Wong-Fu: Left On Shing Wong

Wong-Fu Productions is run by a trio of filmmakers, Phillip Wang, Ted Fu, and Wesley Chang. Their films are a good mix of comedy, romance, and thoughtful drama, each one of a superb quality. While they did filmmaking well before YouTube, with their breakout being the racial satire Yellow Fever, YouTube has certainly expanded their audience. Something great about YouTube is that it serves as a medium for young filmmakers struggling to get acknowledged by big name studios. Not only can Wong-Fu tell the stories they like without having to appease any gate-keepers, they can also cast whomever they want, so they usually cast Asians. These Asian casts are a breath of fresh air to the seasoned filmgoer, as I rarely see Asians in Western films who aren’t martial arts experts.

Left On Shing Wong is easily my favorite of their films, because it deals with a writer trying to find inspiration. For someone who’s been following Wong-Fu’s progress for some time, Left On Shing Wong not only signifies their maturity, but also a heightened sense of spirituality and mysticism. Shing Wong is an inquiry into the nature of inspiration by means of a fairy tale. A young writer on the city steps meets a woman dressed in white. She is picking up glowing marbles of crystal which represent stray thoughts and memories that vanish in our daily lives. The surrealism of these scene sounds like something out of Haruki Murakami, while the music evokes Hayao Miyazaki.

The concept here is that our thoughts and memories never really vanish, but are recycled into new ideas for others to bring to life. The film isn’t drowned out with dialogue, but rather allows its visuals to speak. The glowing marbles of thought float unaided, barely getting the attention of a cat. A clear contrast is made from a bustling city of people on their phones to the lone stairs where a writer struggles with the next sentence. Perhaps it’s a reminder that we need space to focus our thoughts, somewhere quiet or off the beaten path.

Writers, and artists in general, will find plenty relatable in Left On Shing Wong. Inspiration is our fuel, we grasp for it wherever we can sniff. The woman that the writer in this story meets is a Muse. While Muses have traditionally been women, they don’t always have to be. A Muse can be a cat, a dog, a painting, a tree, or even “God.” Writers must be patient, we wait.

We wait for the steps on the hill to tell us their secrets.

Watch Left On Shing Wong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A18Rh5gVx2U

Originally published at http://sansuthecat.blogspot.com on January 3, 2016.