Fallen Angels

Question 1

Wong Kar-Wai

Answer 1

• Born in Shanghai but moved to Hong Kong aged 5
• He was unable to speak to other children due to language differences
• His mother took him to the cinema to combat his loneliness
• Works alot with Christopher Doyle

Question 2

Social Context

Answer 2

• HK has a diverse population - immigrants from China, businessmen and travellers
• HK is densely populated and constantly crowded
• Affect on Auteur = conveys fast motion of city with random interactions, intersecting story lines, identity crisis

Question 3

Experimental film

Answer 3

• narratives that challenge the spectator and refuse to conform to our expectation
• experiments with new technologies

Question 4

Technologies

Answer 4

• The majority of the film is shot on ultra wide angle lenses, these lenses take in everything making environments feel huge and close ups feel more personal with the subject needing to be just inches away from the camera to fill the frame

Question 5

Wong Kar-Wai - Auteur Characteristics

Answer 5

• Captures HK cityscape at night lit by neon
• Use of one colour dominating the frame or two contrasting
• Use of pop songs e.g. for romance
• Use of rain - aesthetic quality + brings characters together
• themes of coincidence + randomness of love - interconnected stories meeting

Question 6

Political Contexts

Answer 6

- China Vs Hong Kong
Communism Vs Capitalism
Mandarin Vs Cantonese
Internet regulation Vs No regulation
Hong Kong handed back to China from the British 2 years after

Question 7

Opening Scene

Answer 7

• Opening shot = Long take (32s)
• Dutch tilt - confuse spectator and show the characters emotions
• Voiceover establishes protagonist
• Chiaroscuro
• isolated ‘many people do 9 to 5 I do the opposite’

Question 8

Fallen Angels - Cinematography

Answer 8

• Christopher Doyle worked with Wong on 7 films
• Frame rate: Doyle experimentation with frame rate + shutter speed are common in Wongs films
• Canted angles and dutch tilt signify dislocation
• Depth of field is shallow (background blurred) = Isolation/alienation

Question 9

Intertextual references in Fallen Angels

Answer 9

• Zhiwu eating expired pineapple, prison number 223 being the same as the cops number, both reference Chungking express
• Self referential, Zhiwu looks at the camera

Question 10

Influences

Answer 10

• a sense Fallen Angels was influenced by French new wave + the work of Jean Luc Goddard in its overtly self conscious spirit