Series Site
January 9–February 28, 2026
This winter BAMPFA presents a retrospective celebration of the films of Wong Kar Wai, one of the world’s most influential contemporary auteurs. After emigrating from Shanghai with his parents in 1963, Wong spent his childhood in Hong Kong’s numerous cinemas. He said that spending “almost every day watching films—French films, Hollywood films, Italian films, films from Taiwan, and local productions” was his version of film school, and the impact of this education is evident throughout his work. In his distinctly modern synthesis of classic Hollywood, Hong Kong genre, and European art films, Wong combines neo-Expressionist cinematography, richly textured production design, and elliptical narrative structures to explore the existential complexities of change, desire, memory, love, friendship, and self-realization. Wong’s films are driven by emotion, with a visual style that reflects his characters’ inner states and the temporal flux that they long to transcend in the search for sublime connection. With precise attention to the physicality of his protagonists and the inanimate objects that become proxies for absent lovers, Wong embeds the erotic power of delayed gratification in every frame. Expertly exploiting the power of popular music, Wong creates transcultural soundtracks that range from Taiwanese pop and Argentine tangos, Frank Zappa songs, and Nat King Cole interpretations of Latin jazz, to Laurie Anderson’s deadpan address and “California Dreamin’” by the Mamas and the Papas. Songs are sometimes used as communication by the characters, as well as serving as commentary or atmosphere, rendering the accompanying images unforgettable.
—Kate MacKay, Film Curator