Year: 1995
Director: Wong Kar Wai
Country: Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese
Fallen Angels was originally conceived as the third story in Wong's 1994 abstract Chungking Express, but thematically never quite fit into that movie and it took on a life of its own. In retrospect, Fallen Angels' darker tone and visual palette seem like the wrong fit for Chungking Express. There's plenty of crossover between the two, including references to expired cans of pineapple, but if combined the one film would be not as great as seperated.
Fallen Angels follows the lives of a hitman, hoping to get out of the business, and his elusive female partner.
Wong Kar Wai dives headfirst into cultural alienation and the dread of living in Modern day Hong Kong. The small, busy Orient becomes a breeding ground for obsession and infatuation. Its eccentric, unnatural, and unorthodox direction and storyline proves to be onscreen poetry; Wai's visual style, thanks to cinematographer Christopher Doyle, gives us a steady supply of unsual and seductive images throughout the film's runtime.
There's really nothing more or less at stake in Fallen Angels than matters of the heart, but in a Wai film love isn't a light thing to consider. His characters throughout his filmography have a heightened awareness in regards to love and loneliness. A pop song played on the jukebox might minor in any other film, but for his characters they mean the world. The soundtrack of Fallen Angels amplifies the film's unhealthy lovelorn theme and proves to provide a thrilling time.
Fallen Angels, while it can't be the masterpiece In the Mood For Love & Chungking Express are, is a pretty fantastic memorable picture that is worth re-watching again and again. Wong Kar Wai's filmography is remarkable. I can't wait to watch the rest of his films.
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