Customer Reviews

Days of Being Wild

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

I acquired the MegaStar/Golden Collection release of Days of Being Wild at a relatively low price. While the video transfer is quite good, the English subtitles are so much of a mess that I had to stop and review several scenes before I could get a sense of the dialog. I've got a high tolerance for the occasional errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation found in subtitles on many otherwise excellent Asian releases of Asian films;
but the subtitles here are so difficult to slog through that the viewer really comes away with a diminished sense of what the film is about.

After watching this version, I rented the Kino release. The subtitles are excellent -- as is the film, of course -- so my advice would be to avoid this one and get the Kino. Also, if ordering used, be sure that the seller is in fact offering the Kino version -- I've seen this one for sale on the Kino page as well, so look closely.

Out of all of his films, Wai, in a personal statement is said to look back upon Days of Being Wild with great affection and it is easy to see why. Those familair to the sytle and thematics of Wai will instantly be able to relish the familair trappings, yet with new issues such as; abuse, denial, and maternal relationships. The dreamy, atmospheric cinematography of Christopher Doyle slowly seduces the senses and the heart. While the aural, operatic storyline frequently borders on tragedy, the film contains Wai's irresistible underpinning of irony and spiritedness. Overall, Days of Being Wild features beautiful, reminicient scoring, breaktaking scenery, ferocious performances and strong production values. My rating 4.5/5! A very human story of love (or not) and redemption.
Downside: The Kino Video restoration of the film is satisfactory and nothing more. While films such as Happy Together and Chungking Express have garnered second and even third restorations, you'd think Days of Being Wild would be an equally, if not more substatial priority to those with material rights.

An unconventional romantic drama about time and love. "Days of Being Wild" features beautiful cinematography and hauntingly memorable lines. This is a must see for fans of In the Mood for Love - Criterion Collection and 2046. Another Wong Kar-Wai masterpiece that has influenced much world cinema including the American indpendent Time and Tide

A handsome young man named Yuddy (Leslie Cheung) stops by a stadium concession stand to buy a soft drink. He approaches the shy, beautiful store attendant and catches her attention by correctly guessing her name as Su Lizhen (Maggie Cheung), and confidently predicts that she will see him in her dreams. One afternoon, he asks her to look at his wristwatch, and after a minute passes, explains that he will always remember the time - one minute before 3:00 PM on April 16, 1960 - because of their shared moment together. The romantic declaration intrigues Su Lizhen, and she gradually falls in love with him. However, Yuddy's inability to commit to a relationship frustrates Su Lizhen, and, after he rejects her marriage proposal, she reluctantly leaves him. Soon, Yuddy meets a sensual, uninhibited entertainer using the stage name, Mimi (Carina Lau), who, in turn, attracts the attention of Yuddy's childhood friend, Zeb (Jacky Cheung). One evening, a kind, well-intentioned police officer (Andy Lau) escorts Su Lizhen back to Yuddy's apartment in order to retrieve her belongings. Su Lizhen, caught off guard by Mimi's presence and shattered by Yuddy's callousness, confesses her overwhelming grief to the attentive officer. After taking a long walk together, the officer leaves an open invitation for Su Lizhen to call him at a telephone booth on his patrol watch. Every evening, he momentarily pauses in front of the telephone booth, waiting for a call that never comes. And so the pattern of encounters and missed opportunities emerges in Days of Being Wild, as Yuddy's indifference affects the lives of the people who become entangled in his aimless life.

Wong Kar-wai creates a spare and elegant film on chance, fate, and unrequited longing in Days of Being Wild. Using a meticulously crafted mise-en-scene of damp streets, soaking summer rains, green reflected city lights, and saturated blue hues of the evening sky, Wong creates a pervasive, melancholic atmosphere to reflect each characters' wandering and sense of incompletion: Yuddy's elusive search for his biological mother; Su Lizhen and Fung-Ying's continued attachment to the emotionally vacuous Yuddy; the police officer's unresolved feelings for Su Lizhen; Zeb's devotion to Mimi. The indelible repeated image of the blue tinted landscape of the Filipino countryside from a slow moving train, accompanied by a lackadaisical, tropical melody, further reinforces Yuddy's complacency and lack of direction. Inevitably, it is Yuddy's own inertia that, not only leads to his own slow self-destruction, but contaminates the soul of each passing acquaintance with a sense of unrequited longing and ache of despair.

There's only a couple wild scenes in this film. Most of the time, Leslie Cheung slouches around, his expression distant. That pretty well sums up the tone of the movie.

Wong Kar Wai's films are not inspiring. They are generally glimpses into sad or pathetic lives without hope. Yet, I have generally found them fascinating. Most of the dialog is bold and forthright, which makes for vivid characters. And I like the continual sense of "what's going on here"? His stories never go where I expect them to go. At least, this storyline, unlike the scrambled one of 2046, is strongly linear.

I also enjoy Wong Kar Wai's direction and, from this film on, the rich cinematography provided by frequent cinematographer, Aussi-born Christopher Doyle. This one is too shadowy, but they fixed that in later films.

As I watched it, I kept recognizing people and scenes and themes. That's because, even more than IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, this film was recycled a dozen years later into Wong Kar Wai's film 2046. Leslie Cheung's role as the unrepentent ladies man has to be the model for Tony Leung's role in 2046. Of course, Carina Lau's role is taken directly into 2046. Even the music (including my favorite: Xavier Cugat's violin-spiced "Perfida") reappears.

On it's own, this is worth at least one viewing for the visual style, the characterizations and the unexpected twists and turns. It's also interesting for the respite given actors often found in chop-socky Hong Kong films, giving them a chance to really act. And, of course, there is that other layer of interest for a viewer familiar with 2046.

"Days of Being Wild", directed by Wong Kar Wai, is a well-made film about failed relationships, and the man that causes them to fail. It is a film about love, and about wanting what we cannot have. It is full of angst, but also of some very poetic moments, that make you realize the reason why you must pay attention whenever Wong Kar Wai's name is mentioned.

Yuddy (Leslie Cheung) is the "Don Juan" that makes women fall in love with him, and then forgets them. First he meets Su Lizhen (Maggie Cheung), a shy woman that looks at him in a different way when he shows his charming side, telling her "At one minute before 3pm on April the 16th, 1960, you're together with me. Because of you, I'll remember that one minute. From now on, we're friends for one minute. This is a fact, you can't deny. It's done". The second woman he plays with is a showgirl named Mimi (Carina Lau), someone who knows the rules of the game but that is also likely to be hurt by Yuddy. But then, that is nothing less that the direct consequence of loving someone that likes to tell the story of "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"...

Of course, there is more to "Days of being wild" than the tale of Yuddy and the two women that love him. This film is also the story of Yuddy's search for his real mother, and of the love of two men for Su Lizhen and Mimi. Why do we want the things and people that we cannot have? This movie doesn't give an answer, but shows us how that can happen. It is not nice, but it is real, and somehow heartbreaking.

All in all, I can say that I recommend "Days of being wild". It is not my favorite Wong Kar Wai film, but it is worthwhile seeing, and that is the reason why I give it 3.5 stars.

Belen Alcat

There are many trilogies made these days. In fact, the trilogy is commonplace almost. There is that Lord of the Rings trilogy that everyone swoons over. There are the Spider-Man and soon to be Batman trilogies. Remember the Indiana Jones trilogy, before the mucked it up with a fourth installment. And then, then there are lesser known trilogies that play out so beautifully on their own you may never realize they are trilogies until it's pointed out to you, but when you watch them in order you see the beautiful depth they create as a `whole'.

I introduce to you Wong Kar-Wai's masterpiece, `Days of Being Wild'.

`Days of Being Wild' is the first film in a series of three (the other two being 2001's `In the Mood for Love' and 2005's `2046'). All three films deal with similar themes and carry on characters from the previous film in order to create a feeling of fluidity. The search for love in all the wrong places and the dismissal of love in all the right places helps establish the initial tone (emotional at least) for these films. Apart, I will always consider `In the Mood for Love' the strongest effort, for it remains the most visually and emotionally transcendent, but `Days of Being Wild' contains a certain structure that makes it more complex and more conceptually interesting.

The film tells of a young playboy named Yuddy who is troubled in his outlook. He's been raised by a reckless woman who he discovers is not his mother. Due to his volatile relationship with his adoptive mother, Yuddy's understanding of women is clouded and so his treatment of them is less than admirable. He trades one in for the next model rather flippantly, with pure disregard for their feelings. Things change for Yuddy when he decides to find his birth mother, a decision that will have dire consequences, but not in the way you'd expect. Left in the wake of his decision is a young dancer with many names who has fallen in love with Yuddy. Drawn into his mystery, this young woman is lost without him despite interest shown by Yuddy's closest friend. Also left to mend a broken heart is Su Li-Zhen, a beautiful woman who was once a love interest of Yuddy who clearly has yet to get over him.

While the overall plot points may feel too simplistic (love, love, love and heartbreak), it is in the execution that truly makes this film (and most all of Wong Kar-Wai's films) spellbinding. With sharp attention to detail, Wong creates a world that is mesmerizing in its authenticity. You can feel the longing in the eyes of these characters; the desperation and frustration that seems through their skin. Wong Kar-Wai has always had a knack for creating atmosphere, which is something that many directors fail to do. Even in some of his lesser successful attempts (such as `My Blueberry Nights'), Wong still accomplishes so much in the vein on pure atmospheric wonderment. You just want to LOOK AT HIS FILMS. In `Days of Being Wild', all of his creative powers come together with astonishing effect. The interwoven storylines play off one another beautifully, and the performances by the entire cast truly elevate the material. Maggie Cheung is beautifully subtle and reserved as the shafted Su Li-Zhen. You can see her heart breaking with every movement; the way she allows her limbs to slack as if she were physically giving up. Carina Lau is simply divine as our dancer, Leung Fung-Ying (or Mimi as she is often referred). She has such dynamic energy in her delivery, proving an unexpected match for Yuddy, but she also has such softly rendered moments that truly help flesh out her character.

But this film is all about Leslie Cheung. He really creates a three-dimensional man in Yuddy. He captures the essence of his spirit, that cool nonchalance, and yet he layers him. We can feel the emotional weight of his life course and the hurt and pain that has chipped away into a seeming arrogance or apathy.

One of the finest performances put to film in the 90's!

In the end, I highly recommend you see this film...but not just this film; watch the whole trilogy. There are few trilogies as rewarding and `complete' as this one. In fact, this may be my favorite `trilogy' of all time.

This was a good film from one of the best modern directors. The cinematography is, of course, superb (what else would you expect from Wong Kar-Wai and Christopher Doyle?) and the acting is all quite good. If it doesn't have quite the energy and aesthetic beauty of some of his later films, well, that can be attributed to the fact that it's only his second film as director and he was still finding his feet.

Still, I found the film a somewhat frustrating experience for one primary reason: It focuses on the wrong character. Leslie Cheung's violence and poor treatment of women apparently resulting from his troubled relationship with his adoptive mother really weren't all that interesting. Far more intriguing was the subplot of the cop who wants to be a sailor. His scenes walking through the dark, lonely, rainy streets (first alone, then with a girl, then alone again) are the most involving and effective in all the film. As the narrative returned to Leslie Cheung and his mommy issues, I couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment (and creeping boredom.) Though the cop does return later in the narrative, it was too little to late.