I never would have discovered the beautiful world of photography had I not found myself glancing over the colourful imagery of Christopher Doyle. Nor would my name have ever been attached to the marvelous hard work and struggles alongside many other passionate creatives. There is even a good chance that this community would not have reached the place it is now at. Wong Kar-wai and Christopher Doyle have inspired many like me before, reaching into the hearts and minds of filmmakers and pulling something deep out of us that encourages us to explore interactions and emotions, connecting us to locations and having us appreciate the poetry in what it means to be alive. I could write about my love for these two filmmakers until the words could no longer be found. I think I have seen just about every Christopher Doyle interview available on the English side of the Internet, something very rare for me given I very rarely care to do for other filmmakers.
But Christopher Doyle is a highly unique filmmaker. One that has essentially removed himself from the world. Escaping the modern film industry to focus on telling stories and creating art. No longer available to find on the Internet, nor appearing in front of any cameras. In regards to Hollywood, his career never quite took off there. And that's due to his own accord, rejecting the norms that he found restricting and void of the soul that goes into the stories he aims to tell. This talented oddball is often seen with a beer in hand, rambling about life, the locations around us, and constantly referring to the engagements we have with things in life; a mutual give and take in which our connections let us learn and grow from one another, discovering something new from every interaction.
Being more than happy to hear Doyle speak his philosophy and remind me of why I love cinema and filmmaking so much, I came across the trailer for Like the Wind well over a year ago. Airing at a festival but with no other places to view it lined up. I wrote it off as media I wished I could see but would never be able to. But out of pure luck, I came across a very small YouTube channel, which had managed to gain a license to share the documentary. I instantly began to watch it, dropping everything I was doing and finding myself just glued to the screen, listening to Doyle again speak his wisdom. I couldn't help but feel that deep passion for 35mm film returning.
Like the Wind
Like the Wind is a strange documentary. One that doesn't quite feel like a documentary at all, instead it feels more like a long interview ranging over a series of topics with Doyle, but to be honest, I quite enjoyed it for this. It's a documentary in which a camera is pointed at Doyle, and the years of his life and films are quickly mentioned by him. This documentary has no host, and we hear of no other people behind the camera. Sometimes jumping through interviews with other creative filmmakers on their collaborations with Doyle, or some excerpts from clips of his films, as well as the odd bit of what I assumed was stock footage which wasn't really necessary. Though the stock footage side of things made me realise that the documentary was one that didn't quite require watching directly, only to see the emotions of Doyle as he speaks. Visually, it's not a pleasing documentary, in terms of audio, however, it is gold.
The first part of the documentary sort of follows Doyle's younger days, a short bit of information on his youth and how he managed to find himself passionate on languages and culture, incapable of staying in one place and curious of the world. Moving from Australia to Taiwan, then from Taiwan to Hong Kong. Not really showing much interest in cinema, but instead stumbling into it by pure chance. Funnily, Doyle mentions that he isn't one to watch films at all, often growing bored of them and lasting only about twenty minutes before having to get up and do something else. I've known creatives like this before, which love filmmaking and photography, but just have no interest in consuming it themselves. Instead focusing on telling their own stories and in constant motion in attempt to do so. Though, Doyle does mention a very long love for literature.
It's quite interesting to see how someone so engrossed in the world of literature can find ways to be so expressive through visuals. Using the many books they've read over the years as inspiration to point and movie a camera to convey a certain emotion and tell a story. Though, it goes make a lot of sense that a passion for literature can yield a creative mind that sees the world in a more delicate manner than those that don't read. And it's clear in the way that Doyle speaks that there's much poetry in the way he perceives the world. The way he describes the places he's worked in, the characters he's created, and the love for the whole process of filmmaking; it all comes together in a way that a filmmaker would instantly understand. The insanely long working hours, pushing yourself to your absolute limits. Refusing to accept mediocrity and believing that you can only do more and be better. Doyle speaks of filmmaking as some complex relationship in which it takes your soul, but you wouldn't have it any other way. This is painfully accurate.
While the documentary focuses around Doyle's life and his works, I do think it was a bit weak in how it tried to tell these stories. It almost seemed vague, perhaps due to Doyle's own reclusive nature resulting in the whole interview segment seeming to have been shot in one day, with the rest being filler. It doesn't exactly give you anything all that new; I noticed much of the information given was essentially found elsewhere in older interviews he had done. I think some of the lacking aspects were due to the stock footage used when it wasn't really necessary. Sort of thrown in to bridge the gap between interviews and perhaps a likeliness of the viewer getting a bit bored. Sudden clips that briefly connect to the subject, but not really adding anything. A skyline of Hong Kong, for example. Not quite adding to the atmosphere or having any real depth to it. Perhaps some of this was due to the pandemic taking place, or the incredibly fragile environment surrounding Hong Kong around the time of filmming as the CCP tightened its hand around Hong Kong's neck. I certainly wouldn't say it was lazy filmmaking, but definitely not very creative.
Personally, I would've liked to have seen more footage from behind the scenes on his productions. Really seeing the mind at work and the environment on set, as well as seeing the lighting setups and creative decisions being made. The filmmaker side of me remains very curious as to how a cinematographer like Doyle chooses the colours he does; something the documentary briefly mentions being due to his cataracts in his eye making things more green, only to make things more blue once having surgery to fix the problem. That said, I don't think that's entirely the reason. A cinematographer doesn't just choose colours and lighting without some awareness of how it impacts the story. And certainly not without the director also agreeing with such creative decisions. The filmmaking side of the documentary just wasn't really there, which also made it essentially a pointless viewing for anyone that may not be all that familiar with his works. It is definitely aimed more at those who are.
It was a fun watch though. I could listen to Doyle talk with passion about life and filmmaking for hours. Hopefully he's more open to working with documentary filmmakers that seem interested in his life; maybe he just prefers being the one behind the camera. Speaking of which; I recall an episode with him in of Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain, even in that Doyle somehow managed to take one of their cameras and start shooting, removing himself from the subject and instead playing the filmmaker role. I think that is something to appreciate.
If you aren't familiar with this cinematographer, then I highly recommend watching his films with Wong Kar-wai. Fallen Angels, Chungking Express, In The Mood for Love, Happy Together. Just a few of the more famous ones that most find themselves checking out. And if you do know about Doyle, you should be able to find this documentary legally licensed and free to view on YouTube. For obvious reasons I won't be posting the link though.
