Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1997

 And the Nominees Were Not:

Dan Aykroyd in Grosse Pointe Blank

 

Masato Hagiwara in Cure

Cary Elwes in Liar Liar

Bruce Greenwood in The Sweet Hereafter

J.T. Walsh in Breakdown

Nor were they the Boogie Nights All Stars:

 

Don Cheadle

 

John C. Reilly

 

Philip Seymour Hoffman

 

Thomas Jane

Alfred Molina

 

Predict the ranking of both sets, if you like. 

Alternate Best Actor 1997: Results

5. Sam Lee in Made in Hong Kong - Lee gives an off-beat yet often poignant portrayal of a wannabe gangster.

Best Scene: Failing to be a gangster.

4. Takeshi Kitano in Hana-bi - Kitano gives a very specific yet potent performance that artful stoicism mixed in with punctuations of violence, sadness and love.

Best Scene: In the car with his wife.

3. John Cusack in Grosse Pointe Blank - Cusack gives a terrific subversion and execution of his typical rom com lead by being charming yet psychopathic all the same.

Best Scene: Breakfast.

2. Stellan Skarsgård in Insomnia - Skarsgård gives an uncompromising portrayal of a man who goes to the most vile extremes to do "good".

Best Scene: Seeing the cat.

1. Ray Winstone - Nil By Mouth - Winstone gives a bluntly brutal portrayal of visceral intensity, yet is also quietly heartbreaking as a man whose violence is defined by his painful vulnerability.

 

Best Scene: Nil by mouth. 

Updated Overall

 

Next: 1997 Supporting

Alternate Best Actor 1997: John Cusack in Grosse Pointe Blank

John Cusack did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Martin Q. Blank in Grosse Pointe Blank. 

Grosse Pointe Blank is an entertaining comedy about a hit-man returning to his hometown for a high school reunion. Interestingly also features 2 of the eventual Oscar nominees for supporting actress delivering superior performances than their Oscar nominated turns. 

Once again returning to John Cusack for the fourth review in a short amount of time, after successfully avoiding Cusack reviews for the longest time, we once again return to where perhaps Cusack is most at home, by in a way changing up the expectations a bit. Cusack made his name in teen romantic comedies in the late 1980s, and this film is essentially a basic subversion of that. One side of it is that it takes place ten years after his time in high school, the central set-piece being Martin's high school reunion, the other being that he's also a hitman, dealing with a jealous and controlling hitman Grocer (Dan Aykroyd) wanting to set-up a hitman union while also attempting to deal with somewhat more expected ideas of returning to one's high school. In turn, this performance from Cusack is both the expected Cusack performance and not the expected Cusack performance and combined that really is the beauty of this performance. 

On one hand, you do get Cusack being the sort of fresh-faced, slightly less of a youngster this time around, whose certain charm is kind of based on the fact that he's not quite sure of his charm in a way. Cusack delivers that once again here, but again the comedy of this comes in the form that we have an alternative knowledge about his character as a psychopathic hitman whom we know from the opening scene where he carries out a somewhat bungled job involving multiple hit-men. It is a wonderful combination because Cusack manages to play Martin both as a hitman, and not as a hitman, it is that grey area I think that defines so much of the comedy of the film, which is rather winning in its own way. Cusack establishes this in the early scenes where he speaks to his assistant (Joan Cusack) or his scared psychiatrist (Alan Arkin), about his "job". Cusack's particular casual indifference about it is where the comedy is, as his fixation in terms of concern is far more on the fear of the prospect of his high school reunion than his series of murders.

 

The comedic value of Cusack's performance comes very much from the consistency of his turn here in portraying that sort of blithe indifference about the man's murders, even going so far as to bluntly tell all his old school friends that he was in fact a hitman without hesitation, all of them taking it as a joke initially. The clearest break from this actually being in his hilarious scenes with Aykroyd where in a way you could say Martin is most himself in plying his trade with a fellow craftsman in their moments of mutual hatred for one another. The random, and even kind of goofy, intensity Cusack and Aykroyd share together is rather fantastic. This is particularly well shown in a breakfast diner confrontation where both rush through their lines in such a great way as basically every line being this barb at one another, while their eyes providing the dagger. Again the juxtaposition being the great bits of comedy as the two exist in a seemingly normal reality, while both being focused on their act of killing. I especially love Cusack's extreme way of arguing with the waitress as he tries to run through his order including an empty omelette with his forcefulness of just saying he "wants the protein" to try to end the conversation as soon as possible. 

 

There is more going though as we find in the central romance with Minnie Driver's Debi, whom Martin left cold prom night. Cusack and Driver's chemistry is pretty great here in just this off-beat nature of it. As it is eccentric, charged, but also traditionally sweet. They capture instantly this old fashioned connection but doing so in an oddball way as again Cusack always portraying Martin as psychopathic to an extent even in the way he navigates this relationship with this kind of interesting distance, that makes his sort of verbalization of his feelings towards the end of it actually feel natural because that is how Martin would approach it. Cusack though is fantastic throughout the man seeing his old life as he has great moments of comedy, love particularly his creepy way of hanging out with an old friend who is a real estate agent by saying he would like a "wife" just like the one a potential customer has in a perfectly oddly creepy way. He also though does have moments of theoretical pathos such as going to see his dad's grave or visit his mom in a mental ward. Cusack's actually great by not putting too much on it, rather showing Martin's sense of it in a very Martin way. Cusack's performance is winning here because he actually so well defines his character within the idea of the hitman always being the hitman, even in the moments of theoretical humanity. He never becomes a good guy, he rather states his change of heart in the way a psychopath would, which in a way makes it an atypical comedy, but one that works. Cusack's performance in turn is an atypical romantic lead, but one that works because his performance matches and in many ways creates the film's off-beat energy just as it should. He is a proper psychopath, but one you do end up liking whether he's murdering another hitman, or finding what seems like true love for himself.

Alternate Best Actor 1997: Ray Winstone in Nil By Mouth

Ray Winstone did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite being nominated for BAFTA, for portraying Raymond in Nil By Mouth. 

Nil By Mouth is a striking directorial debut by Gary Oldman (and currently his only film) about a dysfunctional family in South London. Notable in his approach, and I think often the pifalls of lesser films covering similar material, is that Oldman doesn't pile misery upon misery, though there definitely still is misery, but shows the variety still even in a deeply troubled life. 

We see this in the character of Ray, played by Ray Winstone in what was his breakout role that led to him consistently working from then on, who in the earliest scenes of the film is one of the "good old boys" hanging around a club with his pals, listening to bawdy stories and of course drinking. Winstone's performance isn't instantly alarming in his portrayal he portrays this natural state well. This man just looking for the easy joys of life with just this sense of a temper lying beneath that state. We see this just in his briefest moment with this wife Valerie (Kathy Burke), and when someone accidentally bumps into him. In both interactions he's not immediately horrendous but in his delivery he brings the sort instinctual switch to intensity. The way he falls into a near violence even in a moment of just slight inconvenience. He doesn't suggest the man is about to truly break out in that moment, but the threat of it is still there. Winstone doing so well in making it the innate suggestion that seems to be the man's natural state of being. Of course this is within seeing the moments of the man just hanging around where Winstone is effective in calming enough to show the man being able to functionally have fun so to speak and hang around with the guys. He's on an edge of the cliff but he isn't always off of it.

The first immediate sign of trouble with Ray is when we see him with Valerie's drug addict brother Billy (Charlie Creed-Miles). Although their initial interactions are pleasant enough, just as we see some of Ray's interactions with Valerie. This is where the film truly excels and it speaks to both Oldman's direction and the strength of the ensemble how real they all are together. They just naturally suggest this life of the working class group whether they're home or out and about. There is the ease in their interactions that speak to a long history together as a group, even if there is very much a struggle within this as well. We see this when Billy, in need of any drugs, steals from Ray, and we get the first immediate outburst of Ray's anger. The ease of it in Winstone's performance is key as there isn't an escalation of it, it is Ray going all in terms of just how vicious it is. Winstone doesn't portray it as controlled or exacted, but rather this messy anger that pierces through in every direction. All of this becomes all the more apparent in his moment where he confronts Valerie over having played pool with a man. Winstone is many things in this scene, and all of them absolutely brilliant in terms of performance. The first foremost being downright terrifying in the visceral intensity he brings in the moment. This particularly as his voice so quickly goes from asking her about what happened to full on yelling in a moment. Winstone doesn't hold back for a moment and in that it is horrifying to watch. What I think takes this performance further than just a portrayal of a brute, even if it is that, is how vulnerable Winstone's performance is in the moment. The anger and jealousy is unquestionably there, but in Winstone's eyes and even in his yelling is a desperation of someone nearly crying in heartbreak just as he goes about mercilessly beating the woman he supposedly loves. 

Winstone's performance as the terror of Ray is that of a disturbing ferocity in the man, and so terrifying because of the lack of sense in his eyes in the moment. Winstone shows a man so far gone as he goes around yelling at his family that there is nothing but violence that is defining the man in the moment. Winstone shows the pivotal lack of sense of it, and the horror of the man just attempting to claw his way back towards his wife, who he beat so brutally, without a hint of compassion or care. Just emotions pouring out of the man in this feverish terrible pitch that he makes a proper mess. It is a mess of a man that is Ray who really only stops when he himself is beaten by a larger man for his behavior and left coughing up his own blood. Winstone's performance even in the moment is important because there is almost this shut off, even beyond being knocked unconscious of the rage of the emotions having a temporary release. Winstone doesn't portray it as Ray finally reflecting but rather being forced to stop his parade of anger via blunt force trauma. As powerful of a physical presence as Winstone is in terms of portraying the terror that is Ray when angry, his most remarkable scene is actually an extremely quiet one. We find Ray with one of his mates recounting his own past. Winstone's delivery of this entire scene is just flawless, from the way he opens in speaking the terms as though he is just talking about his life as he would at a pub. This with these natural little friendly asides he brings, but in that Winstone reveals such pain in the man. This as he speaks to his father the loveless drunk, and Winstone delivers every word with such a rich sense of the history behind it. In the moment showing in Ray the boy who never was loved by his father, and was so desperately looking for any love in the moment. This even recounting his father being close to death with such a somber description that is of a man so deeply scared, yet in the moment makes every word of this revelation feel so natural, as though he was just casually speaking to you. It is amazing work because he bares Ray's soul in the moment, yet doing it in a way that feels wholly authentic to the type of troubled man that is Ray. 

 

The last two scenes of the film one would "assume" that we see a "better" Ray as he goes to Valerie to apologize and to ask for forgiveness. In the scene Winstone is great because there is nothing false whatsoever in this apology. He shows in each moment such genuine love he has towards Valerie in the moment and the pleas are of someone who does deeply care for his wife. Even as Valerie counters that she cannot bear his anger and doesn't want to see her life as just misery. Winstone's reactions are potent because he shows that in the moment Ray is absolutely listening to everything that Valerie is saying, and in no way is this a purposeful manipulation. Winstone rather shows that really within all of it there is that stunted emotional state of the man who never received love and in turn only knows how to express his emotions in a few ways. In this moment we do see in his eyes the man looking at the woman he loves, even letting a bit of understanding that she is right in her rejection, yet it is all really of that of a child looking on and seeing his chance for honest affection moving on from him due to his uncontrolled temper. The final scene of the film is fascinating, a coda that takes place some time after Valerie then rejection of Ray, as we now see the family back together, except Billy who has been arrested. The atmosphere of the family again is so vivid, and within it there is the right ambiguity particularly with Winstone's performance. In this moment of joking and seeming love, he is pleasant enough in that moment. At the same time though Winstone's face still is that of a troubled man. Although maybe Ray will be on his best behavior for now, or even a bit, there is still the feeling that it probably is only a matter of time before his broken nature gets the best of him. This is a great performance by Ray Winstone. It is a terrifying visceral turn of an abuser, but there is so much more nuance here. Winstone's complex performance giving both a convincing sense of the horrors that the man can inflict, but also the deep seeded vulnerabilities that aren't antithetical to those horrors but rather help to define them.

Alternate Best Actor 1997: Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights

Mark Wahlberg did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Eddie Adams better known as Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights.

Mark Wahlberg's acting career is certainly an acting career that exists. One marked, no pun intended there, of frequent miscasting or just straight forward and usually forgettable performances as "stoic lead". The performances that are beyond "okay" from him all actually fulfill a similar tonal quality, that being the mostly comic performance though with potential dramatic intention. That was the case with his work in I Heart Huckabees, the best part of that largely indulgent effort, his Oscar nominated turn in The Departed, which was a serious film however his role as built on caustic comedy, but his crowning achievement of this is here in what was his breakout film role in Boogie Nights. The very nature of this performance is fascinating in that it is a good performance that is largely about giving a bad performance. Wahlberg excels in this role of playing, Eddie who later calls himself Dirk Diggler as a porno "star", by very much embracing the character as really a bit of an idiot to put it lightly. And while there is dramatic elements here, I'll just go with the more straight forward praise first of just praising the comedic mastery of Wahlberg's work in making Dirk a proper meathead whose prized possession is...well I'll avoid too graphic of innuendo and say that it has something also to do with meat. 

A great deal of Wahlberg's performance is purely finding the humor in just how thick headed Dirk is as this supposed star role. There are the comical phases of his performance that are indeed hilarious in portraying different sides of this sort vapid quality. This is from his earliest time as the young club worker who catches the eye of porn director Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds). Wahlberg's performance works by just portraying the wide eyed optimism about Dirk that is indeed quite thin, and comical because of how completely naive he seems to be in reaction to the whole world of porn that he finds himself suddenly. This switches quickly to Dirk trying to make a name for himself which Wahlberg performs though initially with the utmost earnestness, a just people pleasing energy and an upbeat quality of someone seemingly just trying to "perform well". This as even in his initial scene of speaking to one up Reed Rothchild (John C. Reilly), initially rival though he accepts his place as Diggler's sidekick, Wahlberg's lack of anything caustic as he kind of attempts to stay in step with their one up man ship in their weight training skills is even done with the this wide eyed smile. Wahlberg's performance is so aggressively wholesome that it really is just perfect as this contrast to the nature of the world they are in which is typically considered as far from traditionally wholesome as one typically considers.

Wahlberg's second phase is as Dirk Diggler becomes the star, which at first Wahlberg makes likable enough in still keeping the earnest energy about him as he comes across with big ideas and is very gracious with acceptance speech at the Adult Movie Awards. Wahlberg's performance remains hilarious though because there is this sense of delusion of grandeur in it, although still more endearing just as there's a complete lack of sense of reality in his delivery of describing his idea for a "James Bond" style porn series or attempting to make porn seem more than it is at every moment. This alludes though to the change of the following year once Dirk has become established and his ego has gone through the roof. Wahlberg remains hilarious though in portraying a man completely now driven by ego still with no true sense of self or most of reality. Wahlberg properly goes all in on this as he brings such a sincerity in his stupid pre-performance "kung fu" ritual or perhaps my favorite moments, the ones where Dirk discusses "the craft". There Wahlberg brings such a perfect kind of pompousness as he says a whole lot of nothing yet the key to this is there isn't a hint of doubt in his performance. It is all of someone who genuinely believes he's amazing, which in turn makes it hilarious as he's anything but. This is only exacerbated as he truly believes he can do no wrong even dismissing the always supportive Jack. A scene that Wahlberg portrays with the proper lack of depth showing someone just wholly controlled by ego in the moment, and every word of his bravado spoken as someone truly without thought. 

Really what we get then is the naturally logical follow through for Diggler as someone who believes he can do no wrong, therefore he can create "great" music, or should I really say magic. Scenes that are pure comic gold, thanks in part due to Wahlberg's musical performance, that is um...let's say not good in the traditional sense, but the most hilarious of bad singing one can witness. The key to it all though isn't just that he sings poorly, it is that Wahlberg sings poorly with just SO MUCH confidence. Now let's reverse back quickly as I'm written entirely about the comic qualities of Wahlberg's work, which is true, but to his credit, there is more than just a great comic turn here. There is behind everything that Diggler is, is the sad truth of a young man just looking for acceptance, which we initially see he gets none of from his verbally abusive mother. That scene, an outlier in tone early in the film, though I think effectively so, is the chief motivator. Wahlberg's terrific in the abusive scene actually because he still shows that same simplicity in Diggler even in this reaction, that is just of a straight forward heartbreak. What is actually rather powerful in this is that Wahlberg shows the questioning of his mom with that same earnestness but in distress as he can't understand his mother's cruelty. In turn though this gives easy understanding to the young man finding any acceptance he can, and in turn his relationship with Amber Waves (Julianne Moore), who likes to be everyone's mother, has this simple yet potent logic to it. With her Wahlberg shows someone just looking for the basic affection no more no less, not a complicated relationship but one honestly based on Diggler's pain. 

That dramatic note returns as Diggler falls on hard times away from Jack, and tries to make money any way he can, including prostituting himself. Wahlberg is amazing in the scene frankly as he shows just the intensity of the distress as Diggler cannot perform in any way, and shows the ego of Diggler lost as he all that confidence fades away. He becomes the young man berated by his mother again, which is only exacerbated by an anti-homosexual mob beating Diggler afterwards. Diggler falling to rock bottom leading to what is a scene that technically has a dramatic layer, but is still very funny, as Diggler goes along with Reed and their drug procuring "friend" Todd (Thomas Jane) to rob drug dealer Rahad Jackson (Alfred Molina). Wahlberg's performance in this scene is just great in largely reactionary moments as you perhaps see the greatest depth in Diggler, as Wahlberg eyes finally convey this sense of realization in Diggler as he seems to finally notice how far he's fallen. Wahlberg's honestly great in portraying finally just a hint of depth in the thick mind of Diggler in a way that feels natural to the character we've been following all along. This leading only to Diggler to be able to finally reconcile with Jack, which Wahlberg performs back to showing the sweetness of the early Diggler, mixed in with the late Diggler now with a much stronger degree of modesty due to his hubris laden fall. Although Wahlberg would not go onto to be a great actor, this is a pitch perfect performance by Wahlberg. It is a marvelous comic turn built on a shallow character, however when depth is needed, Wahlberg is more than game to find it in this wonderful performance.

Alternate Best Actor 1997: Takeshi Kitano in Hana-bi

Takeshi Kitano did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Yoshitaka Nishi in Hana-bi.

 

Hana-Bi is a curious yet captivating mix of beauty and brutality, about a former police inspector dealing with two major tragedies in his life. 

 

The multi-talented Takeshi Kitano stars and directs this film, building an unusual tapestry around himself, and through himself as a tale about deep humanity and inhumanity often back to back or in the same scene. Although there is a tangible narrative going on Kitano directs the film with almost a stream of consciousness approach as the scenes move between each other with almost a dreamlike pace and manner. The idiosyncratic nature of this approach is perhaps most evident within Kitano's own performance, a performance that would be best described as austere. His typical state is that of a cold stare with typically any emotion obscured by a pair of ominous sunglasses that seem to detach his inspector from any more humanity. And in this sense, Kitano seems to craft the "badass" anti-hero of a more expected revenge thriller. Kitano's presence is of that calm cool, that killer's ease with a vicious ability to commit violent acts seemingly without a second thought in the scheme of things. His performance is much like his character, brutal and exact, though with a certain curiosity within that intensity. We learn that his character is defined by his wife dying from Leukemia and his former partner having been crippled from a botched police assignment. The brief scene setting up the latter seems most important as we see a different Nishi as he plans as a far more normal and grounded man. In fact in that scene Kitano portrays him as just a normal man planning, someone who isn't caught within this certain state the rest of the time. 

The rest of the time the performance largely is of this strict consistency of that cold stare, again usually obscure by sunglasses. Those moments of Nishi killing various Yakuza who try to get money from him or threaten him in a way. Mixed in with these rather wonderful moments that break from that. There are these brief moments where we get a different tone. Occasionally it is these playful scenes, although darkly so, like when he points a gun at a random passerby, before he goes to rob a bank, just as a joke and the sort of random demented yet comical manner that comes across Kitano's face is rather striking in this strange way. Even more remarkable though are the moments where we see Nishi with his wife as he takes her on a sort of vacation with his ill-gotten gains as she approaches her death. Kitano is quite wonderful in these moments with his wife, like when he is doing a card trick with her, as suddenly there is so much warmth between them, so much love, and there is such an earned sincere sweetness in Kitano's performance. You see a man who genuinely loves his wife, but more than that, you see the playfulness the two of them share together. They are genuinely fun together and you see what is a real loving couple here, even as these very sweet scenes come between scenes of such brutal violence. The most direct of this duplicity being a scene of Nishi's wife gather water for dead flowers while a man mocks her, leading Nishi to brutalize that man without mercy. 

As much as one can label this a "director's film" where this performance is by the director, I have to say I found myself transfixed by what Kitano was doing here as a performance even if it is but a facet of his tapestry he is painting. The exactness of his performance here though is fascinating in that he manages to play in his performance what he is creating in this film, which is this extreme dynamic between love and hate, gentleness and violence, comedy and tragedy. Kitano's performance can completely switch from scene to scene in terms of what he is conveying in a given moment, yet what he is conveying never seems at odds with each other. This even as he portrays a calm sadism when brutalizing one gangster after another, yet that doesn't seem ill-fitting from the strange compassion he seems to show towards his moments of thinking of his partner or the greatest of affections for his wife. Kitano's performance succeeds in creating the sense of a man who basically is filled with emotions towards the one's he loves, a pulled in emotion that drains him, yet is filled with the opposite kind of emotion towards those he hates as intensely. Kitano's performance works in creating a man who basically is in this state of a kind of insanity. He's not within his mind in a way, he's detached from life as he fashions some final mission for himself, and in that Kitano's performance works as this strange kind of gliding along. This as he'll enjoy a random moment of violence, comedy, or of love with the same amount of ease. This is a strange performance, but one that wholly worked for me even though the beats are technically limited in terms of overall range. Yet every moment is striking in revealing these different distinct moments that define the character that his performance left still such an impression even within the limitation. It's a performance about punctuation, careful singular notes between rests, and while that may handicap a typical performance, there is something about Kitano's presence here that overrides such considerations. Kitano makes Nishi's this one of a kind mix of the most extreme emotions, and a most powerful portrait of a man with a most unusual mix of brutal inhumanity and profound humanity.

Alternate Best Actor 1997: Tony Leung Chiu-wai in Happy Together

Tony Leung Chiu-wai did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Lai Yiu-Fai in Happy Together. 

Happy Together is a beautifully told and shot film about two Hongkongers in a difficult relationship while abroad. 

The two Hongkongers being Leung and Leslie Cheung as Ho Po-Wing. A homosexual relationship really notable for the time because it doesn't really make a big deal about, in fact at all in terms of the storytelling. That aspect isn't the focus of the film in the least, that is simply the starting point, the point examining it as a complex and difficult relationship. We have the two sides of the relationship. On the side we more often follow is Leung in the role of Lai, who is more easily described as the "responsible" one who seems to have any intention for the future. We see the two initially in the throws of a more intimate relationship. Leung and Cheung do have fantastic chemistry in these moments where you get the sense of a primal attraction between the two in a moment, that is essential as an underlying constant though not the only aspect within their character. At the same time though there appears to be a discontent where we get the two shades of the idea of the relationship where Cheung portrays a blithe attitude right down to Ho's repeated "let's start over" as though the relationship can be just reset when needed, Leung's performance accentuates the burden of such an attitude as both men seemingly only have each other, as difficult as that is, being so far from their home as they are in Argentina within the opening of the film. 

Leung's performance is honestly more often silent, despite being the narrator of the film, however within the narration of the film, his work is fairly straight forward as this man just recounting his life, no fuss or overemphasis, just a man explaining what is happening to him. What Leung's work then is breathing life into this situation and this relationship, while so infrequently stating every aspect of the relationship. Where the greatness of the work, and the film, is that this idea never seems underwritten or underdeveloped even when the amount of words is often limited. That is found in the strengths of the central performances particularly Leung's work as Lai. Leung's initial scenes are of that exasperation towards the state of this relationship, this constant back and forth between Ho seeming interested towards him then in a moment later will be equally dismissive of him. Leung presents Lai as just dealing with what he has and often struggling with the difficulties of this state. The frustrations initially more so the exasperation towards Ho's immaturity before they break the first time and Lai a job at a nightclub. A nightclub he soon sees Ho visiting with a different man. Leung is amazing in his portrayal of all the thoughts storming through his head in a moment of this notice. The complex anxiety is so remarkable in Leung's performance because it isn't just jealousy or anger, there is so much more within the need of the companionship one moment just as there is the distress of it the next. 

They renew a relationship although no longer one of extreme sexual intimacy or even necessarily attraction just of intimacy as they live together but don't sleep together. Leung's performance helps to realize the strange sort of logic of this state the two exist in as it is obviously Ho is willing just to "Start over" once again, but that isn't the case for Lai. Rather Leung shows still an override stress about his interactions with Ho, and even the discomfort in being in the same place. Leung at the same time though still shows that powerful need for attachment, and really the moments of the intensity of the loneliness when completely alone. Leung's performance is so articulate in creating the detail really in the interaction between the two characters. He can't quite leave Ho, he needs Ho, but he also in a way can't stand what Ho represents and what Ho's behavior really does to him. This is remarkable because again it is all in Leung's silent portrayal of the interactions that we see this. When together they are in this state of distress together. Leung portraying just the frustration of having to be in this constant of needing this person yet also wanting so much not to need this. In his moments of lashing out and really just trying to ignore Ho, Leung shows Lai in a way trying to contain his own emotion that in a way is this constant pester of him. Leung presenting a man stuck in a painful purgatory of the relationship, as a relationship he knows he doesn't truly desire, but still not one that he feels he can entirely give up either. 

As Ho is recovering from an attack, Lai continues on attempting to resolve some path to return home to Hong Kong, where we have these essential moments where Lai receives one too many calls at work from Ho. Leung's performance in these scenes though are of this perfect kind of resignation where his voice is this unfortunate assuaging of Ho on the other line, while his face is just that of a man going through the motions of fulfilling the needs of Ho in the moment. There is no passion in his eyes, just rather a man trying to deal with this relationship that he is deeply attached to even if he in many ways he really doesn't want to be. This is in stark contrast to a relationship that develops with the slightly ambiguous Chang (Chen Chang), a fellow worker at a restaurant that Lai works for. Chang within the scheme of the film and the scheme of Lai's life seems this breath of fresh air as this slightly eccentric but also just outgoing and optimistic young man. Leung initially portrays the reactions to Chang as just this minor interest, but no more than that, as he still depicts the pained fixation on whatever emotional state Ho might be in at one time another, however always calling Lai to make sure he knows. With Chang, who genuinely seems to just enjoy life and Lai's companionship, even in just a friendly way, Leung is terrific in portraying basically the weight upon his soul that eases in these interactions. It is still a very subtle performance, and in his subtle work does he reflect this sense of natural calm and potent warmth these two men share, that lacks the pained challenge of the contentious relationship with Ho. 

 

The final act of the film, which in typical Wong Kar-wai fashion is not about the expected, and it typically is about the beauty of silences, depends greatly on Leung's performance to create the emotional anchor. His performance throughout these scenes barely says a word beyond his narration, as Lai goes off on his own to first visit Iguazu Falls before heading to go home to Hong Kong, finally cutting himself off from the difficult relationship with Ho and also leaving the potential relationship with Chang behind. Leung's performance is able to articulate in really just these silent moments of contemplation suggesting the state of Lai that suggests growth yet still struggle with his condition, which really is just the human condition. His work is exceptional in that it has such a power to it in both very specifically realizing Lai's particular circumstances while also making them wholly empathetic in just anyone facing the idea of loneliness against regression, growth into the unfamiliar or comfort within stagnation. Leung's work reveals that no matter the decision there is no ease in the choice and we come to know what Lai's mental state is as he leans to the new, even if there is a different kind of pain in that new. This is no better reflected than the final shot of Lai in the film as he rides the bus alone but back in Hong Kong. It is outstanding work from Leung as it isn't a simple note of distress in Leung's performance but so much of the memory of the experiences he's been through in this moment. He's going through so much more than a simple thought, and such poignancy is in this complexity that is all in this singular silent moment.