--- title: "Happy Together: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/happy-together/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/happy-together" critics_score: 67 critics_reviews: 9 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Happy Together (1997): what the critics said Critics' score 67 from 9 reviews: 7 positive, 0 mixed, 2 negative. Most critics like it, and the praise clusters on how it looks. Christopher Doyle’s photography of Buenos Aires draws admiration nearly everywhere, as does Wong Kar-wai’s loose, fragmented way of cutting, which several reviews say matches the couple’s on-again, off-again pattern. Tony Leung’s lead performance is singled out, and more than one critic finds the film wiser and more heartfelt than Wong’s earlier Hong Kong work, with the quieter, non-sexual friendship at its heart named as the emotional centre. The spread is wide. Two of the nine reviews are plainly negative, and for related reasons: Empire calls it style over substance, with the imagery carrying viewers through erratic plotting and little emotional weight, and The Guardian finds the endless quarrels and the selfish central pair hard to sit with. Even some admirers concede the film is sour on love and claustrophobic. The argument is whether the beauty earns the misery. ## The AV Club — Scott Tobias Rating A-. 9 June 2010. The film argues for the essentiality of doomed relationships through its on-again/off-again gay lovers in Buenos Aires. Wong's improvisational style and lush imagery from Christopher Doyle create a wistful, wise tone despite the co-dependency and heartache. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/happy-together-blu-ray-1798165151) ## Time Out — TR Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 7 January 2015. Wong Kar-Wai and cameraman Chris Doyle have crafted their most lyrical film. The romance between two gay men from Hong Kong ends soon after they arrive in Argentina, crystallising the anxieties and hopes of Hong Kong people on the eve of the return to China. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/happy-together) ## Slant Magazine — Eric Henderson Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 4 June 2010. Wong's 1997 film is a mass of contradictions, mostly sour on love but filmed with romanticism; it is a vibrant, colorful gay classic about two men joined and repelled by intimacy and repulsion. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/happy-together/) ## The New York Times — Stephen Holden Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 10 October 1997. Festival review. The critic describes the film as a more coherent and heartfelt work than Wong's earlier fantastical Hong Kong films. He singles out the poignant, nonsexual friendship that becomes the emotional center, capturing youth's restless spirit with piercing sadness. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/10/movies/film-festival-review-renewable-love-and-other-fallacies-of-youth.html) ## Little White Lies — David Pountain Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 16 July 2017. The film is a deeply affecting portrait of a failing relationship between two men whose on-again, off-again dynamic in Argentina becomes a volatile, claustrophobic addiction marked by fighting and emotional wreckage. Wong's restless, fragmented style underscores the couple's destructive patterns while hinting at personal renewal for the one who learns to let go. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/in-praise-of/wong-kar-wai-happy-together-bitter-romanticism) ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 23 January 2009. Describes the film as Wong's most left-field offering among three masterpieces in a DVD collection, focusing on an expatriate gay couple from Hong Kong living in Buenos Aires. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/dvd-the-wong-karwai-collection-15-1513104.html) ## Empire — Ian Freer Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The film is a triumph of style over substance, with dazzling imagery and novel editing that pull viewers through despite a lack of emotional wallop. It ultimately falls short of being as engaging or heartfelt as it should be due to erratic plotting. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/happy-together-review/) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 16 January 2004. The film struggles to match the mood of Wong's earlier works because of its focus on endless lovers' quarrels and selfish central characters. Wong's stylistically unique approach and Tony Leung's strong lead performance are singled out as positives. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2004/jan/16/dvdreviews.shopping3) ## Eye for Film — Angus Wolfe Murray Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 19 January 2001. The critic praises Wong Kar-wai for breaking rules with a dysfunctional plot and handheld camerawork that captures loneliness and despair. The ironic title and avoidance of gay stereotypes are highlighted as strengths in this exploration of a troubled relationship. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/happy-together-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/happy-together.md