Days of Being Wild aka The True Story of Ah Fei (Chinese: 阿飛æ£å‚³; Hanyu Pinyin: Ä fÄ“i zhèng zhuà n) is a 1991 Hong Kong movie by director Wong Kar-wai.
Often touted as the breakthrough film of director Wong, the film featured some of the most well-known actors and actresses of the then-colony, including Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung and Andy Lau. Tony Leung Chiu Wai made a cameo role lasting several minutes in the last take of the movie which he credits as a turning point in his acting career. It also marks the first collaboration between Wong and cinematographer Christopher Doyle, who would go on to make eight films together (so far).
The movie forms the first part of an informal trilogy, together with In the Mood for Love (released in 2000) and 2046 (released in 2004).
The movie is set in Hong Kong and in the Philippines in 1960. Yuddy, or 'York' in English (Leslie Cheung), was a playboy in Hong Kong and was well-known for stealing girls' hearts and breaking them as is the usual theme for movies with a dashing and charismatic male lead. His first victim is Li Zhen (Maggie Cheung) who suffered emotional and mental depression as a result of Yuddy's wayward attitude eventually seeking much-needed solace from a goody two-shoes cop Tide (Andy Lau). Their near-romance was often hinted at although it never materialised.
York has forgotten his fling with the unassuming and shy Li Zhen and has set his attentions to a vivacious cabaret dancer played by Carina Lau who was also secretly loved by Zeb (Jacky Cheung). Unsurprisingly, York dumps her too and begins a period of self-destruction. It later becomes evident that York's inability to commit and instict for romantic cruelty derives from conflicting feelings about his adoptive mother, a former prostitute, played by Rebecca Pan, and his biological mother, a Filipino aristocrat.
Most sections of the film attempt to narrate how people react to rejection, although it was very vaguely depicted. This film was seen to be among the first of its genre popularised by Wong Kar-wai, it does not rely on a plot but more on the individual strengths of its many actors and actresses to narrate the story through their seemingly mundane day-to-day activities.
Days of Being Wild broke away from the light fare that typified Hong Kong cinema at the time by introducing thematic ambiguity and an arthouse aesthetic. Many other Hong Kong films such as Ashes of Time, Temptress Moon, and the best example of all In the Mood for Love belong to the same school of Hong Kong cinema. |
