X
- 1998
- Not Rated
- Kino International
- 1 h 39 m
- 1998
- Not Rated
- Kino International
- 1 h 39 m
Summary Set in the neon-washed underworld of present-day Hong Kong, Fallen Angels intertwines two exhilarating tales of love and isolation in a blitz of ultra-hip style and classical cinematic sensibilities. (Kino International)
Directed By: Kar-Wai Wong
Written By: Kar-Wai Wong
- 1998
- Not Rated
- Kino International
- 1 h 39 m
- 1998
- Not Rated
- Kino International
- 1 h 39 m
Fallen Angels
71
7.9
Where to Watch
Summary Set in the neon-washed underworld of present-day Hong Kong, Fallen Angels intertwines two exhilarating tales of love and isolation in a blitz of ultra-hip style and classical cinematic sensibilities. (Kino International)
Directed By: Kar-Wai Wong
Written By: Kar-Wai Wong
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 13 Critic Reviews
71
69% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
31% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 13 Critic Reviews
71
69% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
31% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Even Wong's detractors, who consider him more stylist than auteur, will have a tough time dismissing the extraordinary emotional depth he achieves here.
Writer-director Wong Kar-wai makes these five self-consciously idiosyncratic types--often seen through distorting lenses in cinematographer Christopher Doyle's somber, garish Hong Kong--fully and instantly believable.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 56 User Ratings
7.9
82% Positive
46 Ratings
46 Ratings
11% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
7% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 56 User Ratings
7.9
82% Positive
46 Ratings
46 Ratings
11% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
7% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
pretty sure this is the greatest movie ever made. that's it, that's my review.
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If you're fed up with the stultifying, formula-driven character of today's mainstream films, give Fallen Angels a try. At the very least you'll be engaged, and if you're lucky you may just recapture some of your original wonder at the seductive power of movies.
Fallen Angels is proof that Wong will try anything, and the result is an eclectic mix of images and disjointed editing, sounds and rhythms that are at times as powerful as any piece of filmmaking likely to be seen all year. It can also, every once in awhile, be tedious and trying.
To describe the plot is to miss the point. Fallen Angels takes the materials of the plot -- the characters and what they do -- and assembles them like a photo montage. At the end, you have impressions, not conclusions.
Fallen Angels certainly abounds in visual pizazz, clever in jokes and trendy pop references, but such things can carry a movie only so far.
A colourful and stylish romp, for sure, but a feeling of restlessness sets in long before the series of false endings that finally bring it to a close. Time passes, things happen, but nobody emerges very much wiser.
The complimentary movie to Chungking Express (1994), this is a neo-noir thriller that was shooted as a different movie because of the length of the total movie and differences between the **** in the first this one also tells two stories: of a hitman (Leon Lai Ming) that wants to detach from his activities and his partner, a woman that cleans his apartment while he is out, and have a secret love for him, while he meets another girl nicknamed blondie. The second one is from a ex-convict escaped from prison, Ho Chi-mo (Takeshi Kaneshiro) that is mute and works and lives with his father, also breaking into other works at night to sell their goods and services (here we have a meet with the Chungking Express with the first movie) and keeps finding another girl Charlie that lost his girlfriend for blondie), aside from a sequence that he meets another character from the first story in the end.While having its themes along with Chungking, it differentiates from he first one by the use of cinematographer Christopher Doyle shooting mainly at night and using extreme wide-angle lenses, keeping the camera as close to the talents as possible to give a detached effect from the world around them, giving an wide-angle distortion of images creates an effect of distance-in-proximity, conveying the characters' solitude. The visuals are frantic, out-of-focus, and neon-lit. The camera also follows the characters and segments of B&W and heldcam camera also are used.Another difference is the use of voice overs (as in thoughts) in the place of dialogues and pop songs this time mainly Cantonese versions of many musics, some of them also being ocidental (like the instrumental "Speak My Language" by American avant-garde artist Laurie Anderson and Flying Pickets version of "Only You" by member Vince Clarke, while he was still with Depeche **** me a score of 8,7 out of 10,0 / A along side with the previous one a must to watch movie of an bygone era before the delivery of the city back to China in 97.
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I can see why Fallen Angels is considered to be a follow-up to Chungking Express. In fact, it's kinda set in the same universe; as there are many references, and too many things the two movies share. But Fallen Angels expanded on its predecessor's trippy atmosphere and visual style. The result is an extremely entertaining hypnotic experience that you can't help keeping your eyes glued to the screen throughout its 95-minute run time.
From the technical standpoint, Fallen Angels isn't just as flawless, or just as phenomenal, as Chungking Express, but it's actually stand s out from the latter's for being more practical. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that Chungking Express is overly stylized as some people, but in Fallen Angels; the songs, the music, the colors, the use of black and white, and almost everything we see or hear adds to the story, and if not to the story, then to the experience itself. Because Kar-Wai Wong knows how to convey emotions and feelings, maybe more than any other filmmaker!
Alas, Chungking Express is far more superior to Fallen Angels from the narrative standpoint. I don't mean that Fallen Angels's script lacks cohesion (I shouldn't ask for that anyway), or smart dialogue (Actually this movie has many great and quite subtle lines), but it, undoubtedly, lacks interesting characters. Honestly, I was quite engaged with the killer's story and his partner, but the mute's storyline and the crazy girl who is getting over her breakup completely annoyed me. At the beginning of He's story, I was actually somewhat entertained. There were some hilarious moments that really made me laugh out loud. But soon I felt that this storyline overstayed its welcome, and I found the whole thing very annoying, and extremely tedious. It's baffling because I think the storyline is well-structured, and everything should have worked very well, but I really don't know why the characters turned out to be unbearable, at least for me.
That said, the mutes story has some of the most memorable moments in the movie, besides the above-mentioned funny scenes. Also,Takeshi Kaneshiro, who played He, the mute character, is a remarkable actor, an there is no better proof than the way he changed his reactions and facial expressions by the end of his character's arc.
I wasn't surprised that I didn't get moved by the end of the mute's character's arc, but what surprised me is that I felt very little, if any, emotions towards the killer by the end of his storyline. While I found myself engrossed in the killer's story, almost instantly, once the movie returned to it, I think the mute's story detached me emotionally from the killer's. At the end of the movie I was almost entirely emotionally disconnected from all the characters, and the movie left me a bit cold.
(7.5/10)
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Awards
Hong Kong Film Awards
• 3 Wins & 9 Nominations
Golden Bauhinia Awards
• 2 Wins & 8 Nominations
Golden Horse Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 4 Nominations
