Two loosely stitched Hong Kong love stories: a lovesick cop stockpiling tins of pineapple that all expire on one day, and another whose apartment gets quietly redecorated by the snack-bar girl who stole his keys. Christopher Doyle's smeared handheld camerawork and the endless replays of 'California Dreamin'' turned a generation onto Wong Kar-wai. Metrograph's late slot is the right room for it — small, dark, full of people who came for this.
What to expect
Metrograph's two screens are compact with proper theater seats, which matters for a late show. The film runs about 102 minutes and moves between Cantonese and Mandarin with English subtitles. The second-floor bar and Commissary restaurant stay open around screenings, so the room fills with people who arrived early for a drink first.
Good to know
- Metrograph is on Ludlow Street below Canal — the F at East Broadway and the B/D at Grand Street are the closest trains.
- Late repertory shows here draw a line, but seating is reserved so you can book ahead instead of queueing.
- The upstairs Commissary restaurant takes its own reservations, separate from film tickets.
- The film is subtitled in English throughout and shifts between Cantonese and Mandarin.
- Metrograph membership unlocks earlier booking, which helps when a repertory title sells out.
- The building is stair-heavy; ask staff about the elevator if that matters for your visit.
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Common questions
Which version is screening?
Metrograph does not list a format for this run on its calendar. The theater programs repertory titles from both restorations and archival prints, so ask at the box office if the distinction matters to you.
Do I need to know Wong Kar-wai's other films?
Not at all. Chungking Express is the standard entry point to his work, and Fallen Angels was originally conceived as a third story for this very film.
How is the film structured?
As two separate stories, roughly an hour each, that share a Hong Kong snack bar and never really intersect beyond it.
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