Themes: Mothers and Sons, Looking For Love, Love Triangles
Main Cast: Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Andy Lau
Release Year: 1991
Country: HK
Run Time: 94 minutes
Plot
Following up on his debut As Tears Go By, master filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai directs this dark, brooding tale about identity and unrequited love. Set in 1960, the film center of the young, boyishly handsome Yuddy (Leslie Cheung), who learns from the drunken ex-prostitute who raised him that she is not his real mother. Hoping to hold onto him, she refuses to divulge the name of his real birth mother. The revelation shakes Yuddy to his very core, unleashing a cascade of conflicting emotions. Two women have the bad luck to fall for Yuddy. One is a quiet lass who works at a sport arena named Su Lizhen (Maggie Cheung), while the other is a glitzy showgirl named Mimi (Carina Lau). Perhaps due to his unresolved Oedipal issues, he passively lets the two compete for him, unable or unwilling to make a choice. As Lizhen slowly confides her frustration to a cop named Tide (Andy Lau), he falls for her. The same is true for Yuddy's friend Zeb (Jacky Cheung), who falls for Mimi. Later, Yuddy learns of his birth mother's whereabouts and heads out to the Philippines. This film won a armful of trophies at the Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Director, Best Actor for Leslie Cheung, and Best Picture. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
William Chang - Art Director, Wong Kar-Wai - Director, Patrick Tam - Editor, Alan Tang - Executive Producer, Christopher Doyle - Cinematographer, Rover Tang - Producer, Wong Kar-Wai - Screenwriter
The movie is set in Hong Kong and the Philippines in 1960. Yuddy, or 'York' in English (Leslie Cheung), is a playboy in Hong Kong and is well-known for stealing girls' hearts and breaking them. His first victim is Li Zhen (Maggie Cheung) who suffered emotional and mental depression as a result of Yuddy's wayward attitude. Li Zhen eventually seeks much-needed solace from a sympathetic policeman named Tide (Andy Lau). Their near-romance is often hinted at although never materialises.
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) who is York's best friend. Unsurprisingly, York dumps her too and begins a period of self-destruction. It later becomes evident that York's inability to commit and his instinct for romantic cruelty derives from conflicting feelings about his adoptive mother who is 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 In the Mood for Love belong to the same school of Hong Kong cinema.
Maggie Cheung - Su Li Zhen. She grew up in Macau. She is the ex-girlfriend of Yuddy.
Andy Lau - Tide, policeman 6117. He becomes a friend and confident of Su Li Zhen. Later, after the death of his mother, he becomes a sailor and went to the Philippines.
Carina Lau - Leung Fung-ying, Mimi/Lulu. She is the girlfriend of Yuddy.
Rebecca Pan - Rebecca, a former prostitute who raises Yuddy. Has a love and hate relationship with Yuddy because she refuses to reveal the identity of Yuddy's biological mother.
Jacky Cheung - Zeb, Yuddy's friend since childhood. Yuddy used to live above Zeb's family's garage as a kid. Zeb fancies Mimi/Lulu.
Danilo Antunes - Rebecca's lover, who only goes for her for her money.
Leslie Cheung performed the song 何去何從之阿飛正傳 loosely translated as 'Choice' or 'The True Story of Ah Fei' as the film's theme song and is also found in his album Beloved (寵愛).
梅豔芳 (Anita Mui) - 是這樣的 - the Cantonese cover of the theme song and is featured at the end of the film during the credits.
Box office
Days of Being Wild grossed HK $9,751,942 in its Hong Kong run, a number that would become typical for a Wong Kar Wai film. With the starry cast, this figure was considered a disappointment. Still, the film was successful enough to warrant a parody (Days of Being Dumb, which also featured Tony Leung), and now routinely tops Hong Kong critics' lists of the best local productions.
