Day 56: Days Of Being Wild

“Once, a person pointed at his watch and said to me, that because of that minute, he'd always remember me. It was so charming listening to that. But now I look at my watch and tell myself that I have to forget this man starting this very minute.”

Days of Being Wild is similar to Wong Kar Wai’s other films in that the cinematography plays a unique role in the story. All the exterior shots seemed to be constructed with such nuance and delicacy. It’s films like this that make me view cinema as “art.” It’s impossible for me to see this story exist in any other medium. Literature would be inadequate in detailing the visual nuances and illustrations would fail to appropriately maneuver through the apparent psychological whirlwinds the characters seem to be captured in.
(It’s such inadequacies in both mediums that make graphic novels and comic books particularly unique. Graphic novels are the closest you’ll get to combining al three faithfully.)

It’s easy to say what Days of Being Wild is about. The common theme is clearly rejection and identity. I don’t to give too much away though, but it’s these two unifying themes, the performance of the actors, and the cinematography that help tell this story because the plot itself is pretty scant. Not much really happens as far as plots go. This is what intrigues me about Wong Kar Wai. His films take the smallest and routine of stories and propel them forward into unchartered waters. Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction does a similar feat. We’ve all heard of the stories of two debt collecting gangsters, the man who takes the boss’ daughter out, and the boxer that refuses to take a dive. These are all pretty common in stories which makes the execution of all these things that more prevalent. The same applies to Wong Kar Wai but instead of pulp fiction and crime, the stories are more melodramatic and emotional.

It may not seem like it, but Days of Being Wild is actually an ensemble piece, which is interesting. Unlike other ensemble pieces like Crash and 13 Conversations About One Thing, the story doesn’t constantly remind you that you’re watching an ensemble piece. It just happens to go off on rabbit trails without you notice, before coming back to the main character, York. It does this rather slickly. I’ve really been impressed so far by the films of Wong Kar Wai. There’s a style and rhythm to them that you probably can’t find anywhere else. The actors tell a lot of the storytelling for you. There’s not much interest in wordplay here. His screenplays are made to be shaped by direction. It’s in my belief that direction makes a movie especially great while a bad screenplay makes a movie especially bad. That’s clearly seen in all of his films. Days of Being Wild is one of his best scripts but what makes the film especially great is the direction which I think you should pay attention to. You won’t find anything like it anywhere else.

[ sidenote: for some reason, I’ve really taken an extreme liking to Chinese women since watching his films. I’ve never really had a particular affinity for Chinese women, but there’s something about them...I don’t know, it’s pretty sexy… *shrug*]