Days of Being Wild (1990)

A man tries to find out who his real mother is after the woman who raised him tells him the truth.

Director:

Kar-Wai Wong (as Kar Wai Wong)

Writers:

Jeffrey Lau, Kar-Wai Wong (as Kar Wai Wong)

Stars:

Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Andy Lau

17 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leslie Cheung	...	Yuddy
Maggie Cheung	...	Su Li-zhen
Andy Lau	...	Tide
Carina Lau	...	Leung Fung-ying
Rebecca Pan	...	Rebecca (as Tik-Wa Poon)
Jacky Cheung	...	Zeb
Tony Chiu-Wai Leung	...	Chow Mo-wan (as Tony Chiu Wai Leung)
Danilo Antunes	...	Rebecca's Lover
Mei-Mei Hung	...	The Amah
Ling-Hung Ling	...	Nurse
Tita Muñoz	...	Yuddy's Mother
Alicia Alonzo	...	Housekeeper
Elena Lim So	...	Hotel Manageress
Maritoni Fernandez	...	Hotel Maid
Angela Ponos	...	Prostitute

Storyline

Set in 1960, the film centres on the young, boyishly handsome Yuddy, who learns from the drunken ex-prostitute who raised him that she is not his real mother. Hoping to hold onto him, she refuses to divulge the name of his real birth mother. The revelation shakes Yuddy to his very core, unleashing a cascade of conflicting emotions. Two women have the bad luck to fall for Yuddy. One is a quiet lass named Su Lizhen who works at a sports arena, while the other is a glitzy showgirl named Mimi. Perhaps due to his unresolved Oedipal issues, he passively lets the two compete for him, unable or unwilling to make a choice. As Lizhen slowly confides her frustration to a cop named Tide, he falls for her. The same is true for Yuddy's friend Zeb, who falls for Mimi. Later, Yuddy learns of his birth mother's whereabouts and heads out to the Philippines.

---

Plot Keywords:

philippines | 1960s | spanking | scrubbing the floor | policeman | 

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese Shanghainese Tagalog English Mandarin

Release Date:

15 December 1990 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Days of Being Wild

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$18,090, 21 November 2004, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$141,864, 10 April 2005

Company Credits

Production Co:

In-Gear Film

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Su Lizhen also appears in another Kar-Wai Wong's film In the Mood for Love (2000). Both Su Lizhens are played by Maggie Cheung, although it has never been clearly indicated that both Lizhens are the same character.

---

Goofs

When Tide checks into the hotel, the hotel manageress hands him the key to Room 206. However, in the next scene, Tide uses the key to enter Room 204. This, however, may not be so much a 'goof' as another recurrence of the number '2046' seen so often in Wong Kar-Wai's films.

---

Quotes

Yuddy: I've heard that there's a kind of bird without legs that can only fly and fly, and sleep in the wind when it is tired. The bird only lands once in its life... that's when it dies.

---

Connections

References Taxi Driver (1976)

---

Soundtracks

Jungle Drums (Cantonese cover)
Composed by E. Lecuona & J. Cacabas
Lyrics by Sharon Chung
Performed by Anita Mui

User Reviews

Fluid Tattoos on the Insides of Skin

Sublime suspension.

A very satisfying affair: here's the first project where Kar-Wai Wong found his groove with the Spanish notion of metastory, the story about how one hesitates in resolving what they see in life. And how that is a matter of touch. And how touch is word — and how one can touch and speak with the eye.

The first project with Doyle. And with Maggie. In a way, the first version of "Mood/2046." I think no one understands cinematically suspended longing like this man. When you enter this, you enter a space where everything is connected, every connection is passionately loaded and seen. But there is no logic, no comprehension, no future. Ever.

Its anti-love but fulfilling nonetheless. Its empty in a rich way. Its about created selves in the French New Wave sense, but those selves then being honestly inhabited.

If you love, really love, it has to rest on the earth in some way. There seem to be only a few ways to rest, the usual one being a matter of anchors and roots. This is different, a matter of frictionless liquidity — a local zone of antigravity where the love seems fixed by never really touches the planet. There are several metaphors in the story along these lines.

We may not have the courage to love in this way even if we are among the few who chance love at all. But it is a rather sublime visit, this.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.