Fallen Angels (1995)
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95% of critics liked it
(19 reviews) -
85% of users liked it
(11,569 ratings)
Wong Kar-wai's Fallen Angels is a sequel of sorts to the director's 1994 U.S. breakthrough Chungking Express. Expanding on the latter's style, themes, and mood, Fallen Angels is set in the surreal milieu of urban, nighttime Hong Kong. As with the filmmaker's other features, plot… More Wong Kar-wai's Fallen Angels is a sequel of sorts to the director's 1994 U.S. breakthrough Chungking Express. Expanding on the latter's style, themes, and mood, Fallen Angels is set in the surreal milieu of urban, nighttime Hong Kong. As with the filmmaker's other features, plot takes a back seat to mood. The wisp of a narrative intercuts two story lines. The first follows a hitman (Leon Lai) who finds that the assassin's life has slowly lost its allure. Complicating his life is his beautiful contact (Michele Reis, a former Miss Hong Kong winner) who pines after him with fetishistic ardor, although the two have never met in their nearly three-year partnership. In another part of the city, He (Takeshi Kaneshiro), a mute, boyish ex-convict, makes a living by sneaking into and running businesses after hours. Still living with his father who runs the Chungking Mansions hotel, the restless Ho falls for Cherry (Charlie Yeung), a woman getting over her breakup with the offscreen Johnny. The movie follows these episodic romances almost half-heartedly as with Wong's other films, and digressionary moments attract much of the camera's distracted gaze. This visually stylish and unabashedly effusive work is considered by some critics to be the quintessential Wong film. ~ Elbert Ventura, Rovi
- Directed By
- Kar Wai Wong
- Written By
- Kar-Wai Wong
- Genres
- Drama, Art House & International, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Sep 6, 1995 Wide
- Studio
- Kino on Video
Critic Reviews
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Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
An exhilarating rush of a movie, with all manner of go-for-broke visual bravura that expresses perfectly the free spirits of [Wong's] bold young people.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
I felt transported back to the 1960s films of Jean-Luc Godard. I was watching a film that was not afraid of its audience.
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Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
Wong brings tremendous vigor and audacity to the effort, asking us to question the most basic rules of storytelling and commercial filmmaking.
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Stephen Holden, New York Times
A densely packed suite of zany vignettes that have the autonomy of pop songs or stand-up comic riffs.
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Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
The film is Wong's most visually striking, with Wong and Doyle constantly inventing intoxicating new angles for every shot.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Leon Lai
as Wong Chi-Ming
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Michelle Reis
as Agent/Killer's boss
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Takeshi Kaneshiro
as He Zhiwu
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Charlie Yeung
as Cherry
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Karen Mok
as Blondie
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Fai-hung Chan
as Man Forced to Eat Ice-Cream
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Chen Wan-lei
as He Zhiwu's Father
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To-hoi Kong
as Ah-Hoi
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Kwan Lee-Na
as Woman Pressed to Buy Vegetables
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Toru Saito
as Sato
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Wu Yuk-Ho
as Man Forced to Have His Clothes Washed


