer than working on other films because he was constantly changing things, as he wasn't sure in which direction to develop the project. Filming began when no one yet had a definitively approved script, and significant changes were made to the plot during production.
During post-production, the film was repeatedly copied to increase the graininess and contrast of the image to a degree that satisfied the filmmakers.
The first version of the film was approximately 3 hours long, but it was re-edited, and some characters and certain plot lines were completely removed.
The inclusion of Chan Chen's storyline was an improvisation. Wong Kar-wai stumbled upon a restaurant called China Central and, taking advantage of Leslie Cheung's absence, decided to continue filming. This is how Chan's storyline was created.
Tony Leung Chiu-wai agreed to star in this film because he was deliberately given the wrong script. He only learned about the need to portray homosexual relationships upon arriving in Argentina for filming.
Wong Kar-wai decided to film abroad, understanding that continuing to shoot in Hong Kong after its transfer to Chinese jurisdiction would be difficult. He managed to negotiate funding with the Spanish authorities – with the condition that he would film in a Spanish-speaking country. The director chose Argentina because he had always admired the work of Argentinian writer Manuel Puig.
Wong Kar-wai decided to film abroad, understanding that continuing to shoot in Hong Kong after its transfer to Chinese jurisdiction would be difficult. He managed to negotiate funding with the Spanish authorities – with the condition that he would film in a Spanish-speaking country. The director chose Argentina because he had always liked the work of the Argentinian writer Manuel Puig.

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