Days of Being Wild and Fallen Angels: An Analysis of Dysfunctional Relationships in Wong Kar-Wai’s Films

Cover of Days of Being Wild

Wong Kar- wai seems to lean on the development of disjointed and unhealthy relationships in his films and Days of Being Wild and Fallen Angels are no exceptions. The two films parallel in their exploration of time, dysfunctional male/female relationships, and human needs and desires that are utilized as plot driving character flaws. 

The Plot of Days of Being Wild

 

            Days of Being Wild is a 1990 film starring Leslie Cheung as Yuddy, Maggie Cheung as Su Li Zhen, Andy Lau as Tide, and Carina Lau as Mimi. Yuddy is the son of a wealthy adoptive mother who refuses to reveal the identity of his true Filipino parents. His mother is a controlling former call girl who often engages in frivolous relationships with much younger men who take advantage of her wealth. Yuddy has a tumultuous love-hate relationship with her, condemning her partners and demanding that she reveal the identity of his parents. 

            Yuddy seems to have many unstable relationships with women and takes advantage of them emotionally. This is presumably due to the lack of control he currently faces in his relationship with his adoptive mother. We first see Yuddy encounter Su Li Zhen at the shop where he works. She rejects him initially, but he eventually seduces her, and though they seem to get along for some time he eventually rejects her. Heartbroken, she leaves and begins to confide in a cop named Tide. She is depressed and cannot sleep, constantly longing for Yuddy. Yuddy comes across a dramatic showgirl named Mimi trying to steal his mother’s earrings. He uses the earrings to lure her back to his apartment. Mimi seems mistrusting at first and says she wants to leave, but then gives in and falls just as hard for Yuddy as Su Li did. Meanwhile Tide has fallen in love with Su Li. When she decides to go home and stop waiting around for Yuddy, he tells her to call him one night if she is lonely. 

            Yuddy eventually finds out the identity of his mother and leaves a heartbroken Mimi behind without a word. He goes to the Philippines in an attempt to find her. Meanwhile Tide gives up his job as a police officer to become a sailor and ends up in the Philippines as well. Mimi, furious and heartbroken, confronts Su Li and Yuddy’s adoptive mother in a failed attempt to find him. Yuddy’s birth mother refuses to see him. He finds himself in the same hotel as Tide. After refusing to pay gang members for an American passport, Yuddy narrowly escapes being shot with Tide and the two catch a train together. Tide reveals that he knew Su Li and how Yuddy hurt her. A gang member suddenly and fatally shoots Yuddy and he reflects pensively on life and the process of dying to Tide as the train slowly rolls on. 

The Passage of Time

            Wong Kar-wai, in conjunction with cinematographer Christopher Doyle, develops visual themes to denote the impact of time and memory on central relationships. One of these visuals is the use of cigarettes. Overtly apparent in Fallen Angels, they were also a clear visual theme in Days of Being Wild. While seemingly insignificant, cigarettes present the passage of time in the absence of dialogue. The smoke also transports the viewer into a dream like state and alludes to absent thoughts or memories through its misty appearance (Teo, 87).  

 Cigarette in Days of Being Wild

 Cigarettes in Fallen Angels

 

            Time and memory are quite blatantly presented as themes both visually and through dialogue in Days of Being Wild. The first lines in the movie introduce them. 

Yuddy: What day's today?

Su Li-zhen: 16th.

Yuddy: 16th... April the 16th. At one minute before 3pm on April the 16th, 1960, you're together with me. Because of you, I'll remember that one minute. From now on, we're friends for one minute. This is a fact, you can't deny. It's done.

An image of a clock is one of the first and last images seen and reappears throughout the film. There is even a shot of a woman cleaning the clock partway through the film. A ticking sound occasionally accompanies the image. It often indicates time passing between a couple or silent connections being forged. It is used in particular to develop or allude to the relationship between Yuddy and Su Li, invoking memories of how they met. After Yuddy abandons Su Li, clock imagery appears when Su Li is thinking of Yuddy. She asks Tide not to mention the word “minute”. Time becomes a painful concept for her.

Su Li: I always thought one minute flies by. But sometimes it really lingers on. Once, a person pointed at his watch and said to me, that because of that minute, he'd always remember me. It was so charming listening to that. But now I look at my watch and tell myself that I have to forget this man starting this very minute.

                                          

This poster for the film indicates the importance of the clock image.

An image with a clock in Fallen Angels

                                                      

This clock is repeatedly shown throughout Days of Being Wild

            Although clocks are not as prominently seen visually in Fallen Angels, the mention of time is very important (Brunette, 63). Characters often expect to meet at a specific time before being stood up. He is stood up at the soccer game and the partner is stood up by Wong at the bar. Charlie asks He what time it is on several occasions. Timing is also very important when it comes to the murder operations set up and run by Wong and his partner. The jukebox song becomes a painful reminder and representation of the past to them the way the mention of "clocks" or "minutes" becomes painful for Su Li in Days of Being Wild. Time is also captured by He through his video camera. Once his father dies, he uses the tape as a capsule to relive memories he knows he can never experience again. Time is also essential to the setting as the majority of the story takes place at night when members of traditional society are at home or sleeping. 

The movement of vehicles symbolizes the passage of time in both films. In Fallen Angels, the movement of cars, motorcycles, and particularly trains is recurrent. When characters seem to be stuck or standing still, vehicles can be seen passing or trains can be heard. The title sequence of the film includes the sound of a train going over tracks. The film ends with the partner and He on a motorcycle, symbolically moving towards a new phase of life together. 

Cover of Fallen Angels

            Trains are also used in Days of Being Wild to indicate the passage of time. This is more obvious towards the end of the film, although vehicles are occasionally shot passing characters on the street. Towards the end of the film, Yuddy is dying on a train a reflecting on the process of becoming nothing. The shot slowly pans out and shows a long wide angle view of the train moving in a dark and serene environment. 

The Desire for Impact

            Wong Kar-wai’s plots are character driven and their actions, thoughts, and emotions tend to draw the viewer in. Each individual is arguably pathological (Teo, 89) yet their wants and desires reflect a universal human need for connection. Particularly notable is their desire to be remembered or the way they are presumed to feel when they are forgotten. 

            As previously noted, Days of Being Wild opens with a dialogue concerning time and memory. 

Yuddy: What day's today?

Su Li-zhen: 16th.

Yuddy: 16th... April the 16th. At one minute before 3pm on April the 16th, 1960, you're together with me. Because of you, I'll remember that one minute. From now on, we're friends for one minute. This is a fact, you can't deny. It's done.

Su Li-zhen: Would he remember that minute because of me? I don’t know. But I remembered him.  

Throughout the film it is clear that Su Li thinks of Yuddy long after he leaves her. It is not until the end of the film that Yuddy makes it clear that he remembers her. On the train as Yuddy is dying, Tide asks him if he remembers where he was on April 16^th, 1960 at 3 PM.

            Yuddy: When you see her, tell her I remember nothing. It’s better for all of us.

            Tide: I don’t know that I’ll ever see her again. Even if I do, she may not recognize me.

           

            Yuddy’s mother admits that she does not want to reveal the identity of his birth mother because she is afraid he will leave her. Her tendency to further the strange love/hate relationship between the two of them stems from her desire to be important and remain remembered.

            Yuddy’s Mother: I want you to hate me. That way you won’t forget me.

           

            In Fallen Angels, dejection resulting from the desire to be remembered is also apparent. Like Yuddy’s mother, Blondie is terrified of being forgotten. When Wong tells her that he has to leave her, she reacts by biting him and although the impact seems relatively negligible it is clear that she is trying to inflict pain.

           

            Blondie: I’ve left my mark, okay? You may forget my face, but you won’t forget my bite.

            He seems to feel rejection and loneliness the same way Tide does when he sees Charlie years later in one of the shops he has commandeered. He tries to get her attention and realizes that she no longer remembers him.

Control, Apathy, and Infatuation

            Throughout his films, Wong Kar-wai establishes recurring personality traits in his male and female characters. These traits result in dysfunction and turmoil between characters and ultimately contribute to the demise of their relationships and occasionally to the demise of the characters themselves. 

            Control is a damaging part of many of the relationships in Days of Being Wild.  Desperate for love, attention, and purpose, Yuddy’s mother holds control over her grown son by refusing to reveal the identity of his birth mother. This creates tension between the two. She tells him to leave her if he wants to during moments of tension and drama, always knowing that he will return to try to get the answer from her. She also exerts control financially, continually pointing out that she raised him and is currently supporting him financially despite the fact that he is a grown man who should be capable of supporting himself.  

            In response to his mother, Yuddy manipulates and controls women. Both Su Li and Mimi attempt to resist Yuddy’s advances initially, but Yuddy is charismatic and quickly draws them in. He spends a great deal of time with them until they become attached. He then becomes cold and apathetic, leaving them without remorse although it is clear that they have become dependent emotionally. 

            Both Su Li and Mimi become emotionally distraught and infatuated characters. Su Li resists Yuddy’s advances in the beginning, remaining cautious and reluctant to answer his questions. Once she begins to trust him, she quickly wants to move in with him and marry him. When he leaves her she becomes a depressed insomniac. Unable to go home, she spends her nights outside wandering around and waiting for time to pass. Time triggers painful memories for her. She is blinded by infatuation, unable to recognize Tide’s interest in her.

            Mimi attempts to resist Yanny’s advances as well, although somewhat feebly since she follows him home. She becomes obsessive and almost crazed rather quickly, demanding that he call her when she leaves and becoming jealous of Su Li even though she is no longer with Yanny. She even presumably follows Yanny to the Philippines when she finds out that he has gone there and makes it her mission to find him.  

            In Fallen Angels, Wong mirrors Yanny in both apathy and control. His desire for control however is much less. It is something that he takes advantage of, but does not necessarily desire. He states that he likes having things set up for him, yet his status as a killer and his decision to ignore meetings set up with his partner give him control regardless. His apathy is clear when he leaves his partner, leaves Blondie, and kills without any apparent emotion. It is arguable that he is masking an emotional reaction since he ultimately decides to leave his career as a killer, but his apathetic appearance is undeniable. 

            Female characters in Fallen Angels experience similar emotions of desperation and infatuation. Charlie obsesses over Blondie, a girl who apparently stole her lover, furiously making phone calls and convincing a man she never met to help her seek vengeance. Blondie obsesses over Wong, telling him to promise he will never leave her although they only recently met. The partner is quietly infatuated with Wong. She roots through his trash, masturbates in his bed, and sits in his seat at a bar he frequents. She eventually has him killed for his rejection of her. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcNtW-enyjo

This clip shows Yanny seducing a resistant Su Li in Days of Being Wild.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A4P6YAl3Uc

This trailer includes several clips of Yanny seducing both women who initially resist him in Days of Being Wild.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW6K8SbNhqQ

The first few minutes of this clip show several scenes of the partner’s obsessive behavior regarding the killer in Fallen Angels. 

Conclusion 

     Wong Kar-wai uses recurring themes and extensive characterization to drive the plots of his movies. These techniques are utilized in both Fallen Angels and Days of Being Wild. His characters appeal to universal human experiences such as love, loss, rejection, and desire. He accentuates them to a pathological level in order to derive more apparent meaning and elevate the tension in dysfunctional relationships. As a result, his films compose unique, almost dream like backdrops for his audiences that are filled with unpredictably strange occurrences and layers of personal applicability. 

                                               

Links to Images:

- Cover of Days of Being Wild
   http://cdn.dramadownload.net/images/2011/07/HK-Movie-Days-of-Being-Wild-1990.jpg 

- Cover of Fallen Angels 
   http://cf2.imgobject.com/t/p/original/aqCpkOvZ7hNdTT70sSnGSRxmYxv.jpgg
 
-  Cigarette in Days of Being Wild
     http://pichostingsite.com/user24/2009/11/26/dikie-dni-days-of-being-wild-ah-feis-story-a-fei-jing-juen/dikie-dni-days-of-being-wild-ah-feis-story-a-fei-jing-juen3.jpg

- Cigarettes in Fallen Angels
    http://www.imaginacionatrapada.com.ar/Imagenes/FallenAngels03.jpg

-  Days of Being Wild Poster
    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a2/Days-of-being-wild-poster.jpg/220px-Days-of-being-wild-poster.jpg

- Clock image in Fallen Angels
    https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRrFOpy9T4x7gyW8sommwBK_tdIJR22NW9TnX7kJ3VYn7dk3FWfAl20B2QGL8k31hcjOSwKqrbmXDO55qMJlEdLCy56ii0BalwFlWBZ2v34kcdKhVwzReMNZP0tvZ5NaGKQNuYIoj88WdO/s1600/fallen.jpg

- Clock Image in Days of Being Wild
   http://cinemafanatic.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/daysofbeingwild.jpg
  
General References:

- Brunette, Peter. "Fallen Angels." Wong Kar-wai. Urbana: University of Illinois, 2005. Print.

- "Days of Being Wild." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.

- "Days of Being Wild." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.

- "Fallen Angels (film)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 June 2013. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.

- "Fallen Angels." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.

- Teo, Stephen. "Pathos Angelical: Fallen Angels (1995)." Wong Kar-Wai. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.