Starring Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung. Written and directed by Wong
Kar-wai. (STC) 94 min. Cinematheque Ontario, AGO's Jackman Hall, 317
Dundas W.
Feb 25, 26 and Mar 1.
No one in a Wong Kar-wai movie should ever fall in love. Nothing
good ever comes from it, unless your idea of fun is suffering through
your lover's casual cruelties, taking despondent strolls around Kowloon
in the pouring rain, making excursions to other countries with the
futile hope of outrunning your troubles and, of course, smoking one
damn cigarette after another whilst in a languorous yet eminently
cinematic funk.
The lesson remains unlearned because the
scenario recurs again and again throughout the Hong Kong filmmaker's
work. It reached its first full expression in Days of Being Wild,
his second film, from 1991. Now reissued in a new print screening at
Cinematheque Ontario this week, it includes most of the stylistic and
thematic elements Wong would revisit and refine in the series of
ravishing movies he made in the '90s. It also shares its '60s setting
and certain characters with 2000's In the Mood for Love and 2046 (still awaiting release in North America), the three films forming a swoony triptych of love and loss.
Days of Being Wild is the loosest and freshest of the
trio. The late Leslie Cheung plays Yuddy, a suave cad who mistreats the
two women who fall for him and the buddy who idolizes him. Andy Lau
(whose
Inferanl Affairs co-star is also seen here) is the
sensitive young policeman who witnesses Yuddy's downfall during a trip
to Manila. As attractive as Yuddy's youthful impulsiveness may seem
(thanks in large part to Christopher Doyle's much-imitated
cinematography), Wong is more preoccupied with its destructive effects.
In his universe, there is no escape from love's torments. All you can
do is make sure you have a fresh pack of smokes handy.