Days of Being Wild

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Finn S Mar 14, 2019 The second film of Kar-wai became his opportunity for the real breakthrough, delving deep into romance and making something much more personal, rather than clichà (C) Hong Kong crime film the late 80s. Days of Being Wild raise unmistakable Kar-wai's recurrent themes we will be seeing again and again as idiosyncratic core motif of his work: self-inflicted heartbreak, falling into love with the wrong person, romantic woe becoming masochistic. Days of Being Wild is the first example of Wong Kar-wai collaboration with an Australian photographer and cinematographer Christopher Doyle. Chris made an outstanding effort with wonderful camera work and his visual philosophy. After this joint work, he would keep working with Hong Kong director, in order to make Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, Ashes of Time, Happy Together, In the Mood for Love, and 2046. The Australian cinematographer is famous for many joint works with the acclaimed Chinese directors. As a Chinese language student in Taiwan, he has expressed particular fondness towards Chinese culture and expanded himself into filmmaking and photography later. With ample experience of living in different countries, traveling, comprising different culture notions and references, he became an essential contributor to the enigmatic style of Wong Kar-Wai's cinema. The arrival of Christopher Doyle to Kar-Wai's cinema caused a strong stylization of director's aesthetics. From Days of Being Wild, all the films are going to be based on the wild and exhilarating shots and angles of the camera, vivid colours and tremendous attention to the lights. Doyle proved to be a great master whose vision and skills meet Kar-Wai's sense of romance very well. It comes as no surprise that Doyle had won a lot of awards for his cinematography since he started working with Hong Kong director. Both of collaborators are important to each other, and it is hard to imagine best Kar-Wai's films without these wonderful camera tricks, lights and colours handled simultaneously in a sophisticated manner by Doyle. Days of Being Wild can be considered the first film of unmistakable Wong Kar-wai's aesthetic style as it is more concerned with the mood, rather than plot. The depression of Yuddy collides with the love of Su Lizhen and Mimi who get themselves into this trap of contagious depression they start sharing with Yuddy. Su Lizhen is somehow able to get over obsession for Yuddy, though she ignores love of a really decent man played by Tony Lau. At the same tame Mimi ends up with a horrible heartbreak leading her way to the Philippines to pursue Yuddy. The policeman who witnessed Yuddy's death is also not on a track for happiness. Everyone we see is depressed, and that's why Wong Kar-wai paints his story with these dim colours. See more

Albus R Oct 22, 2018 As much as it also has a twisty, and hazy plot as the other Wong Kar-wai's movies that I've seen so far, Days of Being Wild's narrative feels more controlled. Even the seemingly unfocused nature of its storyline can be justified this time, as its despicable protagonist, Yuddy, is a nihilistic character. The same goes with the tech aspect. The expressive beauty of this movie doesn't often stem from the hypnotic colors, and numbing lights like Chungking Express, or Fallen Angels, instead it comes from the demonstrative use of tight framing that also provided us with some astonishingly good-looking shots. Yuddy is an extremely obnoxious character that you can't emphasize with. That said, I didn't hate him, simply because I found the fact the woman who raised him refuses to reveal his real mother's name so agonizing. To top it all, Rebecca Pan, who played his adoptive mother, gave such a provocative performance that I couldn't help hate her character so much that I kinda rooted for Yuddy. The realistic method most scenes are shot with made me connect with every character on the screen, even if their actions may sometimes feel implausible. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to make me convinced one hundred percent. I found two central characters' feelings and doings far from being reasonable. As these two characters are seen very much from the outside, and lacking real depth, at least to justify their actions. The editing is pretty exquisite, and also indicative. However, it was quite messy and distracting near the end. It deprived me from being fully satisfied. Some scenes could have been so heartbreaking, but they ended up being jumbled and muddled up. On the other hand, the ending itself is quite devastating, and has all the movie's emotional impact. I think this movie features the best use of music among the other two Wong Kar-wai's movies that I've watched. Besides that it's so moving, it expresses Yuddy's emotions and feelings, nay his psyche. (8/10) See more

Theodore P Jun 29, 2018 The first of this informal trilogy is also the last one I watched. The soul of Kar-Wai Wong's work is already in there, but not as polished as the next films. It's a blueprint for what will come, but even as blueprint, it is worth watching. See more

Anakin M Jan 13, 2018 Being immortal is not tempting to those people who actually were struggling right at the moment, which lingers the rest life of their successors, whereas it is such a allure for the successors. Being wild, being grumpy, being heartless, being true, being real human being, being whatever but being passionate about true love. See more

George R Dec 28, 2017 Not as polished as Wong Kar-Wai's later work, but the spirit is there.

Ron M Nov 26, 2017 Tragic, touching and awe-inspiring, Wong Kar-Wai has a way of telling stories that is just pure magic and if you're a fan of the man, then this is the best place to start with 'Days of Being Wild' really showing obvious signs of his creative genius and his distinct use of stunning visuals, great music and interesting characters. It may not be quite as polished as some of his later work, but all the good stuff is still there. See more

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Days of Being Wild

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