WKW's 2nd feature film. His signature style of directing began to take shape. An all-star cast. This supposedly was the 1st installment of the "In the Mood for Love" trilogy.

An impressively artistic drama flick with contrasting and interesting characters. The cinematography is stunning and the performances spot on. The music is fantastic, melting in with the story and visuals as if it was the original score. Edited and shot with greatest care throughout. The film's aesthetics are pushed to the max with its locations and shadowed sets as well as the costumes, the filters and the beautifully patient cinematography capturing frames that are often mesmerizing. Compelling and overlapping storylines add additional authenticity to the movie and bring it even more to life. Ending with a mysterious yet essentially very soothing scene that brings the movie to peace.

Do Hong Kong girls like bad boys? Maybe if that bad boy is Leslie Cheung, they do.

The look of the film says so much- darkened; dreary; little light let in, but so much slow burn simmering here. Nice work by Andy and Carina Lau in the Tide and Leung roles. So different than the other two main characters. But it's Maggie and Leslie Cheung in the lead roles of Su and Luddy who truly carry the best of the movie. Sweetness, caution, desire, worry, and betrayal are all conveyed so well by the performances, but it all starts with fine writing. The writing is from the skillful hands of director Wong Kar-Wai and Jeffrey Lau. The pining, disconnection, and emotional isolation are practically palpable. Such very human figures move through these almost vignette segments. Great early work by Wong Kar-Wai, with elements we would see later in the gorgeous "In the Mood For Love". And credit of course to cinematographer Christopher Doyle for giving us so much of the tone and visual expression of these cinematic figures, be they sad, lovelorn, ineffectual, distant but cool about it. 3.7 stars

Not sure where the filming locations actually are in his films but they are so dream-like. Once again he creates small stories about people's lives each branching from another's, creating a small group of individuals who are very relatable and understandable. The way everyone interacts is so emotional. It's hard to convey the feeling of letting someone go forever, but the actors and actresses do it so well. A truly heartbreaking film. Similar to In the Mood For Love, but on a much higher level. Would definitely watch again.

a visual dream with a dark romance story

Another one of Wong Kar-Wai's visually stunning films.

Atmospheric and non-linear, which makes it a typical Kar-wai film. Though the story is simple, Kar-wai manages to show some inner senses of the heroes, which contributes to the movie's body making it alive.

Must see for cinema fans, cinema history fans, knowledgeable moviegoers, jazz fans who can match the camerawork to the improvised change in melody. Oh yeah, good cast.

The second film of Kar-wai became his opportunity for the real breakthrough, delving deep into romance and making something much more personal, rather than clichà (C) Hong Kong crime film the late 80s. Days of Being Wild raise unmistakable Kar-wai's recurrent themes we will be seeing again and again as idiosyncratic core motif of his work: self-inflicted heartbreak, falling into love with the wrong person, romantic woe becoming masochistic. Days of Being Wild is the first example of Wong Kar-wai collaboration with an Australian photographer and cinematographer Christopher Doyle. Chris made an outstanding effort with wonderful camera work and his visual philosophy. After this joint work, he would keep working with Hong Kong director, in order to make Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, Ashes of Time, Happy Together, In the Mood for Love, and 2046. The Australian cinematographer is famous for many joint works with the acclaimed Chinese directors. As a Chinese language student in Taiwan, he has expressed particular fondness towards Chinese culture and expanded himself into filmmaking and photography later. With ample experience of living in different countries, traveling, comprising different culture notions and references, he became an essential contributor to the enigmatic style of Wong Kar-Wai's cinema. The arrival of Christopher Doyle to Kar-Wai's cinema caused a strong stylization of director's aesthetics. From Days of Being Wild, all the films are going to be based on the wild and exhilarating shots and angles of the camera, vivid colours and tremendous attention to the lights. Doyle proved to be a great master whose vision and skills meet Kar-Wai's sense of romance very well. It comes as no surprise that Doyle had won a lot of awards for his cinematography since he started working with Hong Kong director. Both of collaborators are important to each other, and it is hard to imagine best Kar-Wai's films without these wonderful camera tricks, lights and colours handled simultaneously in a sophisticated manner by Doyle. Days of Being Wild can be considered the first film of unmistakable Wong Kar-wai's aesthetic style as it is more concerned with the mood, rather than plot. The depression of Yuddy collides with the love of Su Lizhen and Mimi who get themselves into this trap of contagious depression they start sharing with Yuddy. Su Lizhen is somehow able to get over obsession for Yuddy, though she ignores love of a really decent man played by Tony Lau. At the same tame Mimi ends up with a horrible heartbreak leading her way to the Philippines to pursue Yuddy. The policeman who witnessed Yuddy's death is also not on a track for happiness. Everyone we see is depressed, and that's why Wong Kar-wai paints his story with these dim colours.

As much as it also has a twisty, and hazy plot as the other Wong Kar-wai's movies that I've seen so far, Days of Being Wild's narrative feels more controlled. Even the seemingly unfocused nature of its storyline can be justified this time, as its despicable protagonist, Yuddy, is a nihilistic character. The same goes with the tech aspect. The expressive beauty of this movie doesn't often stem from the hypnotic colors, and numbing lights like Chungking Express, or Fallen Angels, instead it comes from the demonstrative use of tight framing that also provided us with some astonishingly good-looking shots. Yuddy is an extremely obnoxious character that you can't emphasize with. That said, I didn't hate him, simply because I found the fact the woman who raised him refuses to reveal his real mother's name so agonizing. To top it all, Rebecca Pan, who played his adoptive mother, gave such a provocative performance that I couldn't help hate her character so much that I kinda rooted for Yuddy. The realistic method most scenes are shot with made me connect with every character on the screen, even if their actions may sometimes feel implausible. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to make me convinced one hundred percent. I found two central characters' feelings and doings far from being reasonable. As these two characters are seen very much from the outside, and lacking real depth, at least to justify their actions. The editing is pretty exquisite, and also indicative. However, it was quite messy and distracting near the end. It deprived me from being fully satisfied. Some scenes could have been so heartbreaking, but they ended up being jumbled and muddled up. On the other hand, the ending itself is quite devastating, and has all the movie's emotional impact. I think this movie features the best use of music among the other two Wong Kar-wai's movies that I've watched. Besides that it's so moving, it expresses Yuddy's emotions and feelings, nay his psyche. (8/10)

The first of this informal trilogy is also the last one I watched. The soul of Kar-Wai Wong's work is already in there, but not as polished as the next films. It's a blueprint for what will come, but even as blueprint, it is worth watching.

Being immortal is not tempting to those people who actually were struggling right at the moment, which lingers the rest life of their successors, whereas it is such a allure for the successors. Being wild, being grumpy, being heartless, being true, being real human being, being whatever but being passionate about true love.

Not as polished as Wong Kar-Wai's later work, but the spirit is there.

Tragic, touching and awe-inspiring, Wong Kar-Wai has a way of telling stories that is just pure magic and if you're a fan of the man, then this is the best place to start with 'Days of Being Wild' really showing obvious signs of his creative genius and his distinct use of stunning visuals, great music and interesting characters. It may not be quite as polished as some of his later work, but all the good stuff is still there.

Wong Kar-Wai's second film (before his international breakthrough Chungking Express, 1994) is another example of his style over substance technique. This glimpse at Hong Kong in 1962 is all greens and blues and greys, perhaps fitting for a nostalgic reverie, but somehow dark. And so is the subject matter, which transmutes Rebel Without a Cause (from which it gets it title a la the Hong Kongese translation) into a blur of insolent moves by twentysomethings who do or do not want to care. But it is hard to get inside these characters (played by emerging stars Leslie Cheung, Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Carina Lau) whose motivations seem to be only grand gestures or reactions to those of others. This strategy comes together much better in the next film in the putative trilogy, In the Mood for Love (2000), starring Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung, the latter of which appears mysteriously in a code to the earlier film (apparently with the rest of his role left on the cutting room floor). This is one to check for a mood induction of the blue kind.

A slow-but-steady, highly acclaimed work which really comes together during the last half hour.

Days of Being Wild delivers as expected: a highly aesthetic and enjoyable film. You can feel the humidity of melancholy summer nights and sense the fatalistic but untragic vibe the characters give off. This is quintessential HK cinema and easy to recommend.

Wong Kar Wai's second feature is a moody piece imbued with hypnotic rhythm, eroticism and beauty. It's a tale of different people struggling with the pain of one way love and the longing for intimacy, and a film that sees an auteur finding his groove.

Another time, another place, another emotionally charged universe. The main character manipulates his surroundings to an insane level, in a time and place far from our own. A very captivating novel-like approach. Slow, and steady, yet at times intense.