Fallen Angels was the film negative of Chungking Express. Both films dealt with lonely, disaffected people but Fallen Angels didn’t even pretend the characters had a shot at true love. Instead of police officers there were murderers and a slightly mad entrepreneur. Wong Kar Wai brought back the devastating canned pineapple and expiration dates, only this time the expiration dates were for relationships and lifespans.

“I’m a lazy person, I like for people to arrange things for me.”
Wong Chi Ming is a hired killer. He calls himself lazy and enjoys having someone else tell him where to be and what to do. After finishing a job, he grabs a bus just like any other salary worker. When an old classmate on the bus asks about his life, he drags out pics and a story created for just such encounters. His partner, whom he never interacts with, cleans his apartment and gives him his assignments. She fancies herself in love with him and he, her. Wong runs into an old lover he doesn’t recognize, hooking up with her for a time. He Qi Wu lost his voice as a child after eating expired canned pineapples. His father is the caretaker of the Chungking Mansions Hotel where the secretive partner lives as well. At night Qi Wu breaks into businesses and runs them for himself. Too often he forces his services on customers who end up paying him to leave them alone. Qi Wu becomes involved with a woman whose boyfriend dumped her to marry another woman. Too soon he discovers that pineapples aren’t the only things with expiration dates.

“There are some things you can’t escape.”
Wong Kar Wai utilized his iconic green, yellow, and red palette once again. The characters and backgrounds flew frenetically about, always in motion as if they were trying to outrun their fates. The characters’ sun was the moon as they lived in a world constantly at night, lit by streetlamps and neon lights echoed on damp pavements. Obsession and desire replaced anything resembling true love as they grasped at any form of connection to break their loneliness and isolation no matter how temporary. Chungking had one blonde in a wig, the Hong Kong of Fallen Angels was overpopulated with women and men named Blondie. These blondes didn’t have more fun, they were always on the precipice of loss or brawls.

“We rub elbows with a lot of people every day. Some of them might become your friends or confidants.”
The acting was superb whether in action scenes, comedic situations, or characters sorrowfully scouring bars and streets for a glance at love. There was little to no plot, this was Wong Kar Wai. Style and mood ruled over narrative. The characters weren’t highly developed more like notes in a song too sad for words, played out in garish, muted tones. There are times with WKW that I’m not sure if his work is bold or self-indulgent like a video collage of dark emotions set on fire. I enjoyed Fallen Angels more than Chungking Express though I did miss Tony Leung’s presence. This film’s mood hit with me, swaying the balance to a bold, creative effort.

“The road wasn’t that long and I knew I’d be getting off soon. But at that moment I felt such warmth.”

9 December 2024
Trigger warnings: Self-pleasuring scenes and bathroom humor. For vegans, butcher scenes.