If you're not familiar with Wong Kar-Wai's work (Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love), it can be somewhat difficult to describe his unique style, which is to say, extraordinary. He has an artistic flair seldom seen by modern directors, adhering to the philosophy that cinema is art above all else. Hence his movies tend to be visually striking, beautiful and provocative, invoking emotions more through visual images rather than the sometimes sparse stories and characters that occupy his films. Seen as somewhat of a sequel or companion piece to his critically acclaimed Chungking Express, Fallen Angels touches upon similar themes of the unrelenting longing for something; love, partnership, meaning, anything. The characters feel empty and lonely, almost as if they were observing their own lives from the outside with the rest of us.
There is a hit-man and his partner that he's never met, a woman that sets up jobs for him. She knows details about him by going through the trash he leaves behind in the safe house, what he drinks, what cigarettes he smokes, what bar he drinks at. She's in love with him, yet they've never even met. There is a second intertwining story involving a man who hasn't spoken since childhood after eating a can of expired pineapples (a reference to Chungking Express). He does odd jobs for money, namely opening stores that have been closed and getting people to do business with him in a series of hilarious scenes forcing unwilling customers to buy things from him. Then he meets an emotionally unbalanced woman where they go on a series of adventures together. The plot is rather sparse, sometimes it feels like nothing is happening, yet it feels like so much is happing at the same time.
The most intriguing part of Fallen Angels isn't the plot, even if it is compelling, at times hilarious, other times provokingly sad, but rather the medium in which Wong tells his story. He pulls no stops, using a wide array of angles, shots, cuts, and other techniques including slow motion, fast motion, stop motion, reflections, black and white, neon colors, et al. in a jarring display of visual mastery. I was somewhat reminded of Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless in this regard. It really is a fantastic looking movie with interesting shots galore.
Musically, Fallen Angels infuses a wide variety of influences including a bass pounding smooth rap song that plays every time the hit-man goes to do a job and a depressing Cantopop song he uses to send a message rather than meet face to face with his partner.
While it's been many years since I've last seen Chungking Express, I can safely say that Fallen Angels is equally deserving of the former's praise in its sheer artistry and light hearted yet moving story.
Grade: A
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