Duo Luo Tian Shi

It is only my second film I've seen by director Wong Kar Wai, but again I'm totally in awe. This man's not only a director, but a painter and the screen is his canvas. My first film of him was 2046, which I loved, but Duo Luo Tian Shi (a.k.a. Fallen Angels) I like a bit more. The film is pure magic. I loved the characters. Especially the guy who decided not to speak again and the quirky blonde who's in love with the rain. Almost all of them get to be narrators, which gives the viewer a glimpse of their wonderful thoughts. This film seems like a dream, which probably all of Wong Kar Wai's films feel like. The visuals are amazing. I love the way he switches from colour to black and white, without having to give the switch a real meaning. Also the scenes where there's fighting or a shooting taking place are done magically by kind of turning it all into a slow-motion kind of blur. I also loved the scene where He Zhiwu talks about man and woman being like water or something like that, but the whole scene was in black and white, while blurred on the edges, making the images seem like water flowing. And the way he puts his actors in front of the camera, so close to the lens as if you could see right into their minds is pure bliss.

Final Verdict: *****

This film is very beautiful. The characters all have real feelings. The cinematography is tremendously cool. It adds so much to the story. It's just about real people searching for love and themselves in this big city. It's like a long wonderful dream. I found myself dreaming away a bit too while watching. I love when a film has that effect on me and makes me think in that way. You're thoughts just wander off, just like the movie. The movie itself seems like a bunch of beautfiful thoughts brought together into one story of different people. I can't wait to watch it again some time. Hopefully the experience then will be as wonderful as it has been this first time. It's really a great piece of cinema. I can't wait to watch even more films of this man. Wong Kar Wai's truly an inpiration. I feel he kind of sees the world the same way as I do. This film feels as if it could have actally been a thought of mine.