Wong Kar Wai

Wong Kar-Wai, the brilliantly manic Chinese film director, is right above Quentin Tarantino on the theoretical film flow chart. With films such as As Tears Go By, Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, and Ashes of Time, Kar-Wai has been at the forefront of Hong Kong cinema. On the surface, Kar-Wai follows the rules, presenting the usual fare of car chases, explosions, and sex, but in reality his films are much deeper. His characters live and die on the fringe of acceptance and existence, in a nebulous gray area between good and almost evil. Wong-Kai has managed to invent an art that refuses the affluence of the West: by sticking his guns (and knives, fists and chains), this film director has created a bridge between Hong Kong and the rest of the world.