Days of Being Wild (1990), is arguably the best Hong Kong film ever made. It cascades onto – and off - the screen in an ecstatic, urgent wave of love, loss and longing, propelled by the smoldering gorgeousness of its playboy lead Leslie Cheung, and an eye-catching array of acting talent on the cusp of their collective moment; Carina Lau, Maggie Cheung, Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-wai. Scene by ravishing scene, it watches like a greatest hits of Hong Kong cinema, as supercool Leslie cha-cha’s in front of the mirror; his dynamic exchanges with the lovely Maggie Cheung: “you’ll see me in your dreams tonight”; and the narrative nonsense but high style of the film’s cameo role closing scene: Tony Leung dressing for a night out. 

Days was director Wong Kar-wai’s first film – of eight - with Australian cinematographer Christopher Doyle and set the blueprint for what followed: isolated souls losing and breaking hearts in solitary cityscapes lit by electric shadows, nostalgia by the neon load – like Hong Kong Edward Hopper subjects – all delicate harmonies of faded paint and period pieces, rousing Latin music scores, cigarette-smoking silences with slo-mo for character development; style over substance, feel over reason. You want to rush in, to swim, or jump into Days of Being Wild it’s so sumptuous and Leslie’s presence so palpitating. “I’ll always remember that minute because of you,” Leslie tells Maggie Cheung early on as she gazes at his watch. A reminder - as if any were needed – that despite Leslie’s death nine years ago, there’s not a day goes by that Hong Kong doesn’t remember and revere his loss. In its raw, poetic, sensual and agonizingly beautiful telling, Days of Being Wild is 94 minutes of being made love to by Hong Kong cinema at its most glamorous and kinetic. 

Days of Being Wild shows at the Hong Kong Film Archive on March 17 and Broadway Cinemathque on March 25. 

Image: Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Hong Kong