Director Wong is at his best in ‘Wild’

The opening scenes of Wong Kar-Wai’s 1991 “Days of Being Wild” feature the unnervingly handsome and conceited Yuddy, played by Leslie Cheung, as an insistent suitor to Su Lizhen, Maggie Cheung’s apprehensive snack bar clerk. He gradually wears her down, warning that the moment she gives in -- 3 p.m., June 16, 1960, to be exact -- will forever be etched in their memories.

It certainly will remain in ours. It’s a breathless, intoxicating moment that perfectly translates Wong’s masterful use of cinematic elements. Intimate shots, heightened sound and the director’s now famous content-driven style are elevated to almost operatic levels as Yuddy quietly snuffs out the resistance of Su Lizhen.

The film, which played in Los Angeles in 1996 and returns with a seductive new 35-millimeter print and newly translated subtitles, embodies many of the themes and motifs that fuel Wong’s subsequent films, especially 2000’s “In the Mood for Love.” Though “Days of Being Wild” established the filmmaker as a director of note and earned numerous awards in Asia, it was considered a commercial flop upon its initial release. A second part, which was partially filmed but never finished, exists only in a tantalizing glimpse in the enigmatic final scene of “Days.”

The film presents disconnected characters circling one another with yearning and trepidation. The director’s unique brand of cynical romanticism is clearly on display. Wong cast a group of young Hong Kong pop stars, some of whom had already established themselves in genre films. One of the joys of this film is seeing Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Carina Lau, Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung and, ever so briefly, Tony Leung, in all their youthful glory, before they went on to become international stars.

The tragedy of Leslie Cheung, who committed suicide in 2003, adds unforeseen weight to the character of Yuddy, the film’s protagonist. Yuddy is a vain, shiftless hedonist who discards women with less thought than he gives to changing shirts. Any brush with emotion is cast off as quickly as his trademark combing of his hair.

Yuddy was raised by and maintains a difficult, ambiguous relationship with a woman who was a high-class escort (Rebecca Pan), and who refuses to identify his birth mother. The manipulative power plays acted out by surrogate mother and son have an obvious influence on Yuddy’s relationships with women.

Wong’s version of Hong Kong in the early 1960s is not so much a period re-creation as an imaginary past reinvented from his memories of childhood. He contrasts the urban jungle of that city with the dense foliage of the Philippines, where the latter part of the film takes place. “Days of Being Wild” marked the director’s first collaboration with longtime cinematographer Christopher Doyle, whose shadowy lighting, contrasted with a brightly colored palette, have become the pair’s signature.

Wong, one of the most influential directors currently working, asks a lot of his audience, mainly because he is more interested in an expressive cinema than in conventional narratives. The result is that his films are more powerful and rewarding with multiple viewings.

*

‘Days of Being Wild’

MPAA rating: Unrated

Times guidelines: Some violence, adult situations, sensuality

Leslie Cheung...Yuddy

Maggie Cheung...Su Lizhen

Andy Lau...Tide

Carina Lau...Leung Fung-Ying/Mimi

Rebecca Pan...Rebecca

A Kino International release. Writer-director Wong Kar-Wai. Producers Joseph Chan, Alan Tang, Rover Tang. Cinematographer Christopher Doyle. Editors Kit-Wai Kai, Patrick Tam. Production designer William Chang. In Cantonese with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 34 minutes.

Exclusively at the Landmark Nuart through Thursday, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles, (310) 281-8223.