Days of Being Wild

Days of Being Wild
Film poster for Days of Being Wild

Traditional	阿飛正傳
Simplified	阿飞正传
Mandarin	Āfēi Zhèngzhuàn
Cantonese	Aa^³ Fei^¹ zing^³zyun^⁶
Literally	True story of a hooligan
Directed by	Wong Kar-wai
Produced by	Alan Tang
Written by	Wong Kar-wai
Starring	Leslie Cheung Andy Lau Maggie Cheung Carina Lau Jacky Cheung
Music by	Terry Chan Leuribna-Lombardo Oflyne
Cinematography	Christopher Doyle
Edited by	Kai Kit-wai Patrick Tam
Distributed by	In-Gear Films
Release dates	15 December 1990 (1990-12-15)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Cantonese Shanghainese Mandarin Filipino English
Box office	US$146,310 (Worldwide)^[1]

Days of Being Wild is a 1990 Hong Kong drama film directed by Wong Kar-wai. The film stars some of the best-known actors and actresses in Hong Kong, including Leslie Cheung, Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Carina Lau, Jacky Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-wai. Days of Being Wild also marks the first collaboration between Wong and cinematographer Christopher Doyle, with whom he has since made six more films.^[2]^[3]

The movie forms the first part of an informal trilogy, together with In the Mood for Love (released in 2000) and 2046 (released in 2004).^[3]

Plot details

The movie is set in Hong Kong and the Philippines in 1960–61. Yuddy or 'York' in English (Leslie Cheung), is a playboy in Hong Kong and is well known for stealing girls' hearts and breaking them. His first lover in the film is Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung), who suffers emotional and mental depression as a result of Yuddy's wayward attitude. Li-zhen eventually seeks much-needed solace from a sympathetic policeman named Tide (Andy Lau). Their near-romance is often hinted at but never materializes.

York's next romance is with a vivacious cabaret dancer whose stage name is Mimi (Carina Lau). Mimi is also loved by York's best friend, Zeb (Jacky Cheung). Unsurprisingly, York dumps her too and she begins a period of self-destruction. York initiates romantic relationships but refuses to commit to the relationship and is unwilling to make compromises. He is conflicted about his feelings about his adoptive mother, a former prostitute played by Rebecca Pan, and is obsessed about his biological mother, who he eventually discovers is a Filipino aristocrat.

Analysis

Almost entirely ignored on its original release, the film has gathered strong critical interest over time, and has a Metacritic score of 96%.^[4] Critics praise the film for its beauty and eroticism, though some do not discern a narrative arc that brings the pieces together.

Cast and roles

Leslie Cheung as Yuddy (旭仔 Yūkjái)^[5]
Andy Lau as Tide (超仔 Chīujái), Policeman 6117, who becomes a friend and confidant of Su Li-zhen and later, after the death of his mother, he becomes a sailor and goes to the Philippines
Maggie Cheung as Su Lizhen (苏丽珍 Sōu Laih-jān), who grew up in Macau and is the ex-girlfriend of Yuddy
Carina Lau as Leung Fung-ying, Mimi/Lulu, the girlfriend of Yuddy
Rebecca Pan as Rebecca, a former prostitute who raises Yuddy, has a love-and-hate relationship with Yuddy, because she refuses to reveal the identity of Yuddy's biological mother
Jacky Cheung as Zeb (歪仔 Wāaijái), Yuddy's friend since childhood; Yuddy used to live above Zeb's family's garage as a kid; Zeb fancies Mimi/Lulu
Danilo Antunes as Rebecca's lover, who only goes for her money
Hung Mei-mei as the Amah
Ling Ling-hung as Nurse
Tita Muñoz as Yuddy's Mother
Alicia Alonzo as Housekeeper
Elena Lim So as Hotel Manageress
Maritoni Fernandez as Hotel Maid
Angela Ponos as Prostitute
Nonong Talbo as Train Conductor
Tony Leung Chiu-wai as Gambler

Music

Los Indios Tabajaras, "Always In My Heart"
Xavier Cugat
Leslie Cheung performed the song 何去何從之阿飛正傳 loosely translated as 'Choice' or 'The True Story of Ah Fei' as the film's theme song and is also found in his album Beloved (寵愛).
梅豔芳 (Anita Mui) – 是這樣的 – the Cantonese cover of the theme song and is featured at the end of the film during the credits.

Box office

Days of Being Wild grossed HK $9,751,942 in its Hong Kong run,^[6] a number that would become typical for a Wong Kar Wai film. With the starry cast, this figure was considered a disappointment. Still, the film was successful enough to warrant a parody (The Days of Being Dumb, which also featured Tony Leung), and now routinely tops Hong Kong critics' lists of the best local productions.

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations
Ceremony	Category	Recipient	Outcome
10th Hong Kong Film Awards	Best Film	Days of Being Wild	Won
	Best Director	Wong Kar-wai	Won
	Best Screenplay	Wong Kar-wai	Nominated
	Best Actor	Leslie Cheung	Won
	Best Actress	Carina Lau	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actress	Rebecca Pan	Nominated
	Best Cinematography	Christopher Doyle	Won
	Best Art Direction	William Chang	Won
	Best Film Editing	Patrick Tam	Nominated
37th Asia Pacific Film Festival	Best Actor	Leslie Cheung	Nominated
2nd Golden Bauhinia Awards	Best Hong Kong film of the last 10 years	Days of Being Wild	Won
24th Hong Kong Film Awards	Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures (#3)	Days of Being Wild	Won
24th Hong Kong Film Awards	Top 100 Favorite movies of Chinese Cinema (#2)	Days of Being Wild	Won
48th Golden Horse Awards	100 Greatest Chinese-Language Films (#4)	Days of Being Wild	Won

References

↑ "Days Of Being Wild". BoxOfficeMojo.com. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
↑ Kevin Crust (7 January 2005). "'Days of Being Wild'". Los Angeles Times.
1 2 "What cinema's movers and shakers say about Wong Kar-Wai I may never come back from Shanghai?". The Daily Telegraph. UK. 31 Dec 2004.
↑ "Days of Being Wild (re-release)".
↑ Brunette, Peter; Wong, Kar-wai (22 March 2005). "Wong Kar-wai". University of Illinois Press – via Google Books.
↑ "Days of being wild". Hong Kong Film Archive. Retrieved 11 March 2013.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Days of Being Wild

Wong Kar-wai

Filmography Awards and nominations

Feature films	As Tears Go By (1988) Days of Being Wild (1990) Chungking Express (1994) Ashes of Time (1994) Fallen Angels (1995) Happy Together (1997) In the Mood for Love (2000) 2046 (2004) My Blueberry Nights (2007) The Grandmaster (2013)

Short films and segments	Wkw/tk/1996@7'55"hk.net (1996) Hua Yang De Nian Hua (2000) The Follow (2001) "Six Days" (2002) "The Hand" in Eros (2004) "I Travelled 9000 km To Give It To You" in To Each His Own Cinema (2007) There's Only One Sun (2007)

Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film

Father and Son (1982)
Boat People (1983)
Ah Ying (1984)
Homecoming (1985)
Police Story (1986)
A Better Tomorrow (1987)
An Autumn's Tale (1988)
Rouge (1989)
Beyond the Sunset (1990)
Days of Being Wild (1991)
To Be Number One (1992)
Cageman (1993)
C'est la vie, mon chéri (1994)
Chungking Express (1995)
Summer Snow (1996)
Comrades: Almost a Love Story (1997)
Made in Hong Kong (1998)
Beast Cops (1999)
Ordinary Heroes (2000)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2001)
Shaolin Soccer (2002)
Infernal Affairs (2003)
Running on Karma (2004)
Kung Fu Hustle (2005)
Election (2006)
After This Our Exile (2007)
The Warlords (2008)
Ip Man (2009)
Bodyguards and Assassins (2010)
Gallants (2011)
A Simple Life (2012)
Cold War (2013)
The Grandmaster (2014)
The Golden Era (2015)
Ten Years (2016)

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