Chungking Express (1996)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Best movie ever!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The first story told me to not hang on to somebody for along time after splitting up. It happens for a reason. Live afterwards and keep moving on. If you're on the right track then you'll find someone better than what you had before. The second story, I can't believe how amazing someone could change drastically for someone who they love. Imagine a fantastic free spirited woman turns into a stewardess and that police man turns into a sandwich store owner. But in the end to have a relationship we always need two people compromising each other like they did. Overall this is a very fun movie!

One centimetre separates the two stories of Chungking Express. Two cops drift in the aftermath of the breakdown of long term relationships. Cop 223 wanders and buys cans of pineapples, hoping that their expiry dates are just false promises and that he will be given a second chance. Cop 663 stops by the Midnight Express food stall each night on his shift, but cannot seem to move on from his stewardess ex-girlfriend. This is the night-life of Hong Kong at its most vivid, taking its cues from the French New Wave; the hand-held camera barrels around cramped alleyways and corners bursting with the hum drum of the makeshift shops, neon signage and lights are deliberately overexposed, and each setting carries its own colour coding. The streets are cool blue, crowded yet lonely. Cop 223's apartment is sterile and bathed in green; he's one of those people that get super tidy after a breakup, instead of the opposite. The bar has an orange-red glow where he negotiates a lonely encounter with our other primary character, a drug dealer with a blonde wig, coat and sunglasses. There is also the step-printing effect that this movie is famous for - replicating frames which creates the staggering, blurry effect that would normally be associated with a drop in frame rate and shutter speed. This ups the kinetic chase scenes to almost sensory overload; the dim hallways, the multicoloured lights streaking all along the streets, car horns blaring from all directions. Wong Kar Wai isolates these characters within a paradox; they wander the streets of Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated cities in the world, but find themselves to be lonely at the end of each night. More than once, we find ourselves staring at Faye compartmentalised and squished between the shelves in the frame, with a sort of voyeuristic longing behind the gaze. Doyle and co. will use strong telephoto lenses to enhance this theme; one choice scene involves Leung beckoning her to lean in before whispering a joke. While they may be mere centimetres from one another, the focus instead has his face crisp and in the foreground while hers is further away and blurred. There is no better way to express 'close yet so far away'. The most iconic technique is the way WKW freezes our primary characters in these little moments while the rest of the Hong Kong crowd bustles and rushes past them. It's a breathtaking effect that locks them down within their own small pocket of eternity. The first instance is the most striking scene in the film; the big doe eyes of Faye staring across at Leung as he seeks to indefinitely delay the bad news and finality of what lies inside the envelope. Later this feeling is visualised the same way again, as he waits for a date that will never show, distracting himself by pushing coins into a jukebox. These seconds drag on agonisingly while the city rushes on, careless of their little crisis. Some detractors have complained about the repetition of the soundtrack and how it drones on and on. I think this marks, to some extent, the difference of attitudes and contexts of the western and eastern viewer. We are blessed to have musical and media overload, to have chart-topping hits at the touch of a button and more musical range than we could ever consume. For the Hong Kong of Chungking Express, pop songs leak through, and those that do, are treasured dearly. See how the camera sways in motion to a working Faye as she dances to California Dreaming for the umpteenth time. For her, it represents not literal California (although she does visit, and it isn't up to the fantasy), but the desire to escape the rat race of Hong Kong and travel. For Cop 663, it is that hazy, dreamlike apartment that she shared with his ex which contained all his love and comfort. As the cinematography overexposes the light coming in through the windows in those nostalgic rooms, it links itself to the reconciliation scene in the convenience store where the lights blare just as brightly and he finally finds his closure. Time for a new 'California'.

If you are generally accustomed to films with some plot, some meaning, some connection with reality or if you expect a certain similarity between the heroes of the film and real people, you should avoid this film. Actually you should not just avoid it. You must get out there and spread the word. Save humanity from wasting 2 hours from their lives when they could actually learn to whistle or watch teletubbies. When you see this film playing somewhere, destroy the machine playing it, evacuate the area, and burn the whole place down. Seriously, burn it down before it spawns offspring.PS: I never thought there would be a reason for me, writing a film review, but I think I am just doing my civic duty here and nothing more.

Two stories, two lovelorn cops, two objects of desire: one a big-time heroin dealer in deep trouble with her boss after the cargo disappears, the other a seriously flaky take-out waitress who inadvertently gets hold of the keys to her admirer's apartment, all shot in a breathless kaleidoscope of color and hand-held camera work to create a mesmerizing portrait of Hong Kong in the 1990s.With the constant use of "California Dreamin" and "Dreams", do you think this is a film about dreams? In some ways, it is, and in other ways it is not.You have to give this film credit. Besides looking great and just being an overall wonderful movie, there are little things that really stand out in the writing. The "May 1" can idea, with the connection between birthdays and expiration... so clever.