Two melancholy Hong Kong policemen fall in love: one with a mysterious female underworld figure, the other with a beautiful and ethereal server at a late-night restaurant he frequents.
Director:
Kar-Wai Wong
Stars:
Brigitte Lin,
Takeshi Kaneshiro,
Tony Chiu-Wai Leung
Several women enter a science fiction author's life over the course of a few years, after the author has lost the woman he considers his one true love.
Two neighbors, a woman and a man, form a strong bond after both suspect extramarital activities of their spouses. However, they agree to keep their bond platonic so as not to commit similar wrongs.
Director:
Kar-Wai Wong
Stars:
Tony Chiu-Wai Leung,
Maggie Cheung,
Ping Lam Siu
A young lonely woman takes a soul-searching journey across America to resolve her questions about love while encountering a series of offbeat characters along the way.
A disillusioned killer embarks on his last hit but first he has to overcome his affections for his cool, detached partner. Thinking it's dangerous and improper to become involved with a colleague he sets out to find a surrogate for his affections. Against the sordid and surreal urban nightscape of contemporary Hong Kong, he crosses path with a strange drifter looking for her mysterious ex-boyfriend and an amusing mute trying to get the world's attention in his own unconventional ways.Written by
Perry Yu <perry@pobox.com>
The McDonald's restaurant frequently visited by Wong Chi-Ming and Blondie (and where they first meet) is the same exact restaurant visited by Cop 663 in Chungking Express (1994). See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
The Killer's Agent:
Are we still partners?
Wong Chi-Ming:
[voiceover]
We've been business partners for nearly three years. This is the first time we've ever sat together. We hardly ever see each other. I know how hard it is for a man to control his passion. Partners shouldn't get emotionally involved with each other.
See more »
One of the most, overuse words in the internet is "pretentious." In the IMDb boards, with art films, it is rare to find a thread that does not critique the film on the ground of being "pretentious." The overuse of the word has rendered it meaningless, in both film criticism and discussion, since for the most part, it is wrongly utilized. However, it does not follow that there are not films that are "pretentious." On the contrary, there are tons of awful and misguided films that fit the label.
At first glance, Wong Kar Wai's Fallen Angels might appear to fit the negative label -- with its eccentric, unnatural, and unorthodox direction and storyline. Yet, the film does not—since there is a purpose to the bold, artistic elements. "Pretentious" only applies to films that include nontraditional elements, simply to be different, or to appear more intelligent than then it actually is; in other words, films that try to be "arty" for meaningless and for shallow purposes. Wong's daring decisions are not pointless: they actually enrich the film; the film will be an inferior product, without the auteur's aspects.
There is not a movement in the work, that the audience does not separate the fact that it is simply a "film." But what Wong accomplishes with the film medium -- like the famous painters Picasso, Matisse, and Monet did with painting medium -- is to make an abstract work that still manages to emotionally connect with the audience. Watching the characters interact is an enjoyable experience. They may be caricatures, but they make sense in Wong's Hong Kong. Despite all of them being quirky, they all have their own personality, and thus, feel organic. It is a hung out film: it feel as if you are transported to Hong Kong, interacting with the characters.
In comparison to his rest of filmography, the film is not anywhere near the top -- those spots belongs to In the Mood of Love and the Chungking Express. Its story does not match In Mood of Love; its energetic, free spirit does not match Chungking Express—mainly because it is a lesser sequel and it does not include the fabulous Faye Wong. A lesser Wong's film is still a must see, and Fallen Angels is no exception. Do not be afraid of an Impressionistic, ultra cool Hong Kong.
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One of the most, overuse words in the internet is "pretentious." In the IMDb boards, with art films, it is rare to find a thread that does not critique the film on the ground of being "pretentious." The overuse of the word has rendered it meaningless, in both film criticism and discussion, since for the most part, it is wrongly utilized. However, it does not follow that there are not films that are "pretentious." On the contrary, there are tons of awful and misguided films that fit the label.
At first glance, Wong Kar Wai's Fallen Angels might appear to fit the negative label -- with its eccentric, unnatural, and unorthodox direction and storyline. Yet, the film does not—since there is a purpose to the bold, artistic elements. "Pretentious" only applies to films that include nontraditional elements, simply to be different, or to appear more intelligent than then it actually is; in other words, films that try to be "arty" for meaningless and for shallow purposes. Wong's daring decisions are not pointless: they actually enrich the film; the film will be an inferior product, without the auteur's aspects.
There is not a movement in the work, that the audience does not separate the fact that it is simply a "film." But what Wong accomplishes with the film medium -- like the famous painters Picasso, Matisse, and Monet did with painting medium -- is to make an abstract work that still manages to emotionally connect with the audience. Watching the characters interact is an enjoyable experience. They may be caricatures, but they make sense in Wong's Hong Kong. Despite all of them being quirky, they all have their own personality, and thus, feel organic. It is a hung out film: it feel as if you are transported to Hong Kong, interacting with the characters.
In comparison to his rest of filmography, the film is not anywhere near the top -- those spots belongs to In the Mood of Love and the Chungking Express. Its story does not match In Mood of Love; its energetic, free spirit does not match Chungking Express—mainly because it is a lesser sequel and it does not include the fabulous Faye Wong. A lesser Wong's film is still a must see, and Fallen Angels is no exception. Do not be afraid of an Impressionistic, ultra cool Hong Kong.