Fallen Angels (film)
| Fallen Angels | |
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| Traditional | 墮落天使 |
| Simplified | 堕落天使 |
| Mandarin | Duòluò Tiānshǐ |
| Directed by | Wong Kar-wai |
| Produced by | Jeffrey Lau |
| Written by | Wong Kar-wai |
| Starring | Leon Lai Takeshi Kaneshiro Michelle Reis Charlie Yeung Karen Mok |
| Distributed by | Kino International |
| Release date(s) | Sept. 6, 1995 (Hong Kong) Jan. 30, 1998 (US) |
| Running time | 90 minutes 96 minutes (France and Germany) |
| Country |  Hong Kong |
| Language | Cantonese Mandarin Japanese English |
| Gross revenue | HK$7,476,025 (HK) $163,145 (US)[1] |
| Fallen Angels (film) | |||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 墮落天使 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 堕落天使 | ||||||||||
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Fallen Angels is a 1995 Hong Kong movie written and directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring Leon Lai, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Michelle Reis, Charlie Yeung and Karen Mok.
Fallen Angels can be seen as a companion piece to Chungking Express. It was originally conceived as the third story for Chungking Express, but Fallen Angels can be considered a sequel due to similar themes, locations and methods of filming, while one of the main characters lives in the Chungking Mansions and works at the Midnight Express food stall.
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[edit] Plot outline
The movie is composed of two stories that have little to do with each other except for a few casual run ins where some of the characters happen to be in the same place at the same time. Both stories take place in Hong Kong.
Story One
It begins with a Hit man named Wong Chi-Ming (Leon Lai) and an ambiguous female he calls his “partner”. Their relationship is interesting in that they hardly know each other and rarely see each other but she cleans his dingy apartment in club clothes and faxes him blueprints of the places he’s to go hit. Infatuated with him, she frequents the bar he goes to just to sit in his seat and daydream about him. One late night, Wong Chi-Ming has a late night meal at McDonald's where he meets Blondie, a wild prostitute. While they spend time together, she has illusions that he’s the ex- lover that left her for another woman. Wong Chi-Ming’s partner finds out about the relationship and puts a hit out on him when he tells her he wants to quit, ending the partnership they have.
Story Two
Wong Chi-Ming's partner lives in the same building with Ho Chi Moo (Takeshi Kaneshiro) a crazy delinquent who escapes prison. She helps elude the police about his whereabouts. Ho Chi Moo is mute and still lives with his father. For work, he breaks into other people’s businesses at night and makes them pay him to leave. He keeps running into the same girl at night, Charlie. Every time they meet, she cries on his shoulder and tells him the same sob story. Her ex-boyfriend Johnny, left her for a girl named Blondie. Together they play games to look for Blondie, go see soccer matches at the stadium, hang out in restaurants and take rides on his motorcycle. He falls in love. Somehow they lose touch for a few months but they run into each other while he’s masquerading as a business owner. She’s in a stewardess uniform, mentally fit and in a new healthy relationship. She seems to have forgotten all about Ho Chi Moo.
[edit] Soundtrack
Featured in the "Fallen Angels" soundtrack is a version of "Forget Him" sung by Shirley Kwan, a reworking of the classic by Teresa Teng, and one of the very few 'contemporary' Cantopop songs ever used by Wong Kar Wai in his films. In the film, the song is used as a message from the hitman to his partner. One track played prominently throughout the film is "Because I'm Cool" by Nogabe "Robinson" Randriaharimalala. It samples Karmacoma by Massive Attack. The Laurie Anderson piece "Speak My Language" is used as well in a memorable masturbation scene.
The Flying Pickets version of "Only You" was used in the last scene of the Wong Kar-Wai film.[2]
[edit] Critical reception
In the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert gave Fallen Angels three stars out of a possible four:
"It's kind of exhausting and kind of exhilarating. It will appeal to the kinds of people you see in the Japanese animation section of the video store, with their sleeves cut off so you can see their tattoos. And to those who subscribe to more than three film magazines. And to members of garage bands. And to art students. It's not for your average moviegoers—unless of course, they want to see something new."[3]
Stephen Holden of the New York Times said:
"Fallen Angels is a densely packed suite of zany vignettes that have the autonomy of pop songs or stand-up comic riffs, all stitched together with repetitive shots of elevated trains, underground subway stations and teeming neon-lit streets. Although the story takes a tragic turn, the movie feels as weightless as the tinny pop music that keeps its restless midnight ramblers darting around the city like electronic toy figures in a gaming arcade."[4]
In the Village Voice, J. Hoberman wrote:
"The acme of neo-new-wavism, the ultimate in MTV alienation, the most visually voluptuous flick of the fin de siécle, a pyrotechnical wonder about mystery, solitude, and the irrational love of movies that pushes Wong's style to the brink of self-parody."[5]
[edit] Box office
The film made HK $7,476,025 during its Hong Kong run.
On January 21, 1998, the film began a limited North American theatrical run through Kino International, grossing US $13,804 in its opening weekend in one American theatre. The final North American theatrical gross was US $163,145.
In 2004, Australian distribution company Accent Film Entertainment released a remastered widescreen version of the film [1] enhanced for 16x9 screens.[2]
[edit] DVD
Kino International, which currently distributes the film on DVD, is planning a re-release of the film from a new high-definition transfer on November 11, 2008. Kino released the film on Blu-ray Disc in America in 2010.
[edit] Awards and nominations
- 1996 Hong Kong Film Awards
- Won: Best Supporting Actress (Karen Mok)
- Won: Best Cinematography (Christopher Doyle)
- Won: Best Original Score (Frankie Chan, Roel A. Garcia)
- Nominated: Best Picture
- Nominated: Best Director (Wong Kar-wai)
- Nominated: Best Art Direction (William Chang)
- Nominated: Best Costume and Make-up Design (William Chang)
- Nominated: Best Film Editing (William Chang, Wong Ming-lam)
- Nominated: Best New Performer (Lei Chen-mei)
- 1995 Golden Horse Film Festival
- Won: Best Original Song (William Chang)
- Won: Best Production Design (William Chang)
- 1996 Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards
- Won: Film of Merit
- 1996 Golden Bauhinia Awards
- Won: Best Supporting Actress (Karen Mok)
- Won: Best Cinematography (Christopher Doyle)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=fallenangels.htm Fallen Angels, Box Office Mojo, Retrieved 2011.07.22
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112913/soundtrack SoundTrack List
- ^ Roger Ebert (June 19, 1998). "Fallen Angels". Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19980619/REVIEWS/806190301/1023. Retrieved August 8, 2007.
- ^ Dargis, Manohla (February 7, 2005). "We're Sorry". The New York Times. http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?title1=&title2=FALLEN%20ANGELS%20%28MOVIE%29&reviewer=Stephen%20Holden&v_id=135838&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
- ^ J. Hoberman (August 7, 2007). "Redeeming Feature". Village Voice. http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0732,hoberman,77445,20.html. Retrieved August 8, 2007.
[edit] External links
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