Fallen Angels

The nocturnal streets of Hong Kong come alive with intersecting tales of love, lust and madness in Wong Kar Wai's follow-up to Chungking Express.

In the space of two years, Wong Kar Wai released Chungking Express, the historical epic Ashes of Time and his neon-soaked ode to the city, Fallen Angels (1995). In an interview Wong explained, “The hitman (character) originally came from the third story of Chungking Express but I only shot two stories, hence I developed the (third).” The ‘fallen angels’ stalking the backstreets of Wong Kar Wai’s Hong Kong are a wordless hitman (Leon Lai), his PVC-clad fixer (Michele Reis), a dolly punk with a Brigitte Lin-style wig (Karen Mok), a jilted lover (Charlie Yeung) and an anarchic ex-con (Takeshi Kaneshiro). Wilding in the city streets, their lives intersect but in true Wong Kar Wai style, hearts must be broken.

In interviews for the release of the film, the director spoke of this emotional dislocation, “now everyone knows how to protect themselves; everyone understands loving someone can often hurt.” With the exception of Takeshi Kaneshiro and Charlie Yeung, Fallen Angels features an entirely new cast, which lends an underground quality to the film, backed by the handheld, almost documentary, shooting style. With its free-form plotting and ultra-stylised aesthetics, Fallen Angels still feels contemporary, even two decades after its original release.