cab scene


remember when sofia coppola thanked wong kar wai in her acceptance speech when she won the best original screenplay oscar last year? well, at the time i thought it was an interesting name drop and i could see a possible influence of his work on her film, but i didn't realize she completely ripped off a scene from this movie and incorporated it in to one of the best scenes in her movie.

the scene when ho and fai are in the backseat of the cab after they have left the hospital and the film switches to color is very reminescent of when bob and charlotte share a quiet moment outside of the karaoke room. fai is smoking and puts the cigarette in ho's mouth for a drawl and then ho leans his head on fai's shoulders. charlotte does the exact same thing when bob gives her a puff of his cigarette. they're even on the same side of each other and the moment is also silent with the exception of faint music in the background. i still love both movies and it's actually a cool moment to reference, but is this just a coincidence or a fine job of paying homage to a great filmmaker?

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I personally think the homage is pretty naive, but then again, I don't like "Lost in Translation", so there you go.

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Also, in "In the mood for love", WKW creates a scene very similar, one of the most beautiful scenes in the History of the cinema.

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