Blueberry Thrill

Director Wong Kar Wai On Norah Jones, Music and His English-Language Debut

Writer/Director Wong Kar Wai is a giant of Hong Kong cinema with his films creating a loyal following of cineastes who are entranced by his brilliant meditations on love and loneliness conveyed by nuanced performances, signature music and singular visuals.  We spoke with Mr. Wong about his American debut, My Blueberry Nights, and the challenges and opportunities in presenting his storytelling to a wider audience and a different culture.

What is it about the themes of love, loneliness and betrayal that keep bringing you back to explore them?

I think with My Blueberry Nights it’s a story of letting go.  The whole film is to show that we, at certain points in our lives, have to cross off an event that’s happened in the past but isn’t working anymore.  It applies not only to relationships but to obsessions.

With this film you have three Oscar nominees, but you also have Norah Jones making her debut. How did you settle on her to lead this ensemble?

The process was quite straightforward.  The ideas of this film first started when I had a meeting with Norah in New York.  We were talking about making a film together and this project is something neither of us had done before.  For her, it was acting and for me it was my first English-language film.  And from there, I have to find her three partners.  It’s like a song.  Norah is one tune and this cast is another tune, and the question is how to bring the harmony out.

This isn’t only your first English-language film, but you go across America, from New York to Memphis to Reno.  What was your experience in capturing these different places?

Because this was my first film shot in America and we all know that wherever we go there are always different American cultures in our minds, I think the job is to revisit these fragments and pay and homage to it.  So one of the reasons I shot in Memphis is because the piece generated and it’s the hometown of Tennessee Williams and we can see all these references to his plays like A Streetcar Named Desire and the great plays took place in this town.  And so the reason I shot in Memphis is to pay homage to this place.  And also in New York, which is the most familiar station I know in the United States, you can see big references and the diner basically reminds me of the painting Nighthawks and the West Coast with Nevada and Vegas remind me of different things.  So during this journey, you have so many references and I think America, the country actually, is the best showcase for American cultures.  It’s just so steeped in history and it’s a very hard choice when you see the potential of which references to keep.

You have such a great ear for music, and I was wondering how you choose songs for your films.

Norah played a very important part in this.  Before shooting I took three trips across the country; me, my DP, and my location managers, would just get a car and drove like fifteen hours a day.  And before that, we knew we had nothing to do in a car so I asked Norah if there was any music you might want to recommend and so she recommend Cat Power and Frankie Williams and during the trips the soundtrack of this film was already decided.  Like we come to these cities and they have their own collective music genre and then for the film, this music gives a very good reference to the place.

When putting the cast together, did you test the music to see if played well with their scenes and interactions?

I’m not worried if the instrument sounds right because these actors are the best in generations but as a director, we have to figure out how to put them in the right harmony.  And so that’s why I spoke with Jude [Law] because he was the first one we started with and he’s like a musician so he knew how to go with the rhythm and the backing.  But at the same time, it’s new elements because when you’re working with actors for the first time, there’s no reference and they bring new energies, actors like Jude and Natalie [Portman].  And at the end, I’m really happy about it.

What was the experience like of making an English-language film as opposed to your previous work?

At first I thought it was a vacation.  The production is very schedule.  I thought it’s going to be a piece of cake but it’s not.  But I have to know everything from scratch with new systems and a brand new crew.  It was an exciting experience. 

What did you take away from this experience?

I think it’s in the film.  In a way this film is almost a personal documentary of myself.  Each character represents certain aspects of my personal status.