Chungking Express (1994) [Film Review]

Chungking Express; or, Hard-Boiled Wonderland

     Did I leave the tap running, or is the apartment getting more tearful? I always thought it would cope okay. Didn't expect it to cry so much. When people cry, they can dry their eyes with tissues. But when an apartment cries, it takes a lot to mop it up.

Wong Kar-wai, the real auteur whose movies are recognised nowadays as masterpieces. Rather than telling a conventional story, he always presents the viewers with a unique atmosphere, unforgettable visuals, and memorable characters. This is also the case with Chungking Express (1994), a comedy-drama written and directed by him
Release Info

Directed by: Wong Kar-wai Starring: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Faye Wong

Language: Cantonese Original Title: 重慶森林 Runtime:102 min

 

Synopsis

The movie tells two stories. The first one is about a cop no. 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro) who accidentally meets a woman in a blonde wig (Brigitte Lin). He does not know that the woman is actually a member of a drug-smuggling ring and that she was betrayed by her associates. The second story focuses on a cop no. 663 (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) who tries to get over the fact that his girlfriend, a flight attendant (Valerie Chow), dumped him. Every day he walks the beat and dines at Midnight Express snack bar. The worker of the snack bar, Faye (Faye Wong), falls for the cop and, by sheer accident, she gets keys to his apartment and the address. Faye proceeds to secretly rearrange the cop’s apartment…

 

Love with an Expiry Date

Chungking Express was made during a three-month break in the post-production of Wong Kar-wai’s wuxia film Ashes of Time (1994). Having been exhausted with extensive shooting on a desert, Wong wanted to make something that was light and quick. Chungking Express was initially conceived as a linear story with the four main characters bumping into each other, but the actors’ tight schedules forced the director to change the film’s formula. Wong based the film on his childhood experiences in Chungking Mansion, a building complex that consists of various lodgings and shops run by people of various nationalities, and in Midnight Express, a bar located in the Central District of Hong Kong.

 

The film is very much a visual experience and that is done due to wonderful cinematography by Andrew Lau and Christopher Doyle. According to critic Tony Rayns, Wong Kar-wai was heavily inspired by the works of Haruki Murakami and this influence can be clearly seen on the screen (cop 223’s obsession with expiry dates and cop 663 talking to objects in his apartment). Chungking Express is not so much a three act piece, but a tale about people passing each other, trying to get noticed. I like the first story, but the second one stole my heart. Now, whenever I hear "California Dreamin" song, I can’t help but think about this movie!

 

Speaking about performances, all the four main actors were brilliant. Interestingly, this was Brigitte Lin’s final movie before her retirement (she did a few cameos later on). At the same time, this was also Faye Wong’s debut picture. Takeshi Kaneshiro provided wonderful narration, whereas Tony Leung did not disappoint as an extraordinarily relaxed cop with existential issues.

 

Recommendations

In the Mood for Love (2000) may be my favourite, but I will always have a special place in my heart for Chungking Express. It is such an enjoyable movie that makes you feel better as soon as the end credits (with Faye Wong’s version of “Dreams” song) roll in. If you have not seen Chungking Express, then please watch it!

Overall score: 10/10