Lost souls reach out for human connection in WKW’s hallucinatory, neon-soaked nocturne. Originally conceived as a segment of Chungking Express, Fallen Angels plays like the dark, moody flip side of its iconic predecessor as it charts the subtly interlacing fates of a handful of urban loners, including a coolly detached hit man (Leon Lai) looking to go straight; his business partner (Michelle Reis), who secretly yearns for him; and a mute delinquent (Takeshi Kaneshiro) who wreaks mischief by night. Swinging between hard-boiled noir and slapstick lunacy with giddy abandon, the film is both a dizzying, dazzling city symphony and a poignant meditation on love, loss, and longing in a metropolis that never sleeps.  

Notes by David O’Mahony

Screening as part of The World of Wong Kar Wai season.