Barry Jenkins, director of Moonlight, one of the most acclaimed films of 2016, sat down for an interview with The Criterion Collection about the films of noted Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai.
Jenkins credits Kar-wai's fourth movie Chungking Express as his introduction to foreign films, and helping him realize that film could transcend language. "I don't speak Mandarin or Cantonese, [at that time] I'd never been out of the state of Florida, and I'm watching this film and I'm feeling these things," he says.
Kar-wai's 2000 film In The Mood For Love receives the highest praise from Jenkins. "I can't even touch that film. I gotta do this for at least another 40 years before I can even come close." He especially admires how the film visualizes memory, our reactions to the present moment, and the emotional lives of its characters.
Watch the video above and read about the making of Moonlight here.