Wong Kar-Wai releases an extended director's cut of his dazzling The Hand, to January 27

The cheongsams are gorgeous in this story of a tailor and a high-class prostitute

The Cinematheque presents The Hand from December 24 to January 27

BACK IN 2004, Wong Kar-Wai’s short film in Eros, a three-part anthology with other segments by Michelangelo Antonioni and Steven Soderberg, was the dazzling standout.

Now there’s a new director’s cut, restored and extended to an hour long. It’s being released as part of a big retrospective of Wong’s work being presented by The Cinematheque via Janus Films.

The cheongsam has rarely looked so gorgeous and erotically charged as it does in this story of an apprentice tailor (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s Chang Chen) who becomes obsessed with a high-class prostitute (radiant Chinese star Gong Li) in 1960s Hong Kong.

When he’s sent to take measurements for her cheongsams, their first meeting sparks a silent yearning—one the master director conveys through the meticulous sewing, creation, and packing of these highly symbolic dresses (crafted to couture perfection by Wong’s longtime collaborator William Chang).

Watch it as a double bill with Wong’s more well-known In the Mood for Love, another dazzling story of longing from a similar era—with equally stunning cheongsams.

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