The character arc of Wong Kar-wai

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born 17 July 1958 in Shanghai. Between then and now sit a move to Hong Kong at five, ten years without his brother and sister, a dropped degree in 1980, a first film in 1988, a famous failure in 1990, Best Director at Cannes in 1997, In the Mood for Love in 2000, and a television series in 2023. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is Wong Kar-wai?

The film that failed is the one everyone copies now.

He was born in Shanghai in 1958. When he was five his parents moved the family to Hong Kong; his two older siblings were meant to follow, the borders closed before they could, and he did not see them again for ten years. He arrived in a city where he could not speak the language, and was only fluent in Cantonese and English as a teenager. His mother took him to the cinema constantly. He has said that watching films was the only hobby he had as a child.

He enrolled in graphic design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic in 1980 and dropped out when TVB accepted him onto a training course. Then five years of writing for television and for other people's films. As Tears Go By, his first as director, came in 1988 and did well. Days of Being Wild, in 1990, was the opposite: critics saw what it was, audiences stayed away, and it lost money. He did not change what he was doing. Chungking Express in 1994 took him to the world, Happy Together won him Best Director at Cannes in 1997, and In the Mood for Love arrived in 2000.

He works without a finished script, writing scenes during the shoot, which is why 2046 took years and why actors describe his sets the way they do. The Grandmaster in 2013 became his most commercially successful film, and Blossoms Shanghai, his first television work, aired from 2023. His line is worth reading for 1990: the one film that emptied the cinemas is the one the next thirty years were built out of.

The moments

Wong Kar-wai's timeline.

The 1960s

~1963

Hong Kong, without his siblings

Setback, and it changed everything. Five years old, in a city whose language he could not speak, and two thirds of the family left behind.

The 1970s

~1972

Fluent at last

Milestone. Years of being the boy who could not follow the conversation, and then he could.

~1973

Ten years, then his siblings

Milestone, and it changed his direction. The separation ended. It had lasted his entire childhood.

The 1980s

~1980

He dropped the design degree

Setback, and it changed his direction. He left a qualification for a training course, which is a worse bet than it sounds and turned out right.

~1982

Five years writing for others

Everyday. Nobody knew his name yet. He was learning the shape of a scene on somebody else's money.

Jun 1988

As Tears Go By

Milestone, and it changed his direction. A first film that worked, which made the second one possible.

The 1990s

15 Dec 1990

Days of Being Wild failed

Setback, and it changed everything. The critics saw it. The audience did not come. He changed nothing about how he worked.

1 Jan 1991

Make what sells, or carry on

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: carry on regardless, taken, or make a commercial film. Chungking Express reached the world, and Cannes made him Best Director in 1997.

Jul 1994

Chungking Express

Milestone, and it changed everything. Shot fast, while he was stuck in the edit of something else, and it is the one that travelled.

18 May 1997

Best Director at Cannes

Milestone, and it changed everything. Seven years after the flop, the biggest festival in the world gave him its directing prize.

The 2000s

Sep 2000

In the Mood for Love

Milestone, and it changed everything. Two neighbours who never say the thing, for ninety eight minutes, and it is on every list ever since.

May 2004

2046, finally finished

Milestone. Years of shooting without a finished script, which is how he works and what it costs.

The 2010s

8 Jan 2013

The Grandmaster

Milestone, and it changed his direction. The director whose second film lost money made a martial arts epic that did not.

The 2020s

27 Dec 2023

Blossoms Shanghai

Milestone. At sixty five, a new form, set in the city he left at five.

He works slowly, without a finished script, and it keeps being worth it. What it has set moving is visible in almost any film that trusts a mood over a plot, and in every director who has been told their work lost money and carried on regardless.

Your turn

Every line draws a unique story.

His went from a famous flop to the most imitated look in modern cinema. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.

Step through

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Wong Kar-wai: frequently asked questions

What people ask about his line.

What is Wong Kar-wai's character arc?

A boy who arrived in Hong Kong at five unable to speak the language, dropped a degree for a television training course in 1980, made a famous commercial failure in 1990, and won Best Director at Cannes in 1997 without changing his method.

What were the turning points in Wong Kar-wai's life?

The move to Hong Kong and the decade apart from his siblings shaped the material. Leaving the Polytechnic for TVB in 1980 set the direction. The failure of Days of Being Wild in 1990 tested it, and Chungking Express in 1994 settled it.

What was Wong Kar-wai's biggest setback?

Days of Being Wild in 1990. Critics acclaimed it and audiences stayed away, and it lost money. The earlier and deeper one was family: the borders closed behind his brother and sister, and he did not see them again for ten years.

Why does Wong Kar-wai work without a script?

He writes scenes during the shoot rather than finishing a screenplay first, which is why 2046 had such a lengthy production. He kept the method after Days of Being Wild lost money in 1990, and Chungking Express and In the Mood for Love came out of it.

What is Wong Kar-wai best known for?

In the Mood for Love, released in 2000 and widely considered his masterwork, and Chungking Express from 1994. Happy Together won him Best Director at Cannes in 1997, and The Grandmaster in 2013 was his biggest commercial success.

Where was Wong Kar-wai born?

Shanghai, on 17 July 1958. His parents moved the family to Hong Kong when he was five. He returned to that city as a subject decades later with Blossoms Shanghai, his first television work, which aired from 2023.

What has Wong Kar-wai done recently?

Blossoms Shanghai, a television series and his first work in that form, which aired from 2023. Before it, The Grandmaster in 2013 took sixty four million dollars worldwide and became the most commercially successful film he has made.

Where does this timeline of Wong Kar-wai's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Wong Kar-wai isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to him.

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Sources

Wong Kar-wai, English Wikipedia biography.
Cannes Film Festival official record, Best Director 1997.