Fallen Angels

Style and story aren't exactly two things that go hand in hand. You can have a very compelling but raw story (a la John Cassavetes) or a movie that has more glitz than Las Vegas (a la Luc Besson). It's one of the two. You can't have both.

That doesn't stop Wong Kar-Wai from doing that. And quite successfully, I might add. I think when I saw In the Mood for Love, that was when I realized that Wong was going to be a director I liked.

His film Fallen Angels was only more proof of that. Sharing several elements of his previous film Chungking Express, the film basks in the neon lights of Hong Kong.

That detail is thanks to the watchful eye of cinematographer Christopher Doyle. Granted, his *cough* recent opinions may not earn him a lot of popularity votes, but his work here certainly will. I'm surprised he hasn't been nominated yet.

Fallen Angels is actually pretty awesome. Usually style and story don't work very well for me but here it's different. I'm definitely seeing more of Wong's work if it's this tantalizing.

My Rating: *****

Happy Together

Many films depict a blossoming romance, a number of times they result in a happy ending. But what about those films about the fractured affairs, the ones on the verge of collapsing? Well, those are the ones Hollywood usually avoids. (They prefer "happy" movies.)

Films from other countries, however, do these kinds of films often. (Recently, England-born director Terence Davies depicted such an affair in The Deep Blue Sea.) Perhaps it's because filmmakers from non-US countries are more driven to tell a story than to make money. (Or that's just me.)

Wong Kar-Wai has depicted unreachable love in the forms of Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love and 2046. With Happy Together, he depicts the waning passion between a couple giving their relationship another go. They anticipate a rekindling, but all they get is a complete burnout.

Like Wong's other films, the vibrant use of color is present as is Christopher Doyle's gorgeous cinematography. Another noted aspect of Wong's films is the quiet subtly in the way the story is told. It's small details like that which keep me coming back for more from the director.

Happy Together, much like In the Mood for Love, displays a love that's present in the respective partners but they can't bring themselves to admit it. It's hypnotizing to see the anatomy of a relationship, especially since we don't see what started it in the first place. Who knows what forces brought these two people together?

My Rating: *****

2046

Many of the directors I deeply admire are from the United States, Canada and/or the United Kingdom. There are a handful of other directors from various parts of the world that predominantly made films in the English language. Only a small number of those directors made films in the language of their country.

A director I've recently taken a shine to is Wong Kar-wai. I was very much impressed by In the Mood for Love and Chungking Express, mainly for how Wong underplayed feelings of romance and passion. If only more directors were like him.

I checked out 2046, which is more or less a sequel to In the Mood for Love. Picking up where the last film left off, the film shows the interactions between Chow (Tony Leung, who is slowly becoming a favorite foreign actor) and the women staying at his hotel. The encounters garner both emotional and physical intimacy.

Chow isn't as quiet and reserved as he was in In the Mood for Love, but he's just as lonely. The many sexual encounters he has throughout the film are mainly as a means of acceptance rather than desire. Though he does develop feelings for one woman, he decides to remain silent on those matters, reasons only known to him.

Though not as poetically flowing as In the Mood for Love, 2046 has its own charm. I will say the score by Shigeru Umebayashi is perhaps the most gorgeous score I ever heard. All in all, a very well done follow-up.

My Rating: *****

Chungking Express

Don't you love it when you watch that one film responsible for getting an actor or a director recognized by the masses? It's such a wonderful feeling.

Wong Kar-wai's Chungking Express is one such example. Focusing on the lovelorn and the lovesick, the film captures life in a bustling city.

Chungking Express is reminiscent of Woody Allen's Manhattan. Both films focus strictly on certain individuals in a large city, all only faintly connected. The sole connection between the main characters of both films in something simple: love.

Another connection between Chungking Express and Manhattan is the cinematography. It shows the cities as characters in themselves. Manhattan shows New York City in a seductive black and white setting; Chungking Express is shot in color to show the vivid shades of Hong Kong.

Much how I very much enjoyed In the Mood for Love, Chungking Express knows how to underplay the love between the characters. (Wong is a master at that from what I've seen so far.) Also, I just love films where the city is a character as well.

My Rating: *****

In the Mood for Love

Foreign filmmakers always have a way of eroticizing almost everything in their work. It's just a peculiar knack among them.

Wong Kar-wai is one such name. His film In the Mood for Love sounds simple enough with its concept, but it's one film that packs more punch upon viewing.

In the Mood for Love isn't erotic in the sense there are steamy sex scenes. It's more so the longing desire between Chow (Tony Leung) and Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) that makes the film smolder with passion. What the film lacks with physical intimacy strives with emotional understanding.

The smaller aspects of the film work wonders, such as the color scheme and most definitely the music. The use of the Nat King Cole songs "Aquellos Ojos Verdes" and "Quizas, Quizas, Quizas" showcases the feelings Chow and Li-zhen want to express but in a language foreign to them. There's also a haunting string piece that displays the contained desire between them.

In the Mood for Love depicts a complicated romance, one not shown often enough in film. It's a beautiful film, both physically and emotionally. Wong Kar-wai captures what so many try to do, which is showing one restraining an unrestrained love.

My Rating: *****