In the Mood for Doyle
(2006, Yves Montmayeur, France/Hong Kong/Australia)
Eccentric, maverick genius or disheveled, drunken tramp? Doyle flits between these roles with the same effortless ease as he does to chat in English, French or Cantonese in this candid look at his character and showreel to date. Coming across as a somewhat distant yet likable manboy that just became famous for doing what comes naturally to him. His cinematography, particularly for Wong Kar Wai has been imitated ad nauseum by countless film makers, advertisers and music video directors, all desperate to have some of his “style” come across in their products but nobody can do Chris Doyle like Chris Doyle, what you see on the screen is what he sees in his alcohol soaked yet organically innovative mind.
I say organic because when you see Doyle try to explain his reasoning for making certain shots it becomes clear that there are never any preconceptions or pretense, he simply works with what is put in front of him and brings out the best in it, always finding an angle that others would not think to look for. Doyle had no formal training, just an exceptional vision for what would look good in a frame.
Little is said about his past, we know he is Australian that has lived in Hong Kong for nearly thirty years and that his apartment is the same one used in Chung King Express, other than that, this doc does little to unravel the enigma that is Chris Doyle and this is the movies’ biggest flaw, that it is mostly the work rather than the man, granted the work is what we’re all interested in but a little more insight in to the man would have been very welcome.
It’s very interesting to see what his director’s and and cast have to say about him and great to see the locations that he shot such iconic imagery from. It is claimed that Doyle is Asian man at heart and even suggested that he was Chinese in a past life, one thing’s for sure, Doyle seems very much most at ease with himself when in Asia as is demonstrated toward the end of the movie where he works in the US somewhat awkwardly along M. Night Shyamalan, it is fun to see the American crew stand patiently and chuckling politely to mask their apparent nervousness as Doyle takes control of the camera looking like a drunk uncle hijacking the presents at a kids birthday party while the next shot shows him being mobbed by a gang of Chinese hairdressers in NY’s Chinatown all eager to get a picture taken with this icon of Hong Kong cinema.
If you don’t know the name get familiar. Doyle worked on Hero, Lady in the Water, Dumpling, Chung King Express, 2046 but most significantly In the Mood for Love, a movie so visually stunning that to not see it would be like denying your eyes the right to love.
