the director said

Clarabelle 2022-03-25 09:01:16

This is Wong Kar-wai's second film work.

On July 17, 1958, Wang Jiayi was in Shanghai. When he was five years old, he went to Hong Kong with his family and graduated from the Department of Fine Arts and Design of the Hong Kong Polytechnic Institute. In 1981, he was admitted to the first phase of TVB's director training course and began to work in film. His favorites are works by François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard and Antonioni, Martin Scorsese and others. In 1988, he officially directed films, "Mong Kok Carmen" (1988), "A Fei Zheng Zhuan" (1990), "Chongqing Forest" (1994), "Evil in the East" (1994), "Fallen Angels" (1995) , "Happy Birthday" (1997) and other 6 works show his peculiar artistic style and ability to control the language of film. In the film's narrative structure, picture composition, rhythm transformation and shooting techniques, he has formed a unique "Wong Kar-wai style" and has become an eye-catching Hong Kong film director.

Hong Kong in the 1950s and 1960s was an era of rebelliousness. The rise of popular culture during this period, the rebelliousness and turmoil of young people, and the enthusiasm or repressed emotions vented were enough to drive this generation crazy. "People who grew up in this era have more or less romantic memories and nostalgic feelings about that time." Most of the previous Hong Kong youth rebellious movies described popular love or violent fights. Young people who grew up in this era Director Wong Kar-wai tried to express the rebellious psychology of young people with his own film language.

"A Feifei" is a story about finding a biological mother in the 1960s. It does not conform to the commercial model like "Mong Kok Carmen", but insists on shooting things that he has learned. It is deviant and unique in terms of creativity and form. One of the most obvious features of "The True Story of Ah Fei" is that it only has characters without a complete story or plot. However, this "film experience established by an incomplete story" makes "A Fei Zheng Zhuan" reveal a perceptual atmosphere everywhere. Wong Kar-wai abandoned the traditional storyline and dared to innovate boldly in the structure and method, handling the film through the repetition of motifs, the development of themes, the confessions of multiple narrators, and the unity of tone, light and atmosphere.

"A Feifei Zhengzhuan" emotionally and accurately portrays the inner contradictions and emotional entanglements of the younger generation in Hong Kong. Through the central character of Xiaoxu, the relationship between him and two lovers and friends, as well as his biological mother and adoptive mother is shown. Xiaoxu is indifferent to everything, doing whatever he wants, his heart is empty, his feelings are decadent, and finally he can't extricate himself. Although he loves Jane, he doesn't cherish her; Mimi loves him, but he doesn't take Mimi to heart; he has a bad relationship with his adoptive mother, and insists on going to the Philippines to find his biological mother, but the biological mother does not recognize him... All these make him Trapped in a lonely, unbalanced situation. Wong Kar-wai is good at describing people on the fringes of society. They are cynical, self-abandoning, and have no clear purpose in life; their emotional world is closed and narrow, focusing on individuals and unable to communicate with others.

In Wong Kar-wai's works, we can see the repeated analysis of the leading motives of various plot elements, and the specific and definite time and space are used to express the theme. For example, at the beginning of "The True Story of Ah Fei", Xiaoxu went to Ah Zhen's food store to buy coke three times. Although the content was the same, the spatial structure and shooting techniques were different each time. At the same time, he visualized the time again, Xiaoxu said to Azhen: "A minute before 3 pm on April 16, 1960, you and I were together, and I will remember this minute. From From now on, we are friends for 1 minute." Jane was moved by his unusual words, so she fell in love with him. Later, Xiaoxu abandoned Azhen, and the sad Azhen vowed to "forget this person from this minute". The same concept of time, but the emotions expressed are completely different. In addition, he often uses some props, such as water, clock, mirror and other elements for metaphors and symbols. It was a rainy night when Xiaoxu met Mimi and brought her home; it was also a rainy night when Azhen, who had lost her love, met the kind-hearted police officer Liu; Ignoring it, the two quarreled in the torrential rain. Rain not only creates a certain atmosphere, but also symbolizes human emotions and desires.

In Wong Kar-wai's films, there are often close-ups of clocks and characters chattering about time and Arabic numerals. The self-talk of a large number of characters shows the isolation and loneliness of modern people. The focus on time is a reflection of the mentality of Hong Kong people in the late 20th century, "there is wine now and now it's drunk", implying that they only pour out their true love at this moment, and delusionally turn this moment into eternity. In terms of space, they are willing to choose specific places that are fluid, cannot stay for a long time, or are closed and easily invaded. Typical spaces such as stations, fast-food restaurants, bars, private residences, and telephone booths are actually the stages that urban young people are trying to escape from the complicated world, but they cannot get rid of them. On the other hand, these floating, but not long-lasting places symbolize rootless Hong Kong.

"A Feifei Zhengzhuan" is unique in the use of photography and color tones. The light in the main scene is not bright, and the tone is mainly blue and green, and the rhythm is relatively slow and static. A large number of zoom lenses and saturated and compact close-ups make the distance between the characters far and near, giving people a special feeling of "close at hand, but far away", which is obviously a metaphor for the alienation of interpersonal relationships. This tone is aimed at expressing the listless, careless and indifferent attitude of the characters, and it also reflects the social outlook and living conditions of Hong Kong at the end of the 20th century.

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Extended Reading
  • Isac 2022-03-28 09:01:08

    Many big names. . . Look who is there.

  • Rickey 2022-03-28 09:01:08

    20180629 Mainland public version viewing.

Days of Being Wild quotes

  • Su Lizhen: 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.

  • Yuddy: I've heard that there's a kind of bird without legs that can only fly and fly, and sleep in the wind when it is tired. The bird only lands once in its life... that's when it dies.