Days of Being Wild （阿飞正传） is my third Wong Kar-Wai film and like many other Wong’s other works, the film at its first viewing was rather confusing. Forget the first viewing, the first few minutes were already a puzzle on its own. It is definitively not your usual Hollywood or Hong Kong cinema where the story presents itself. In WKW’s films, I guess the director requires the audiences have to decipher and attach a meaning to his films.
Days of Being Wild marks the start of an informal trilogy alongside In the Mood for Love（花样年华） and 2046. This trilogy, however, has featured various actors and actresses in each part with only Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) and Su Li-Zhen (Maggie Cheung though her character appears only for a short while in 2046) recurring in these three films.
TIME, TIME AND TIME
It seems that Wong has a strong nostalgic sentiment as seen by his decision to feature the time concept in his films (1994 Chungking Express （重庆森林）and 2046).
Perhaps to mark the beginning of this informal trilogy, time is likewise portrayed to be passing by subtly and unnoticed, a pattern we later see in ITMFL. There is a lack of significant narrative and the fairly slow pace of the film forces viewers to be patient and demanding for more action (in fact silence is used to push the story forwards). We constantly see clocks or watches in the film as though it is reminding us that time is ticking away while we enjoy (or waste) our youth away. In some scenes you can hear the ticking noises of a clock too.
The movie begins with womanizer and charismatic Ah Fei/Yuddy (Leslie Cheung) purchasing and flirting with a convenience shop lady Su Li-Zhen (Maggie Cheung) whom we later know turns out to be another of Yuddy’s play toy. What started as a daily “one-minute” interaction soon doubled to two minutes and ultimately, an “hour-long” friend.
Yuddy spends his day without meaning; It is nothing more than a cycle of tricking and breaking ladies’ heart. Raised by his adoptive toxic mom and prostitute Mrs Suen (played by Rebecca Pan), Yuddy yearns to seek the whereabouts of his birth mother. But, his impulsive and temperamental personality eventually got him killed in the Philippines when he crossed, presumably, a local triad member there. Yuddy’s murder fits the English title “Days of Being Wild” well and also the common knowledge of how time slowly slips away when we are wasting our lives away.
十六號，四月十六號。一九六零年四月十六號下午三點之前的一分鐘你和我在一起，因為你我會記住這一分鐘. 16 April 1960, 2.59 PM you and I were together and because of you, I will always remember this minute
旭仔 /Yuddy
The motif of time was significantly reiterated in the scene when Andy Lau’s character Tide told Li-Zhen to forget about Yuddy from this minute onward. At that moment, the brassy sound of a grandfather’s clock was heard and the doors closed to reveal a clock face. Something as trivial as a minute is nothing to the cop but it meant everything to Li-Zhen. Similarly, time is nothing to Yuddy yet Li-Zhen is someone wise enough to learn to move on. This may be precisely what Wong is trying to convey. Time means different things to each person and it may just be impossible to be with someone who does not share the same “time-view” as you.
LOVE IS IN THE AIR, JUST NOT MATERIALISED
Almost all the characters are infatuated with someone else in this show with the exception of Yuddy who seems unwilling to be romantically involved with either Li-Zhen or his later romance Mimi, a sensual dancer-singer (Carina Lau). Wong invites us to compare and contrast the attitudes towards love the ladies have. While the former is able to move on with this breakup (that is if a real relationship was ever formed) and get on with life, Mimi is the persistent one who kept throwing herself at him, questioning him on his past and even tracking him down in Philippines. Then again, logically speaking and also as a means of understanding Yuddy from his shoes, how can he love when he received none from his birth mom and Mrs Suen?
While love is in the air, no romance is fulfilled in this Wong Kar-Wai’s picture. Our female leads do not end up with Yuddy and neither did the shy and sympathetic cop who graciously extends his listening ear and assistance to the heart-broken Li-Zhen. Jacky Cheung’s character Zeb, a childhood friend of Yuddy, expresses his affection for Mimi and sadly albeit unexpectedly, it is an unrequited love.
Perhaps such is the nature of life and exactly Wong’s intentions. Life is not as rosy as depicted in Hollywood movies and certainly not the case for love life. In actual fact, the movie is heavily saturated with hues of green, a colour that ironically gives off a calming effect represents not just youthfulness but also envy.
UNSAID WORDS, BURST OF EMOTIONS
To say that Yuddy’s life is depressing is an understatement. Towards the ending of the film, even his murder is de-dramatised. We witnessed how the gun shots are overshadowed by the train sounds, creating an impression that his murder is not of grave significance. There is a sudden straight cut where we see a fortunate Mrs Suen who receives $50 monthly in exchange for raising Yuddy. These two scenes contrast greatly in terms of life and death. The juxtaposition emphasises the depressing impression that Yuddy’s life is after all sad and lifeless. Yuddy desires to see his birth mother, who later refuses to acknowledge him, but we also observed how his life is nothing more than a source of income to Mrs Suen.
In the final scene, we see a young Chow Mo-Wan (Tony Leung) in baggy and loose-fitting suit combing his slicked gelled hair in a cramped one-room apartment as he prepares to go out at night. There seems to be no relation between this and the main story and we can only formulate theories for this inclusion into the movie. From the way I see it, Mo-Wan is simply another illustration of a youth in his wild days (hence the title Days of Being Wild). Stretching this thought a little further, this could be the younger days of our Mo-Wan before he decided to settle down with his wife in ITMFL. Nonetheless, this is highly not plausible on grounds of realism as the second movie is also set in 1960s Hong Kong.
Having watched some of the cast’s works, I have to admit that they truly are versatile actors and actresses who played their characters well. Not forgetting Jacky Cheung and Andy Lau themselves who are talented singers in the Chinese Pop industry. Would be splendid if there was scenes between Carina Lau and to-be husband in real life Tony Leung in DOBW though we later see few moments of them in 2046. Then again, out of professional reasons I doubt Tony Leung is interested in acting alongside his wife.
Days of Being Wild is a story that easily appeals to those who have experienced disappointing and failed relationships and obstacles in reaching desires but have successfully done so. Be it a stand-alone film or a prequel to In the Mood for Love, this 1990 film proves to be another masterpiece of Wong.
Not related but I personally enjoyed this ending track a lot. it’d be great if Anita ever worked with WKW.
Cinematic Frame of Mind 