After the breakthrough commercial success of Wong’s first film AS TEARS GO BY, everyone expected Wong Kar Wai to become a highly successful genre director, but he threw everyone a curve-ball with his next film, the dreamy period melodrama DAYS OF BEING WILD. Maggie Cheung and Andy Lau returned, along with the late Lesley Cheung. It is not a film that cemented his place as a bankable director, but it did solidify his place as a serious filmmaker. It’s a serious piece, and one that foreshadows IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE in several important ways.