Sort of Wild
Been delving back into Wong Kar-Wai's older work of late. Liked this one better than 'Fallen Angels', being more along the lines of a sentimental bittersweet love story and character study like '2046' or 'In the Mood for Love', but it still falls a bit short of the mark. The story was a bit confusing, especially near the end (which character were we watching get all 'duded up' at the end? the cop? the main lead? what happened to getting shot and knived?), but the relationships and romantic dynamics felt fairly true, especially with regard to how love, infatuation and obsession never seem to quite sync up and be wholly reciprocated -- girls always seem to fall for the cad, and nice guys seem to always finish last. Maggie Cheung is incredibly photogenic as usual, and gives an affecting performance as a sad mouse of a girl, who eventually grows a little backbone and gets over the smooth talking lothario Leslie Cheung, who for all his 'cool reserve', never quite gets over her. There are plenty of beautiful compositions and camera angles, and outstanding music choices, and scenes that will stick in your memory, but there are just as many odd cuts, and pointless scenes that go on forever.