Do lok tin si / Fallen Angels (1995) - A Nocturnal Portrayal of the Confusing Ways of British Hong Kong's Underworld - 8/10 (15/10/24)

Fallen Angels, originally titled Do lok tin si, is a gangster drama from British Hong Kong and the fifth feature film released by renowned director Wong Kar-wai. This movie is sometimes described as a sequel to much more light-hearted comedy drama Chungking Express, originally known as Chung Hing sam lam. However, only a few locations in downtown Hong Kong are the same. The contents are generally unrelated and both movies can thus be enjoyed independently.

The story revolves around hitman Wong Chi-ming who lives in a chaotic apartment and has taken on a fake identity with a fake wife and a fake child. He starts a fragile relationship with a delusional young woman with eccentric behaviour named Blondie. He starts thinking about changing his life and wants to terminate his business relationship with his female partner who secretly has a crush on him. She is shocked to hear that he wants to change his career and sends him on a last dangerous mission.

This movie is Wong Kar-wai's strongest film up to this point in his career. The story comes around with multiple twists and turns, some evoking negative and others leading to positive reactions. The characters have much depth and go through profound changes such as the sad hitman and his disappointed partner. This personal drama is intertwined with violent action scenes portraying the rough jobs and lifestyles of the main characters. The entire film takes place at night which adds much atmosphere and shows how the characters live separately in the underworld from regular citizens living in a legal manner.

The only elements that keep this film from being excellent are a rather slow start that requests much patience from its audience and the fact that a few too many sub-stories and side characters are included in this film. Wong Kar-wai could have easily made three movies of about seventy-five minutes each out of this one single film of ninety-six minutes.

Thanks to its creative details, Fallen Angels deserves to be watched time and again and analyzed in depth if you favour melancholic gangster dramas. Wong Kar-wao remains faithful to his unique style but executes all elements with much creativity, drive and experience. Fallen Angels is the director's greatest film up to this point in his career and also serves as an excellent introduction to his fascinating filmography to potential new fans.