Away With Words

Christopher Doyle is an unusual phenomenon: someone whose camerawork is so spectacular and innovative that the directors he works with make a better and different film than if they had done it without him. Most spectacular was his work for Wong Kar-wai (Chungking Express, Fallen Angels) but also his camera work in films by Chen Kaige, Stanley Kwan and Edward Yang contributed to Doyle’s status as one of the most wanted and versatile cameramen of the nineties. The title of his directing début says enough. The images form the thread through the narrative and the characters’ emotions. The protagonist is Asano who has had an amazing memory since his youth spent in Okinawa. Words have tangible shapes, tastes and colours for him. This goes so far that he is not even able to forget words once he has heard them. He travels the seas and because ‘Hong Kong’ feels wonderful, he goes ashore there. He chances upon the Dive Bar, that soon turns out to be the haven of comfort he has been seeking since his youth. The bar is run by the flamboyant, hospitable Kevin, who is also an alcoholic, eclectic lover and a perfect confidant to Asano. But Kevin keeps forgetting all kinds of things and that gets him into trouble sometimes. Words seem only to stand in the way of the relationship between Asano and Kevin…