Days Of Being Wild

Chris Doyle's wonderfully stylized visuals and Wong's spontaneous approach to film-making are a perfect match in this story of self-absorbed fatalism (the title is a translation of the Chinese title for Nicholas Ray's Rebel Without A Cause) set in Hong Kong in 1961 which gives an opportunity for some gorgeous costume and art design as well asdleightful music.

The film stars Hong Kong pop idol Leslie Cheung (who committed suicide in 2003)  with Maggie Cheung and Carina Lau as two women who dote on him. The rather fragmented latter part of the film, which appears largely extraneous to the main subject and seems to be inserted just to throw audiences an ill-conceived curve ball, was intended to be part of a sequel that never eventuated (the Tony Leung character was supposed to be the main character thereof). It's a pity really for had the material been left out the film would have stood alone as one of Wong's best works.

 

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