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Austin Film Society Essential Cinema: Fallen Angels

Presented by Austin Film Society at Alamo Drafthouse - South Lamar

September 13, 2011

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Tuesday, September 13 at 7 PM
The Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar

 Cinematography by Christopher Doyle
Edited by William Chang and Ming Lam Wong
Production Design by William Chang
Hong Kong, 1995, distributed by Kino International, B&W and color, 35mm, 1.85:1, 90 min.
Cast: Leon Lai, Michelle Reis, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Charlie Yeung, Karen Mok
Cantonese with English subtitles

Originally conceived of as a third part to CHUNGKING EXPRESS (1994), FALLEN ANGELS became a stand-alone film, complete with its own parallel stories. Ming is a boyishly handsome, self-confident killer, hired by a mysterious woman with no name. He receives faxes detailing the locations of hits and the rooms in which he is paid to kill everyone, often during a mahjong game. More mysterious is the fact that his agent also cleans his room and takes his trash home, the better to know him, while he is away. She goes to the same bar he frequents and lies in his bed, but never with him. Theirs is a strangely personal business relationship. Intertwined with the story of Ming and the beautiful mystery woman is the tale of a mute young man, Ho Chi Moo, who makes a bit of money each evening breaking into shops and opening them up to customers without permission. He is kind-hearted but unusual, lives with his father in a hotel, and falls in love with Charlie, who is still emotionally attached to a former boyfriend. Once more Wong Kar-Wai masterfully presents people capable of love but incapable of finding a reciprocal attachment. It would seem impossible but the visuals of this film are even more stunning than those of DAYS OF BEING WILD. Wong Kar-Wai and Christopher Doyle defined 90s cinematic stylishness with beautiful faces and bodies, neon splashes, blurs, deep focus, unflattering distortions, reflections, and overwhelming color schemes. They created the look of the end of the 20th century, which seems more beautiful and forever lost as we fall farther into the 21st century.