Happy Together

Januaury 2007. I was at a DVD store in a Bangkok night market, looking for the film, Happy Together. I asked the shop attendant for help, he said, "gay movie?" I paused for a moment, and then replied, "ya." He walked away and then returned with a few baskets of DVDs. It was however one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. Those were no normal discs but gay pornography. So awkward was the situation that my mates sneaked away. But so determined was I at finding the film that I stayed put, sieving through the various graphic DVD covers, enduring stray eyes from the curious customers. In the end, there was no Happy Together.

(Later that night, a voluptuous Thai prostitute tried to hug me, "handsome! handsome!" But before anything could happen, my friend, Big Ryan, pushed me away. But that is another story.)

I don't think it is possible to find a piece of Happy Together off the racks of any stores here in Singapore. I've watched the film 4 times, 3 on Youtube, and 1 on a ripped digital file, but it is still not enough. It is a must-owned piece of Wong Kar-wai ingenuity (the film won him Best Director in Cannes 1997).

Bad 4:3.

Eventually, a junior from school help arranged a sale from Taiwan. I was ecstatic. Alas, it was a poor format, 4:3 cropped for a CRT TV.

Malaysia boleh?

A year ago at all places, a shopping mall in a sleepy town in Ipoh Malaysia that I found a proper piece and I proudly christened my Wong Kar-wai collection, complete.

Here's to Number 29, the bad 4:3 Taiwanese edition.