Favorite Characters: Lulu (Days of Being Wild)

Technically, her name is Leung Fung-ying, and she goes by Mimi at least as often as Lulu, but for simplicity, I wanted to use one consistent name for this write-up, so Lulu it is.  This film and this character was my first introduction to Carina Lau as an actress, and it remains my favorite role I’ve seen of her so far (a few spoilers.)

On a surface level, Lulu is a pretty broad character type, and I’m sure there are those who would argue that she “deserves” everything she gets.  From the start, she’s set up as a contrast to Su Li-zhen, and her own relationship with Yuddy is often shown through the lens of how Su Li-zhen is affected by it.  In a way, Lulu is the “whore” to Su Li-zhen’s “Madonna.” Even though both get involved in sexual relationships with Yuddy that ultimately wind up hurting them due to his callous detachment, vivacious Lulu knows exactly how alluring she is and can be aggressive about her sexual desires, while Su Li-zhen is far more demure and internal.  Where Su Li-zhen is soft, Lulu is commanding, and where Su Li-zhen turns her anger and sadness toward herself after Yuddy breaks things off with her, Lulu gets in his face and confronts him.

Now, there’s obviously nothing “wrong” with being confident, outspoken, and in possession of a healthy sexual appetite, but when held up to Su Li-zhen for comparison, the ostensible take-away is that Lulu is “bad” and Su Li-zhen is “good.”  It’s a depressing dynamic that we’ve seen time and again in movies, and it would’ve been easy for the film to leave it at that. For me, though, the film goes a lot deeper with Lulu.

In small ways, we see how her brashness is a product of her vulnerabilities.  She yells in part because she’s afraid of going unnoticed – to her, Yuddy tossed out Su Li-zhen for being a blushing wallflower, and if Lulu wants to keep him in her life, she needs to prove that she won’t be so easily ignored.  Her fears show through the cracks in her façade in small moments, like her insecurity that Yuddy hasn’t told her about his mother, or the way she lies so boldly, clinging to them even when she knows Yuddy sees through her and finally owning up them with a defiance that belies her position.  She’s strong because she has to be, convincing herself that if she just holds her ground, Yuddy will have to treat her the way she deserves.

Unfortunately for her, there’s no rule that says relationships have to work like that, especially when someone like Yuddy is involved.  Lulu couldn’t present herself any more differently than Su Li-zhen, but in the end, Yuddy treats them in exactly the same way. Worse maybe – Su Li-zhen spends much of the film tortured by Yuddy’s dismissive goodbye to her, but Lulu doesn’t even have anything solid to hold onto.  While he drops Su Li-zhen, he disappears on Lulu, telling Zeb to let her know that he’s left the country only if she comes around looking for him (and that’s only when Zeb asks what he’s going to tell Lulu.) For loud, insistent, refusing-to-be-ignored Lulu, this is the worst thing of all, to be barely an afterthought in the mind of someone she cares about.  It’s here that her façade cracks, and even though she’s of course going to be much better off without him, as is Su Li-zhen, she has to spend quite a bit of time weighed down by the insult of being thrown away so nonchalantly. This is why the contrast between Su Li-zhen and Lulu works for me, because it shows that there’s no right way to have a relationship with Yuddy.  He’s going to be a toxic presence no matter who he’s with, and as Lulu learns, she can’t make him stay by being what she thinks he wants, because there’s no one that can truly satisfy him.

A Little TLC(w): Days of Being Wild (1990)

Note:  I wrote this review a while back, but when I started doing A Little TLC(w) posts, I decided to adapt it for that.  I’ve already done write-ups for every other Wong Kar-wai film Tony Leung Chiu-wai has been in, and if I want to include them as part of this series, I’ll probably do Favorite Character editions for the roles he plays in them.  However, as you’ll soon see, that isn’t really an option in the case of this film. 

Okay, so while I inadvertently watched this sort-of Wong Kar-wai “trilogy” backwards, I’m reviewing it out of all possible order.  I first wrote about In the Mood for Love, then 2046, and now am finally coming back to Days of Being Wild.  It’s my least favorite of the three, but that’s only because the other two are so tremendous.

On the surface, suave, handsome Yuddy is everything a woman could want.  He effortlessly fills shy Su Li-zhen’s head with thoughts of him, but when he’s ready to wander, he easily drops her for a passionate dancer (variously known as both Lulu and Mimi.)  Meanwhile, although Yuddy plays with the hearts of others with ease, his own house isn’t as firmly in order as he pretends it is.  He’s plagued by the knowledge that the woman who raised him isn’t his birth mother and is incensed that she refuses to tell him where he came from.  As he tries to find himself, Su Li-zhen and Lulu both try to get through a relationship with him with their own senses of self intact.

We’ll start with the connections to the later films.  Maggie Cheung (Su Li-zhen) plays a character with the same name as the one she plays in In the Mood for Love and 2046, though it’s not altogether clear whether or not it’s meant to be the same person.  Personality-wise, I think I could see it.  Carina Lau’s Lulu/Mimi also bears the same name as her character in 2046 and seems more explicitly a precursor to her character in that film, which includes references to her relationship with Yuddy.

But enough about In the Mood for Love and 2046.  What about Days of Being Wild?  It’s slow-moving but utterly gorgeous, the design and costumes dripping with that 1960s-era beauty that saturates the other two films.  As with all of Wong’s films, the music is absolutely vital, the characters are lightly-drawn but still feel devastatingly-specific, and the emotional vulnerability on display is searing.  I’ve always adored Su Li-zhen and the midnight confidant she finds in Andy Lau’s kind Tide, but watching it this time around, I also really loved Lulu – somehow, so guarded and so open at the same time. 

If I had to pick a reason this film doesn’t work as well for me as some of Wong’s others, I suppose it would be in Leslie Cheung’s Yuddy.  I can’t deny that, while somewhat of a cliché, he’s still a fascinating example of a playboy character, but I just don’t like him very much.  It’s harder for me to empathize with him than many Wong characters, which makes it harder for me to care about what happens to him.  Even as I see his struggles, I think more about his treatment of Su Li-zhen and Lulu, and I resent him for it.  Not that Leslie Cheung should receive any blame for this.  He’s magnetic in the role, and it’s to his credit that I want to try to relate to Yuddy.

And as for Tony Leung Chiu-wai?  This is his first film with Wong, and like Maggie Chang, he’s playing a character with the same name as the one he plays elsewhere in the trilogy:  Chow Mo-wan.  Is it the same guy?  Hard to say.  He only appears in one scene and has no lines.  That said, the scene somehow manages to be kind of compelling all the same.  It’s an intriguing way to end a movie, and Leung has a presence that draws your eye even though you don’t know anything about him.

Recommend?

In General – Yes.  Although it’s not one of my favorite Wong films, it’s still gorgeously shot and has some terrific performances.

Tony Leung Chiu-wai – In terms of acting, there’s very little happening here.  As the proverbial “start of a beautiful friendship” of stunning collaborations between a director and an actor, however, it might be worth a view. 

Warnings

Light sexual content (mostly implied,) brief scenes of violence, language, and drinking/smoking.