Days Of Being Wild Reviews

In the mood for Wong Kar Wei?

If you like Wong Kar Wai you will probably enjoy this film, but for me it wasn't in the same league as his later work. I started to watch this with a friend from Hong Kong and we gave up because of the dubbed mandarin. I returned to it later and enjoyed it, despite the loss of the actors original vocal performances. One for WKW completests. I suggest seeing 'In the mood for love first' to find out if you are in the mood for this directors other work, I'm a fan.

Not a jump on point for Wong Kar-Wai

This movie is presented poorly, the whole experience feels disjointed and bare. The orignial actors voices do not feature, the language is poorly dubbed, the quality is not much better than vhs and it is quite easy to tell that is Wong Kar-Wai's first feature. Before seeing this i would recommend Chunking Express, In The Mood For Love, 2046 and maybe fallen angles, in that order. I think you have to really be in love with Wong Kar-Wai to sit through this movie, you need to be ready to suspend judgement and be a stage seperated from the events on screen. Its merits are good acting (though only in physical presence as the voice acting is quite poor - due to the misplaced language track) good camerawork and a chance to see one of Maggie Cheung's earlier movies. Only a must if you want to see everything by Wong Kar-Wai

language issues

this tartan release is in mandarin. a bit anoying... no very anoying considering the original language should be cantonese. as such none of the actors voices are in this dub. of course this only matters if you can tell the difference.

other than that, the film is exellent, the dvd content is bare.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Fairly average

Solid film but not in the same league as In The Mood For Love or 2046, taking too long to really get going and as it explores similar themes to the two films mentioned, seeing them first undermined the quality of this film.

Badly dubbed mandarin release

Even from this first five minutes viewing this looks like a very special film. Unfortunately 5 minutes is all we could give it in this badly dubbed version.

The dubbing of the original Cantonese dialogue into Mandarin is not a problem in itself, if perhaps a little pointless in a European release. The dubbing, however, is of such poor quality it destroyed the film for us. The dubbing actors give wooden, disconnected performances, very noticeably out of sync with the visuals, and the voices sound as if they have been recorded in a cupboard. My wife and I both speak Cantonese, and my wife speaks Mandarin also, so we have some experience of seeing dubs into Mandarin. Our experience is that the quality of these dubs is variable - this one is well below par; our advice is to see if you can get a copy in Cantonese.

Window onto another world – loved it!

The dubbing debate as to the authentic language of the bewitching film is completely lost on me but once again, after ‘Chung Hing sam lam’, 'Fa yeung nin wa' and '2046,' I was completely enthralled by Wong Kar Wai and more convinced than ever that here is a master at work.

The mise-en-scène is Expressionism with a Chinese twist, lots of vertical panning and tracking shots packed with authentic details and rain-washed in lucky green-tea tones. There is a snug fit of pre-recorded music and the visual portraiture with the words on the screen expressing symbols and verbal images that really are a window onto another world.

Won Kar Wai’s women have become as defining a motif as those of Fellini. Here Maggie Cheung and Carina Lau carry the torch.

Sometimes life is mysterious, claustrophobic, dark, difficult to fathom and beautiful.

finally released on DVD

Wong kar-wais' first film is finally released on DVD--this is a great moody and bittersweet tale. cinematography is stunning and the ensemble cast is a joy to behold. if you wish to see 2046 this movie is a must.

Wong Kar Wai - the master does not disappoint...

An early film in Kar Wai's canon. Stunning cinematography from longtime collaborator, Christopher Doyle, exquisite evocation of 60's Hong Kong, subtle, striking acting and a satisfying storyline. See this and know that Wong Kar Wai started off great and only got better!

[Highly rated reviewer]

AVOID THIS DUBBED VERSION!!

Do not watch this version under any circumstances! Not only is it appallingly dubbed effectively destroying any of the nuances in the original performances, the soundtrack is also different, with some terrible decisions that completely change the feel of the film. I watched this not knowing that this wasn't the original version and spent the entire film gobsmacked by the naffness of so many of Kar-wei's decisions. I have since found a copy of the original, and it is a different film entirely - one example? The use of the APALLINGLY cheesy Kenny G track in the first scene, which makes the lead seem like some kind of Richard Gere wannabe early 90's throwback creep, thus ruining any kind of empathy we might feel for him.

It makes no difference that you might not speak the language as one reviewer has said - the crew that dubbed this are SO awful that you cannot help but notice the crudity of their perfs, even before you get to the fact that the subtlety and emotional truth of the main perfs IN THE ORIGINAL VERSION still carry in spite of the potential language barrier.

If you want some idea of how badly butchered this movie is, imagine one of your favourite films dubbed by ninth rate wannabe pornstars, re-scored by Rick Astley, with sound-effects knocked out in an afternoon in someone's kitchen...

Four stars for the film, MINUS FOUR FOR THIS VERSION!!!

OK

Nice shots, gained more of my attention towards the end, but a slow start.