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Cast:
Leon
Lai
Michelle
Reis
Takeshi
Kaneshiro
Karen
Mok
Action:
Poon
Kin Gwan
Producer:
Wong
Kar Wai
Jeff
Lau
Director:
Wong
Kar Wai
Score:
 
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FALLEN
ANGELS
AKA:
N/A
Year:
1994 Reviewer: Tony
Ryan
This
story of an Assassin having second thoughts about his career
choice was originally slated as the third 'section' of the
superb 'Chungking
Express'. Perhaps due to time constraints or the expanding
second section of CE, Wong Kar Wai decided to come back to
this story at a later date, and create a full movie instead.
Leon
Lai plays Wong Chi Ming, an assassin who is growing tired of
killing and the lonely life he leads. Michelle Reis plays the
part of his agent, setting up all of his hits and providing
him with a place to stay, but never actually getting to meet
him - even though they have had a 3-year business arrangement!
Wong's
life is clearly a sad one and as the film progresses it is
clear that he has simply accepted his fate and begins to
convince himself it is the best thing for him, merely becoming
a robot - killing whoever, whenever. The few action sequences
on display are all short, but brilliantly executed and
captured with style, allowing us to see the cool nature of the
character and the detachment he has from his victims. Reis's
character is no happier, and often takes to masturbating in
the bed Wong slept in once his job has been done and he has
disappeared again. They do eventually meet, but as you would
expect from Wong Kar Wai, it hardly becomes a perfect romance.
Although
'Fallen Angels' - unlike 'Chungking Express' - is a single
themed film, there is still a significant thread running
peripheral to it which bears little relevance to the rest of
the story. This storyline follows a mute Takeshi Kaneshiro in
a slightly deranged role, but to me it appears a little too
pointless and detracts from the main attraction, only
occasionally crossing over. As comedy relief it doesn't seem
to work either, as I personally just felt both sorry for and
irritated by his character and quickly became bored of it. The
slow pace of the main plotline and the eternal desperation,
and quite frankly pathetic behaviour, of all involved made
this a very empty experience and became purely an exercise in
aesthetics.
Speaking
of aesthetics, the cinematography on display here is
unarguably fantastic, with both Wong and Christopher Doyle
excelling themselves to create a work of visual splendour.
Quick cuts, vibrant neon colours, experimental angles and an
innovative use of lenses all create a picture which could be
paused at any opportunity and framed as a piece of art.
Unfortunately, for me, I like a little more emotion or
compassion (or even plain old likeability) from my characters
to make a film interesting for 2 hours. 'Chungking Express'
had both visual character and the performances to capture the
audience making it one of my all-time favourites. 'Fallen
Angels' may be nice to look at, but may be equally interesting
to watch with the sound off as it has very little real soul
beyond its sleek façade.
This
is obviously all just one subjective point of view as many
people call this their favourite HK film. As a result, I still
recommend you watch it, but perhaps don't buy it until you are
sure it will be dusted down more than once. Pushed up into the
3 star band simply because it is so beautifully filmed.
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