Days of Being Wild

Z and I recently watched "Days of Being Wild" by Wong Kar Wai. Wong Kar-Wai's feature is a brilliant dream of Hong Kong life in 1960. The film evolves around the life of a young, boyishly handsome Yuddy (Leslie Cheung), who drifts through a series of casual friendships and uncommitted affairs, unconsciously pining for a relationship with his mother, who has started a new life in Manila. He finally takes off for the Philippines, where he sets himself up for the ultimate fall. The terrific, all-star cast enacts this as a series of emotionally unresolved encounters; the creative and beautiful camera work and design work takes its hallucinatory tone from the protagonist's own uncertainties. 

I was particularly fascinated with the 1960's fashion itself--the use of muted floral, plaids, and tropical prints (often mixed together) to depict the Hong Kong summer of hot humidity, sudden unpredictable down pours, and low breeze. I wanted to raid the wardrobes of all the women in the film! I know if it were me living in a hot humid place, my make-up would be smeared and running all over the place, but here these ladies are looking composed and cool. 

One of my favorite lines from the movie is from Yuddy who says:

“I’ve heard that there’s a kind of bird without legs that can only fly and fly,

and sleep in the wind when it is tired.

The bird only lands once in its life.  That’s when it dies.”

I would definitely recommend checking this movie and Wong Kar Wai's other movies out.