On May 30, 1995, I finally fell in love for the first time.
On August 29, 1995, I ran into my first love again. But she seemed to have forgotten me. I guess I'd gotten too handsome.
Holy fucking airball—whoever said that Fallen Angels is peak cinema is absofuckinglutely right.
I honestly went in expecting to just like it for the visuals and the aesthetic like most people do. And yeah, it’s definitely beautiful in that way, but it ended up feeling like so much more than just “aesthetic cinema.”
At first, I didn’t even finish it. I watched it late at night, fell asleep like maybe 30 minutes in, and thought maybe it just wasn’t for me. But of course, I gave it another shot, and it literally fucking changed me in ways I did not expect.
I could make a 20 page essay and it still wouldn't do it any justice. The visuals are unreal and I feel like no words can really capture how immaculate the cinematography and overall artistry of Fallen Angels are.
What surprised me most is how empty it can feel without ever feeling empty. Every character is moving, talking, doing things, but emotionally, they’re always just slightly out of reach from each other. Like everyone’s life is running parallel but never actually intersecting in the way they want it to.
And Wong Kar-wai really nails that feeling of emotional distance. Not in a tragic, crying-on-the-floor way, but in this strangely normal, almost routine kind of sadness. People miss each other constantly in this film not just physically, but emotionally too.
But what sticks with me is how this film portrays and expresses each of the characters loneliness and how each of them longs and yearns for connection with the people around them.
And can we literally talk about Ho Chi-mo?? He literally needs a hug. His father literally died and the man just fell in love, only for Charlie to leave and ghost him for that Johnny. But then again, it's like what Ho Chi-mo said—the night's full of weirdos.
WONG KAR-WAI THE DIRECTOR THAT YOU ARE!