Days of Being Wild

Rating:
Summary: Stellar
Review: A throwback to 1960's Hong Kong and an essential example of Wong Kar-wai's direction, "Days of Being Wild" is a must-see with its superb casting, camera work, and soundtrack. Leslie Cheung plays Yuddy, a reckless womanizer seeking the identity of his real mother. Andy Lau and Jackie Cheung fall for Leslie Cheung's discarded lovers--Su Lizhen (Maggie Cheung) and a dancer called Mimi (Carina Lau). With fine performances all around, "Days of Being Wild" portrays heartbreak and longing as it draws viewers into its moody atmosphere. Arty and worthy of multiple viewings.

Rating:
Summary: ...in all the wrong places...
Review: Days of Being Wild, Wong Kar-Wai's 1991 film, followed his 1988 As Tears Go By and solidified his style. In turn he made these two films after a couple of intriguing, unconventional swordsman-warrior films. It's easy to see why he's now regarded as one of the top Chinese directors; both his subjects and style are unique and captivating.

In Days of Being Wild he casts some of the best young Hong Kong actors then and now--Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Andy Lau--in a tale of those who look for love and never seem to find it. Or at least not for long at all. When a completely reckless Don Juan type teases a beautiful stadium ticket taker, promising her at their first meeting he'll always remember her for the minute they shared, this is enough to seduce the lonely girl into falling for him, only to have him callously dump her when she asks him to marry her.

While she finds solace by talking to a street cop, the womanizer hooks up with a semi-sleazy dancehall girl, meanwhile roughing up his aunt's suitor for the attempted theft of her pearl earrings. His aunt chides him for driving away her older suitor, yet stoically accepts what he's done; she needs him more than her suitor. She raised him when his mother abandoned him and now is more attached to him than she realized.

The cop leaves his job and becaomes a sailor. The womanizer leaves town and hooks up with the sailor, completely coincidentally. Meanwhile the ticket taker girl and the dancehall girl find their own ways without the love they need, just as the sailor has done, trying to forget the ticket taker with whom he fell in love, never hearing from her, causing him to abandon his street, his town, and put out to sea.

The parable of a legless bird, the womanizer's fictional tale he uses in his seduction ploys, is one that frames this lyrical piece of filmmaking. The endpieces of lush jungle greenery--hundreds of thick palm trees--accompany the voiceover narration of this tale. The completely offbeat music, ranging from salsa to slow romantic dance music--competely Western--to quirky pizzicatos and glissandi, is similarly accompanied by Chris Doyle's assured cinematography. This was the first major Hong Kong film shot by Doyle and his rich style, embracing a wide spectrum of colors and tones is much in evidence, making this, as already noted, a truly unique cinematic experience.

In fact, WKW's collaboration with Doyle here is so complete, careful, well thought out, and subtle, that it would be impossible to imagine one without the other. So too is the use of the completely Western soundtrack. Set in 1960s Hong Kong, the feel of the era is effortlessly captured, also adding to the atmosphere of this rich film.

This is a landmark film in that, for its time, almost 15 years ago, it focused on aspects of life not previously shown in Hong Kong film and was an obvious departure from the martial arts movies American audiences expected from that part of the world. The advent of not only WKW but a number of 4th, 5th, and 6th generation directors from China and HK can easily count Wong Kar Wai as one of its breakthrough filmmakers. And this film is more than ample proof of that.

Loneliness, sadness, restlessness, lust, longing, emptiness. A film that resonates.....

Definitely recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Carina Lau and Leslie Cheung light up the screen!
Review: This is truly my top 10 favoite films of all time. I have become a loyal fan of Carina Lau after seeing her mesmerizing performance opposite the equally captivating Leslie. They had so much chemistry in this film. Ms. Lau had won best actress at the Nantes International fim festival, and it was trully disappointing to see her failed to win at the HK and Taiwan film award, because she totally conqured the role of a passionate and volatile exotic dancer in this film. She had to dance, cry a bucket of tears, a few steamy scenes with Leslie and a major catfight with the rather low key Maggie Cheung. Rebbeca Pang also gave a scene stealing performance as the guardian of the rebellious Leslie. The music, acting, and colours is perfect. It's a must see for artfilm fans!
The story of this film is about "I love him, he doesn't love me, and someone else loves me." It's about Yuddy(Lelie Cheung) and the 3 women and 2 friends in his life, and it takes place in HK in the 1960's.
Yuddy meets Sue Li-Zheng(Maggie Cheung) at the grocery store, and proceeded to seduce her. He said to her," You will remember from this minute on...". Sue was intrigued, and they became friends, and very soon she moves in to the bad boy's place. She fell in love with him and wanted to get married, but gets rejected. Yuddy told her that he's not the marrying type. She packed her stuff and took off.
Upon seeing his step-mom or guardian's hustler boyfriend "stealing" her earrings, Yuddy shouted and beat the guy up. His step-mom, a former courtesan(Rebecca Pang) totally drunk, lying in bed, was pissed off to see Yuddy's behavior. He tells her," Why would he why to be with you if not for your money?! How old is he, and how old are You?!" Yuddy doesn't treat her with any respect, because she's been withholding his parent's identity. She was paid not to tell.
Yuddy then picks up Mimi-lulu(Carina Lau), a sexy and glamourous club dancer. he seduced her with the pair of earring that was taken back from the hustler. She went home with him, but was not prepared to go to bed. He manipulated her to do so by tickling her and kissed her when she almost lost her breath. The following morning, she leaves her number for him to call. She jokingly told him that if he doesn't call, then she'd do something nasty. He got very angry, and still managed to tame her.
Yuddy's buddy(Jacky Cheung) had a crush on Mimi. On her way home, he flirted with her. Mimi danced for him when he asked what she did for a living. He asked her to encore when he pretended not guessing her occupation. She said,"you think I am stupid?"
Eventually, Mimi fell in love with Yuddy. Meanwhile, Sue was becoming a good friend to a cop(Andy Lau) who patrolls the streets. She found solace by sharing her thoughts with him. He told her to get over Yuddy. He's falling for her slowly.
Mimi provoked Yuddy again when she suggested to that she would make more money if she goes to work in "The Oriental" as an hostess, so that she can provide for him since he didn't work. He kicked her out, because he fell cheap. Mimi went to the grocery and demanded Sue the truth. She scremed at Sue until she lost control and broke down into tears. Sue told her that he treats every woman the same. Mime told her that at least he "dumped you for me".
Yuddy finally got the information from his step-mom after endless fights to convince her. She had been afraid of losing him, but she doesn't care anymore, because she's about to move to US to be with a rich old man.
Yuddy's buddy showed up at the bar to meet Mimi. She was disappointed that it wasn't Yuddy. She smashed a vast at the mirror when he told her that he's in Philipines. Later, he sold the car that was once Yuddy's, and gave the money to Mimi so that she could go find him. She was so moved when he told her to come back to him if she can't find Yuddy. She broke down into massive tears.
Yuddy was very disappointed when he was rejected to be meet his mother. He fell unwanted and left in rage. The cop became a sailor and ran into Yuddy in a hotel. He asked Yuddy if he still remembers the one-minute friendship thing he told a woman once. He said," If I have to remember, I'll always remember." Yuddy got in trouble for getting a fakd ID for US, and got shot by the underground gangsters. The cop was by his side as he tells him about a bird without legs...
Carina Lau went to the Phillipines to find Yuddy, and she checked into the same hotel, but Yuddy had already "left". Tony Leung shows up as a camero for the final scene that had nothing to do with the movie. Maybe it's the intro for the unborn sequel or In the Mood for Love. He was getting all dressed in suits and well-groomed for a night out. The sequel was not made and Mimi-lulu was reprised by Carina Lau in 2046.