I’ve got the blues
Description
Yank Wong is a renaissance man—preferring to be called a painter, he is also a poet, blues musician, philosopher, and cantankerous drinker. He meets his match in director Angie Chen, an old friend who decides to make a film about him to try and uncover what drives him. The result is this funny, offbeat, riff-filled portrait that tracks Wong’s life from Paris to Macao to Hong Kong, his fraught relationship with his now-adult daughters, and how he perceives his work. Watching these two strong personalities argue about what the documentary is and should be brings up fascinating questions about control and representation.
“By breaking the fourth wall and acknowledging its existence, Wong makes himself an extremely interesting documentary subject. His responses when he does offer them are deeply thought-provoking, while his self-deprecating humor provides further insight into his artwork. Chen’s beautiful film captures the contradictions of human beings and the struggles of artists through her lens, while pushing the boundaries of what a documentary can be.” —Nicola Chan, Young Post
Born in Shanghai but raised in Hong Kong and Taiwan, Angie Chen has been making films, both fiction and documentary, since 1979. Remarking on the subject of I’ve got the blues, Chen says, “He’s a musician, painter, writer, set designer, and a photographer…But he is so low-key that nobody, even now, not a lot of people know him except for people in that particular circle…When I started, I didn’t know him that well, he doesn’t speak a lot, kind of withdrawn, so [I thought] why don’t I follow him and hopefully I can find more about this person and yes, I did.”
Film Details
Language English, Cantonese
Year 2017
Premiere US
Runtime 91
Country Hong Kong
Director Angie Chen
Producer Angie Chen, Pamela Lay
Editor Angie Chen, Jean Hu, Chu Hoi Ying
Cinematographer Sam Chau, Chan Tze Woon, Alan Zou Qiao, Chu Hoi Ying, Urie Tan, Wang Sheng Bo, Angie Chen, Vincent Fung, Kobe Chen, Mike Mak, Peter Pan, Ngai Tsz Long
Music mininoise and Lai Kin Wah
Print Source Good Move Media