More than three decades after Leslie Cheung captivated audiences as the restless York in Wong Kar-wai’s Days Of Being Wild, the Hong Kong classic is returning to the big screen in a newly restored 4K version—and Singapore fans will have a rare chance to experience it in its original Cantonese audio.
Golden Village will screen the 1990 film from Sept. 11 to 13, 2026, as part of commemorations for what would have been Cheung’s 70th birthday on Sept. 12.
The limited screenings will take place at Golden Village VivoCity, Suntec City, Cineleisure and Century Square. The restored film will be presented in Cantonese with English and Chinese subtitles.
Tickets are priced at S$22 and go on sale at 3pm on Sept. 2 through Golden Village’s ticketing channels. Moviegoers during the three-day run can also redeem a limited-edition A3 poster, while supplies last.
Why Leslie Cheung’s York remains unforgettable
Directed by Wong Kar-wai, Days Of Being Wild follows York, a charismatic but emotionally detached young man searching for the identity of his biological mother.
Set in Hong Kong in 1960, the film explores loneliness, desire, abandonment and the complicated ways people search for belonging. York moves through relationships with characters played by Maggie Cheung and Carina Lau before setting off in search of the mother he has never known.
The film’s ensemble reads like a who’s who of Hong Kong cinema: Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Carina Lau, Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung and Tony Leung.
It was also a major early milestone for Wong Kar-wai and marked his first collaboration with cinematographer Christopher Doyle, whose distinctive visual style became central to the director’s celebrated body of work.
A film that helped define Wong Kar-wai’s cinematic world
Days Of Being Wild was Wong Kar-wai’s second feature film and is widely regarded as the beginning of the visual and thematic style that would later become synonymous with his cinema.
The film’s dreamlike Hong Kong, fragmented relationships and recurring themes of time, longing and emotional disconnection would echo through later works including In the Mood for Love and 2046.
The film also earned major recognition at the 10th Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor for Leslie Cheung. Other sources note that it ultimately won five awards at that ceremony, including Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction.
The 4K restoration brings a landmark film back into focus
This isn’t simply a standard re-release.
The version being presented is part of the film’s 4K restoration, undertaken from the original 35mm camera negative by the Criterion Collection in collaboration with L’Immagine Ritrovata and One Cool. The restoration has subsequently been presented by major cinematheques and film institutions around the world.
That restoration matters because Days Of Being Wild is a film in which atmosphere is almost as important as dialogue. Christopher Doyle’s cinematography, Wong Kar-wai’s use of movement and light, and the film’s deliberately languid rhythm are fundamental to the experience.
Seen in a cinema rather than on a television or phone screen, those details can take on an entirely different weight.
Leslie Cheung’s legacy continues
Cheung died in 2003 at the age of 46, but his influence has remained remarkably strong across Hong Kong cinema, Cantopop and Asian popular culture.
His portrayal of York remains one of his most celebrated screen performances, capturing a character who appears confident and detached while being driven by a deeper need to understand where he belongs.
That contradiction is part of what has allowed the film to remain relevant decades after its original release.
The renewed interest isn’t limited to Singapore. A 4K theatrical re-release has also been announced in South Korea for Sept. 12, timed to Cheung’s 70th birth anniversary, with local coverage highlighting the film’s continuing relevance to younger audiences confronting loneliness and uncertainty in an increasingly connected world.
And then there is that ending…
For longtime fans, one of the film’s most intriguing details is Tony Leung’s brief appearance near the end.
The scene was connected to plans for a follow-up story that was never made. Leung later recalled that the original concept involved his character and other characters from the film, but circumstances ultimately prevented him from continuing with the production.
His appearance at the end became something much more tantalising: a glimpse of a story that audiences would never see completed.
That unresolved quality fits Days Of Being Wild perfectly.
It is a film about people searching for answers, chasing relationships and trying to escape places—or people—they cannot completely leave behind.
And now, 35 years after its original release, Leslie Cheung’s York is getting another chance to occupy the big screen.
For Singapore audiences, the opportunity lasts only three days.
‘Days Of Being Wild’ screens in 4K at Golden Village VivoCity, Suntec City, Cineleisure and Century Square from Sept. 11–13, 2026. Tickets cost S$22 and go on sale at 3pm on Sept. 2.
WWC ONE MEDIA MJE
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