Rather than focusing on an aesthetic or highly political discussion, this thesis examines Wong Kar-wai’s cinematic nostalgia. Distinguishing with restorative nostalgia, Wong’s cinematic nostalgia belongs to reflective nostalgia, which emphasizes on the relationship between past and present rather than the reconstruction of origin past. In terms of historical analysis, Hoover and Stokes consider the anxiety reflected in Wong Kar-wai’s films as a result of the concern for Hong Kong’s handover in 1997 . However, the author argues that Wong Kar-wai’s identity as a member of the Shanghai immigrants cannot be overlooked.
In chapter 2, the author examines Wong Kar-wai’s cinematic nostalgia. As an auteur, Wong Kar-wai’s nostalgia is self-expression rather than historical writing. Through the character-centered details, Wong recreates the actuality of Hong Kong people in the 1960s. Accordingly, the author re-positions Wong Kar-wai’s films within the cultural context and recognizes the highlight of repression and release about Hong Kong people in the 1960s. Furthermore, the tension between repression and release, which is conveyed by indirect expressions, can be indentified through implicatures in the film.
In light of that, in chapter 3, this thesis offers a study of implicatures in Wong Kar-wai’s cinematic nostalgia. In order to examine the tension between repression and release in Wong Kar-wai’s cinematic nostalgia, the author takes Wong Kar-wai’s film In the Mood for Love (2000) as a text and selects four scenes from the film to illustrate the tension between repression and release about the characters.
