DesertTalkies Film Reviews!

  A Light Never Goes Out [2022] Starring: Sylvia Chang, Cecilia Choi, Henick Chou Direction by Anastasia Tsang Language: Cantonese  I was not expecting this movie to be as profoundly moving and beautiful as it was. My local cinema has delivered again and is now screening a selection of movies from Hong Kong. Went on the opening night at the 10.45 show (I'm never too tired for a good movie), and even though I got a free tote bag, the movie was the highlight of the experience.  It's difficult to fully describe this movie, but what I thought was very interesting about this was the pace. It's an expectation: any movie that revolves around a death will be slow, almost mundane unless there's some spectacular plot twist or some brilliant performance. But the storyline of this movie was accompanied with short scenes of the city of Hong Kong. The death of the protagonist's husband was almost like the death of the old, neon-sign dense city of the 20th century. I did think thi...

  Fallen Angels [1995] Starring: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Michelle Reis, Leon Lai, Charlie Yeung Direction by Wong Kar-wai Language: Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese  I managed to avoid revision for my upcoming exams for one last time to see Fallen Angels in the cinema! This movie was nothing like what I was expecting: just the name Fallen Angels seems like a movie with a primary focus on love: it is a Wong Kar-Wai movie after all! Although there was a love plot in the movie, it wasn't the main focus, which was interesting to see.  If anything, Wong Kar-wai movies are known for their romance, and this movie presented love in a very different manner: it explored isolation, and the loss of love. It was quite interesting to see: love was exhibited in a way that was not just romantic and sexual; it was layered like many of his other movies are. It explored the idea of platonic love and love through what could be described as friendship. It explored the idea of familial love. It was a ...

  Days of Being Wild [1990] Starring: Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Andy Lau, Carina Lau Direction by Wong Kar-wai Language: Cantonese, Mandarin I was very lucky to find that in my city, a local independent cinema was having a Wong Kar-wai retrospective, where they were showing Wong Kar-wai's most influential movies in a bid to increase tourism to Hong Kong. I had originally wanted to watch 'In the Mood For Love' on the big screen, yet it sold out almost instantly. In response, I watched this instead, and I am so glad that I did.  If the movie does anything well, it is character development that excels. Although the movie was quite short, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of symbolism Kar-wai was able to pack into it. All of the characters felt very fleshed out, but not the the point where their storylines became repetitive, as is the case with may Western movies. Kar-wai's craft, in my opinion, is giving the audiences small hints throughout his movies, meaning t...

In The Mood For Love [2000] Starring: Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Ping Lam Siu, Rebecca Pan Direction by Wong Kar-wai Language: Mandarin, Cantonese  The vibrance and elegance of Hong Kong in the 1960s comes to full view in this stunning movie. I was born in Hong Kong, so I've always been interested in understanding more about the place I lived for the first few years of my life. I have often heard my parents talk about 'In the Mood for Love' and how it was one of the standout movies they can recall seeing. And whilst I don't have as strong an infatuation with this movie as my parents do, I can say that this was pretty impressive. The main accomplishment of this movie was the narrative: the film was a selection of artistic scenes, stitched together in a sometimes painstakingly slow yet intensely moving way. If you know me, you will know that I tend to loathe movies that do not have a clear plot: a story that is, for the most part, easily digestible. However, it w...