Undercranking and Step-Printing in Wong Kar-Wai’s Filmography

Abstract

Amid the myriad of cinematic techniques Wong Kar-Wai employs in creating his films the combination of undercranking and step-printing that stands out for its continual use in Wong’s filmography while still remaining relatively obscure in global cinema. Wong introduced the combination of undercranking and step-printing into his filmography with the release of Ashes of Time (1994). This combination has served as a visual motif that comments on the relationship between love and time. Addressing the relationship between time and love in Days of Being Wild (1990), Wong started to employ undercranking and step-printing as a formal technique to represent the subjectivity of time for his characters from Ashes of Time to In the Mood for Love (2000) and 2046 (2004).