- Actors: Leon Lai, Michelle Reis, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Charlie Yeung, Karen Mok
- Directors: Wong Kar-Wai
- Format: Closed-captioned, Colour, DVD-Video, Original recording remastered, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
- Language Cantonese Chinese
- Subtitles: English
- Region: Region 1 (US and Canada DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: Unrated (US MPAA rating. See details.)
- Studio: Kino Video
- DVD Release Date: 19 Oct 2004
- Run Time: 102 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B0002X7GY8
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 144,310 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
Fallen Angels was originally planned as one section of director Wong Kar-Wai's best-known film, Chungking Express, but eventually it grew into its own distinct and delirious shape. In many ways, it may be the better film, a dark, frantic fun-house ride through Hong Kong's night-time world. Part of the film is a love story between two people who have barely met: a young, ultra-hip hit man (Leon Lai) and the dreamy operative (Michele Reis) who plans his jobs. Much of the movie is given over to a very strange subplot about a manic mute (Takeshi Kaneshiro) who goes on bizarre nocturnal prowls through a closed food market--like almost everything else in Wong's films, this is antic, stylish and oddly touching, all at the same time. It must be said that, also like Wong's other work, Fallen Angels is fragmented and oblique to the point of occasional incomprehensibility, but then suddenly something wild or wonderful happens, such as the moment when the killer leaves the scene of a spectacular shooting and is promptly waylaid by a cheerful old school chum on a public bus. These coups--whether lyrical, violent or simply "how on earth did they get that shot?"--are tossed off by Wong and cinematographer Christopher Doyle with all the cool of the hired killer, as though the movie were a cigarette dangling from a pair of oh-so-casual lips. This is exactly why so many otherwise calm critics fell all over themselves in hailing Wong Kar-Wai as one of the most exciting filmmakers of his generation. --Robert Horton, Amazon.com
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
As part of Wong Kar Wai's auteristic ouvre, Fallen Angels is one of the finest examples of the New Hong Kong New Wave cinematic genre. This film encompasses Wai's (with the help of cinematographer Chris Doyle) artistic talents, as well as his comedic and heart wrenching writing abilities. Telling the conjoined tales of a hitman and his female agent, as well as Takeshi Kaneshiro in a superb role as a mute, unemployed twenty-something, who forces his services upon members of the public (not in a rude way), Fallen Angels represents the fears of alienation upon the transfer of Hong Kong from British to Chinese rule in a moving way, regardless of the country you come from.
All I can say is, this film is an essential watch, whether you enjoy action comedy films, artistic films, asian cinema or you just want to try something different. Give it a go and you won't be disappointed.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Fallen Angels could have been so named due to its dropped origin as part of director Wong Kar Wai's previous film Chunking Express, emerging afterwards as a follow up. To hear the critics tell it, `Express' is his masterpiece, regularly making the `best movies ever made' lists along side such exalted company as your Citizens Kane's and Casablanca's. But for me Fallen Angels is, to date, the daddy of the Wong Kar Wai canon.
Fallen Angel tells of a not quite burnt-out hit man, Leon, who begins to tire of the whole `gun for hire' malarkey and decides to quit on account of his burgeoning feelings for the female operative who he has never met, but who plans his jobs for him. The female operative, Michelle, also emotes for our existential assassin but somehow they both realise that if they ever did come face to face the fantasy would evaporate. The unrequited love thing is Kar Wai's forte but here it is more a case of "As long as you don't look at it, it won't disappear." So their love continues on the basis of ensuring that it never really exists. Anxious to avoid an inevitable unprofessional encounter, our navel gazing killer goes off on an adventure into the Kowloon night where he crosses paths with a series of likable reprobates before embarking on that fatal "one last job."
This takes us not so neatly into a `mad as a hatter' subplot about a petty criminal who was rendered mute as a boy by a can of `out of date' pineapples. He goes out at night and gets up to a range of activities such as massaging a dead pig and kidnapping a family and forcing them to eat ice cream. He to falls in love, with a girl who believes she has been beaten to the altar by someone called Blondie. He helps her go in search of the usurper of her affections resulting in a hilarious beating up of a blow up doll!
Cinematographer and Kar Wai regular Christopher Doyle engages a warped and gaudy neon look throughout; something of a trade mark in Kar Wai films. This is the world from inside a Wurlitzer juke box - or, at least, through the eyes of a tranquilised goldfish and this, incidentally, is not a complaint. The other thing I like about this film is that it walks the line between the art house `heart warmers' of the best of European cinema and the `Glock Opera' pyrotechnics of John Woo and Ringo Lam.
Genre clash - it's the future.
Adrian Stranik
Fallen Angel tells of a not quite burnt-out hit man, Leon, who begins to tire of the whole `gun for hire' malarkey and decides to quit on account of his burgeoning feelings for the female operative who he has never met, but who plans his jobs for him. The female operative, Michelle, also emotes for our existential assassin but somehow they both realise that if they ever did come face to face the fantasy would evaporate. The unrequited love thing is Kar Wai's forte but here it is more a case of "As long as you don't look at it, it won't disappear." So their love continues on the basis of ensuring that it never really exists. Anxious to avoid an inevitable unprofessional encounter, our navel gazing killer goes off on an adventure into the Kowloon night where he crosses paths with a series of likable reprobates before embarking on that fatal "one last job."
This takes us not so neatly into a `mad as a hatter' subplot about a petty criminal who was rendered mute as a boy by a can of `out of date' pineapples. He goes out at night and gets up to a range of activities such as massaging a dead pig and kidnapping a family and forcing them to eat ice cream. He to falls in love, with a girl who believes she has been beaten to the altar by someone called Blondie. He helps her go in search of the usurper of her affections resulting in a hilarious beating up of a blow up doll!
Cinematographer and Kar Wai regular Christopher Doyle engages a warped and gaudy neon look throughout; something of a trade mark in Kar Wai films. This is the world from inside a Wurlitzer juke box - or, at least, through the eyes of a tranquilised goldfish and this, incidentally, is not a complaint. The other thing I like about this film is that it walks the line between the art house `heart warmers' of the best of European cinema and the `Glock Opera' pyrotechnics of John Woo and Ringo Lam.
Genre clash - it's the future.
Adrian Stranik
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
"Fallen Angels", directed by Wong Kar Wai, is the kind of film you cannot explain, but must see. Why? Because it manages to transmit the feelings of isolation, love, hope and despair of its main characters, characters that are not like you or me, but that feel the same things we sometimes feel.
This film is driven by inner monologue, that is, you can hear what the characters think. Due to that, you are able to watch their actions but also to hear their thoughts. It is interesting, but also heartbreaking at times. In a sense, "Fallen Angels" could be accurately displayed as a sequel to "Chungking Express", because it is also about people, their stories, and specially their longing for something they don't have but hope for.
One of the main characters is a hitman, Wong Chi-Ming (Leon Lai), who has a beautiful partner (Michele Reis) that coordinates his hits. Wong Chi-Ming knows why he became a killer, a reason that is strange but that makes sense to him: "The best thing about my profession is that there's no need to make any decision. Who's to die... when... where... it's all been planned by others. I'm a lazy person. I like people to arrange things for me". Despite that, he is thinking of leaving his job and becoming a "normal" person, something his partner doesn't like at all.
The other main character is He Zhiwu (Takeshi Kaneshiro), a young mute that lost his voice after eating a tin of expired pineapple. He Zhiwu has a weird hobby: to break into stores at night and pretend to run them, forcing customers to buy things. He also happens to fall in love with a very strange lady, and says to himself "They say that love can change a man. I start to find myself looking better and more charming, and suddenly I discover that I'm turning blonde".
"Fallen Angels" is, again, a strange but magical film. I've tried to explain it, but I know I cannot do that well enough. It is up to you to draw your own conclusions. In my opinion, though, this is a film to be recommended.
This film is driven by inner monologue, that is, you can hear what the characters think. Due to that, you are able to watch their actions but also to hear their thoughts. It is interesting, but also heartbreaking at times. In a sense, "Fallen Angels" could be accurately displayed as a sequel to "Chungking Express", because it is also about people, their stories, and specially their longing for something they don't have but hope for.
One of the main characters is a hitman, Wong Chi-Ming (Leon Lai), who has a beautiful partner (Michele Reis) that coordinates his hits. Wong Chi-Ming knows why he became a killer, a reason that is strange but that makes sense to him: "The best thing about my profession is that there's no need to make any decision. Who's to die... when... where... it's all been planned by others. I'm a lazy person. I like people to arrange things for me". Despite that, he is thinking of leaving his job and becoming a "normal" person, something his partner doesn't like at all.
The other main character is He Zhiwu (Takeshi Kaneshiro), a young mute that lost his voice after eating a tin of expired pineapple. He Zhiwu has a weird hobby: to break into stores at night and pretend to run them, forcing customers to buy things. He also happens to fall in love with a very strange lady, and says to himself "They say that love can change a man. I start to find myself looking better and more charming, and suddenly I discover that I'm turning blonde".
"Fallen Angels" is, again, a strange but magical film. I've tried to explain it, but I know I cannot do that well enough. It is up to you to draw your own conclusions. In my opinion, though, this is a film to be recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Stunning US Blu-Ray
For me this is second tier Wong Kar Wai, which means it's merely brilliant as opposed to the absolute perfection of Happy Together, In the Mood for Love and Chungking Express. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Now Zoltan
No real storyline
This is similar to Chungking Express and is the unofficial sequel, I think it was supposed to be one film but was eventually swapped for darker themes Chungking Express [1995]... Read more
Published 24 months ago by Paul M
Hong Kong New Wave at it's finest
As part of Wong Kar Wai's auteristic ouvre, Fallen Angels is one of the finest examples of the New Hong Kong New Wave cinematic genre. Read more
Published on 19 Oct 2005 by AnEvilVet
Good stuff...
Its been a long time since I watched this film (4yrs?) but im seriously considering buying the dvd. Its a fairly dark, druggy gangster/hitman film with lots of fine chinese chicks,... Read more
Published on 28 Sep 2004
mesmerizing
"We all need a partner, when will I find mine ?" seems to be a theme running through all of Wong Kar-Wai's films, as well as his other ingredients: Mind-bending speed, innovative,... Read more
Published on 26 Oct 2002 by Alejandra Vernon
beautiful cinematography, very cool characters
my favourite film ever. the music, characters, clothes and sets are very cool. the story is quirky, the plot is character driven. a world you want to live in. Read more
Published on 28 May 2001
Fallen Angels
Wow, this has to be my fav Wong Kai Wai film this is a great story, its realy cool. Takeshi Kenshiro is brilliant the whole feel of the movie is like nothing you could get from a... Read more
Published on 3 April 2001
A film deeply associated with the word "art"
I have seen the movie twice, and I believe the images, sounds and feelings will never leave my mind. Read more
Published on 23 Mar 2001
A stunning film
This is an absolutely brilliant film, it really must be seen to appreciate its depth and variety. From trippy night time tunnel sequences to the tarentinoesq slow motion gunfights... Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2000
Deep and beautiful :)
I loved this film! I recommend this to anyone who loves a good foreign comedy! Really deep! The best bit is when scene with the Ice Cream Truck! You have to see it for yourself!
Published on 25 Aug 2000
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