Fallen Angels

“I will never forget how it tasted.” Some relationships are like fast food. Eat quickly and move on. There is no time left for conversation, people’s lives are merely canned goods. The world offers so many flavours that there is a natural need to try more and more new things. But what do we achieve by that? Emptiness and the recognition of how much the same thing can be seemingly different. The surface, which so fascinates Wong Kar-wai with all of its screens, neon colours and mirrors, is deceptive. It doesn’t reveal what is hidden within, nor do the inner monologues of the multiple narrators. We have to seek the truth between slow and long shots here, fast and short shots there. Between moments of silence and moments of deafening gunfire. With the film’s irregular rhythms and slapdash alternation of its objects of interest, Wong prevents us from watching Fallen Angels like any other relationship film working with a particular set of narrative conventions. Like the protagonists, the narrative is governed by its own rules, forcing us to be alert and find our own path to understanding the story. Like love, the beautiful thing about Wong’s film is that it cannot be entirely understood. Because of that endlessly elusive “something”, there is no point in hesitating to dig in. 80% (05/20/2016)