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Fallen Angels

Fallen Angels

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fallen Angels Is A Unique Marvel to The Modern Movie
Review: Fallen Angels is a movie that combines fast moving action, slow growing relationships, and light hearted comedy. It captures the complexity of emotions with simplicity that is blunt and unrivaled. It portrays an assassin reticent to love, and a big-hearted optimist eager to please. The contract killer's female partner has a secret fixation on him, and another woman is bent on revenge with the optimist at her side. The assassin can talk as good as any, but he chooses to be a man of few words. The optimist cannot talk at all, but speaks through the joys of life in a thousand ways. The women are naive and unsure of what they want, but as all four characters have their own storyline, their paths cross sporadically and briefly, and that's what turns everything to carmalize into a smooth sweetness at the end.
I highly recommend this movie. It is a rare species of movie with impact, and it boils down to the true face of not only our people, but the ways of life therein. (Even though it's Chinese)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The modern metropolis
Review: Fallen Angels is like Blade Runner and Alphaville crossed with an absurdist comedy. Like those two science-fiction films Wong Kar-Wai's film is enamored of the perpetually dark, neon-lit world of the modern urban metropolis. Unlike those works however there's something fundamentally humorous and light about his approach to the material. As his camera tracks through the nighttime streets of Hong Kong a group of vague characters emerge and cross paths. The most amusing of these is a mute played by the adorable Takeshi Kaneshiro who gives haircuts or hawks groceries with the same obsessive mania. There are some just touched-upon existential notions relating to chic, alienated twenty somethings finally finding human connectedness floating throughout but the film works primarily as a stylized black comedy. As such it has many more laugh-out-loud scenes than you would ever expect from a video that appears from it's cover art appears to be some sort of dour noir thriller. The occasional outbursts of Yakuza style violence by the hit-man who appears to have free run of the entire city seemed a bit odd and out of place to me but Wai would probably laugh at anyone taking this plot too seriously.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: simply a great film
Review: Fallen Angels is one of the greatest movies I have seen in a long time. Every thing from its choice of colors, camera shots, and characterization are completely unique, innovative, and quite refreshing compared to all the [junk] Hollywood pumps out year after year. Fallen Angels speaks with a subtle, uniquely touching tone. Like all the voices of its characters(the assasin, the agent, the mute, and the blond) the movie is very gentle, whimsical, and poetic in its approach. Because there isn't a lot of dialogue you get lost and enveloped in the trippy image of the film, yet the characters' voices are filled with such gentle and subtle nuance that you can't help but feel the heartbreak and loneliness they all go through. Fallen Angels does not have much of a developing plot which gives off a breathy, drifting, feeling- like all its characters. The soundtrack is also amazing. All the songs fully capture the emotions the movie portrays. By the movie's end when the final song plays, you can't help but feel euphoric as one of the characters (the agent) thinks to her self, strapped on a speeding motor-cycle with the mute. "I know the road home isn't very long and I'll be getting off soon. But at this moment I'm feeling such lovely warmth."

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Kierkegaardian wanderers
Review: Fallen Angels succintly illustrates modern mans isolation by linguering on its own aesthetic delectability.
In turn characterising alienation itself.

Watch it! ;)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: English DUB?
Review: first off this movie is excellent. wong kar-wai is a genious. and puts art back into the filmaking process. and second off THIS IS NOT AN ENLISH LANGUAGE DVD. according to Nicholas Mulligan of Kino International Corp.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You Will Fall in Love
Review: Hysterically funny and culturally cutting edge -- you find yourself screaming with laughter and hoping the film will never end. The scene where Cherry begins her search for "Blondie" is a high water mark in comedy; a self-deprecating satire on human bondage and borderline personality that equals if not surpasses anything American cinema has yet produced. This film has balls, brains, and enough action to satisfy even the most jaded fan of Hong Kong night life. Buy it, watch it, and come back for more Wong Kar-Wai. You won't be sorry.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: this is art!!!!
Review: i am a great fan of wong kar-wai and this one's my favorite.great camera works,great plot and excellent music.maybe a little slow moving...but marvellous.watch out for the masturbation scene!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: film students, take notes
Review: I am not sure whether an average movie viewer would like this film. But, if you are into art, foreign, independent films, or if you are a film student, this is definitely something you cannot miss. Fallen Angel's strength lies in the character development. It follows four main characters, all unique in their personalities and manners. Like, other Wong Kar-Wai's (director) film, these characters' lives are intertwined eventhough they lead their own paths. Outstanding performances come not only from the main characters but from supporting characters as well--look for amazing performances from the father, and the man who was forced to eat ice-cream.

Cinematography, film direction as well as the music soundtrack also shine. Wong Kar-Wai pays attention to details, imagery and symbolism. It's shot in a very artistic way--a sort of Hong Kong, nouveau graphic art style combined with somewhat weird soundtrack. This is one of the best movies I've seen in terms of film making.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good movie, bad video transfer...
Review: I cannot give an objective review of the movie because of the quality of the VHS where I've seen Fallen Angels. It is sad to note that very seldom quality Chinese films are widely released for sale, and if so, a poor video transfer is expected. I wasn't able to appreciate the cinematography and direction of Fallen Angels because the video transfer was so poor and English subtitles were too small. There are some words which I cannot read because the white-colored subtitles blend on a white background in the movie.

I can understand a few of the dialogues but it is crucial that I get every word in this movie for the main reason that it is a Wong-Kar Wai film. I've seen most of WKW movies such as Ashes of Time, In the Mood For Love, Happy Together, Days of Being Wild, and this. And for me, this movie is the darkest one of all. Where in the world would you see a mute giving a dead pig a good massage? There were a lot of funny parts but unfortunately I wasn't able to fully appreciate the movie due to the fact that the VHS transfer was poor.

I've read the reviews on Ashes of Time, and most reviews commented about the poor video transfer on the DVD. Fallen Angels cost $$, who would like to buy a single DVD at this amount without even providing supplementary features. Add to that, we are not assured of a quality video transfer and a stereo or dolby digital surround sound. Because of this fact, I have to praise Criterion for doing a commendable DVD tranfer of In The Mood For Love, which for me is one of the best Chinese movies I've ever seen. Because of this movie, I've been looking for WKW movies, but unfortunately, none can be found in the Philippines, and if so, of poor quality.

I guess that's my only setback, otherwise, the movie is good, dark, comic and illogical. Perfect for WKW fans.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good movie, bad video transfer...
Review: I cannot give an objective review of the movie because of the quality of the VHS where I've seen Fallen Angels. It is sad to note that very seldom quality Chinese films are widely released for sale, and if so, a poor video transfer is expected. I wasn't able to appreciate the cinematography and direction of Fallen Angels because the video transfer was so poor and English subtitles were too small. There are some words which I cannot read because the white-colored subtitles blend on a white background in the movie.

I can understand a few of the dialogues but it is crucial that I get every word in this movie for the main reason that it is a Wong-Kar Wai film. I've seen most of WKW movies such as Ashes of Time, In the Mood For Love, Happy Together, Days of Being Wild, and this. And for me, this movie is the darkest one of all. Where in the world would you see a mute giving a dead pig a good massage? There were a lot of funny parts but unfortunately I wasn't able to fully appreciate the movie due to the fact that the VHS transfer was poor.

I've read the reviews on Ashes of Time, and most reviews commented about the poor video transfer on the DVD. Fallen Angels cost $$, who would like to buy a single DVD at this amount without even providing supplementary features. Add to that, we are not assured of a quality video transfer and a stereo or dolby digital surround sound. Because of this fact, I have to praise Criterion for doing a commendable DVD tranfer of In The Mood For Love, which for me is one of the best Chinese movies I've ever seen. Because of this movie, I've been looking for WKW movies, but unfortunately, none can be found in the Philippines, and if so, of poor quality.

I guess that's my only setback, otherwise, the movie is good, dark, comic and illogical. Perfect for WKW fans.


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