Shorts Bay

Sex… longing… rejection… and pain.

Inspired by the themes explored in the films of Hong Kong film director Wong Kar-Wai, this is a checklist of what to expect from modern love.

THINGS WONG KAR-WAI TAUGHT ME ABOUT LOVE

1. You will fall in love only once. Obstacles will prevail. The rest of your life is spent recovering.
2. Anything that distracts you from the pain of your loss is good. Some people are more successful in this regard than others.
3. Eroticising their objects will be the pinnacle of your sexual fulfillment.
4. Desire is kept eternally alive by the impossibility of contact.
5. The most potent way to exist is to occupy someone else’s imagination.
6. Technology will only heighten your sense of desolation making you more keenly aware that no one is trying to call.
7. Hook up with someone. Live with them. Sleep with them. Tag along. Don’t be fooled. You are only a transitory distraction. Ask for commitment. Declare your love. Watch the set up evaporate.
8. Some coincidences are deliberate.

Directed by Alice Dallow / Australia / 2004