Fallen Angels

Wong Kar-wai's Fallen Angels dives headfirst into the cultural alienation and milennial dread of modern-day Hong Kong. The film has a distinctly detached feeling about it that is certainly close to what its characters must feel. Some scenes are hypnotic and dreamlike, while others seem brutally real. The film's characters always seem to be wandering, or, perhaps, simply going through the motions of life. The voice-overs - which Wong uses as effectively as any director since the heyday of Terrence Malick - effectively add an extra dimension to the characters. The ending of Fallen Angels is one of the most beautiful, poetic, and true ever filmed.

While this film's predecessor, Wong's Chungking Express is a wonderful, exceptional movie, Fallen Angels is ultimately superior - a masterpiece that Wong only surpassed with his last film, the astonishing In the Mood for Love. Still, while In the Mood for Love may be Wong's best film to date, Fallen Angels remains (as it probably always will) the quintessential Wong Kar-wai picture in that it perfectly embodies the bold, Godardian, recklessness that the name Wong Kar-wai immediately brings to mind. 10/10

The following was excerpted from a wonderful essay by Momus, and nicely highlights the themes that this film is all about (which are totally missed by the complainers here who called it boring).

"Isolated, impulsive heroes, nocturnal locations, cool music... a violent world in which sensitive people nevertheless continue to dream romantic dreams indifferent to the surrounding carnage.

In 'Fallen Angels' this happens quite literally: Agent girl Michelle Reis moons and munches dreamily in the wideangle foreground while in the background a triad fight happens in slow motion.

It's the Walkman syndrome, a thing you notice when you visit the orient. The bigger the population, the more busy the city, the more people develop the ability to retreat into an inner isolation, the space of a snackbar, a tatami mat, a computer screen, a song playing on headphones.

In the next century we will all live like this.

Wong Kar Wei maps out a perfectly postmodern, perfectly oriental psychogeography of small, busy places which nevertheless become the spawning ground of ultra-private obsessions and infatuations. Love in his films is more likely to be expressed by someone breaking into your apartment and tidying it, or by masturbation, than a healthy clinch. It is the mindset of ultrafetish, and cinematographer Chris Doyle puts it into images: a clear plastic sheath worn over a Chinese silk dress, a mute riding the corpse of a pig in an abattoir, a blow up sex doll with its head stuck in an elevator door, being kicked insanely by a couple of ultra-romantic maniacs.

And there is the real star, the traum-city itself. Corridors, subways, neon, time lapse, travelators and low flying jets, trains, shopping arcades, Chung King Mansions stuffed to the gullets with sullen, sweating people cooled by antique electric fans, the scheming tattooed triads, outbursts of random violence, warehouses, chopping knives, video cameras, motorbikes speeding through tunnels, the multi-racial hand in hand with the super-commercial... Hong Kong insinuates itself into our imaginations as the ubertraumstadt, the place of ultimate nightmare and ultimate romance, where beauty is all the more poignant for its dark, cheap, pitiless setting and dreams are all the more necessary."

Wow. Fallen Angels really surprised me. I rarely read reviews or synopses of movies before viewing. So, I expected to see classic Hong Kong shoot 'em up gangsta film. Instead, I was intrigued and stunned by this incredible movie.

The characters are the focus as they each tell their stories. Literally, the title "Fallen Angels" gives you an idea of their plight. The film doesn't glorify the criminal lifestyle and shows aspects like isolation and loneliness. It's funny how the killer even tries to imagine how happy he'd be trying to live a "normal" life working a 9 to 5. Unfortunately, life's placed him in his predicament and must deal with the ramifications of it. Add to it his agent (played by knockout Michelle Reis) who is really enigmatic in this one. Her scene at the jukebox is one that displays the pain, agony, and confusion that she is going through. Plus, that song is like joy and torture for her at the same time!

Then, there is He. A man of few words who's story may be one of the most moving. Who could've thought a video could be so powerful and sentimental? This may be one of the most strangest, complex, yet fascinating characters I've ever onscreen. His silent nature, line of work (which is the oddest form of coercion I've ever seen!), and his struggles are really played well by Takeshi Kaneshiro, especially his scenes with his dad.

Wong Kar Wai's direction really makes the film. I really loved the dark, trippy music soundtrack which helped glaze on a slick, surreal coating. It sounds like something that would've been produced by Tricky, Massive Attack, or Portishead. While this may not have a bloody, high body count, the story told here makes this such a worthwhile movie and can be appreciated after repeated viewings.

I love Chungking Express, and its "predecessor" Fallen Angels is okay, kind of like the prelude to Chungking Express. The night shots draw you into Hong Kong in a way the tourism promos don't for sure. You see Fallen Angels for the experience.

Movie is beautifully shot, cinematography is great, the atmosphere and colors, slow motion shots and visual effects are all great. Some parts are extremely boring but it fits the vibe of loneliness and sad lives the characters have. Film seems way longer than it actually is. I appreciate the visual side, characters are extrime but it still gets you tired from watching.