Fallen Angels

Originally conceived as the final thread of the beloved Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, the last film Wong Kar Wai shot in his native Hong Kong, had too much of its own life-force to relegate to a single chapter. Fallen Angels is the darkest of the Hong Kong films; it leads us, with characteristic wit and tenderness, into a seedier, more chaotic urban underbelly of lonely hitmen and petty criminals, just barely illuminated by the neon glow of after-hours dive bars in the waning days of British rule. The decadence of the political and personal instability of its time is perfectly embodied by the film’s refracted structure, neo-noir stylization, and soundtrack of pop delirium.