Chungking Express

Left: Cop 663 (Tony Leung) waiting for his girlfriend to return. Right: Is Faye (Wong) daydreaming about cop 663?

Movie review: Chungking Express (1994).

Synopsis:
There are two separate stories. The first one is about a heartbroken cop 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro). His girlfriend May breaks up with him on the first of April. Cop 223, who is named He Qiwu, treats the break up as an April's Fool Day joke. As his birthday is on the first of May, he decides to wait for exactly a month before moving on. Every day he buys a can of pineapples with an expiration date of May 1. But he has more strange rituals, he hopes that May will come back by doing these rituals. May isn't joking and she doesn't come back. Cop 223 decides to look for love and ends up in a bar. Here he meets a woman with a blond wig (Brigitte Lin). Exhausted from a failed operation, she falls asleep in a hotel room with 223 watching the TV. She leaves the next morning. She doesn't forget He Qiwu and she wishes him a happy birthday by leaving him a message on his pager. He visits a snack place where he comes often, the snack place seems to have a new staff member Faye (Faye Wong). This is where the second story starts.

The second story is about cop 663 (Tony Leung), he also has to deal with love problems as a flight attendant (Valerie Chow) breaks up with him. He meets a girl Faye (Faye Wong) at a local snack place, she secretly falls in love with 663. After his girlfriend breaks up with him, 633 starts to talk to his decorations at home. Faye tries to cheer him up whenever she has the chance. She also starts breaking into his apartment and moves his belongings, trying to improve his living environment. When 663 realises that she likes him, he invites her for a date at a restaurant called California. But Faye decides that she wants to see the world and doesn't show up and leaves a little something for him. Will there be happiness for cop 663?










Left: Cop 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro) eating his pineapples. Right: Cop 663 (Leung) is starting to talk to his plushie.

My thoughts:
Chungking Express got released in 1994 for the first time, directed and written by Wong Kar Wai. Cinematography has been done by Christopher Doyle. The movie was made in two months (shot in less than a month), when Wong took a break from the production of his previous Ashes of Time movie. Originally Wong wrote three different stories, two of them are part of Chungking Express. The next movie Fallen Angels by Wong is about the third story. Even though it got shot in less than a month, many people feel that this is Wong Kar Wai's best movie to date. A remastered DVD got released earlier this year in May together with the DVD for another Wong movie, Fallen Angels.

There are four main characters in Chungking Express, two for each story. He Qiwu or cop 663 is played by Takeshi Kaneshiro. Brigitte Lin plays the woman with the blond wig. Tony Leung plays cop 663 with Faye as his love interest, played by Faye Wong. There is a minor role for Valerie Chow as a flight attendant, cop 663's ex.
Young Takeshi Kaneshiro plays the sad cop 223. Cop 223 has to deal with love problems after May breaks up with him. His appearance eyes as a young and somewhat dorky guy, not sure how to deal with his love problems. This fits the story and Takeshi does it in a convincing way. Most important thing is that he appears sad, also convincing. Cop 223 soon meets a woman with a blond wig, who seems be smuggling drugs. There is basically no conversation for the two of them. This woman is played by Brigitte Lin. She appears as a cool and calm woman and it fits her role perfectly. Despite the fact that the main characters don't talk much to each other in the first story, the viewer can understand what's going on.
In the second part we see cop 663 (Tony Leung) dealing with his break up. Cop 663 doesn't seem to suffer as much as 223, partly because a different new woman enters his life and mainly because Tony portrays a less sad guy than Takeshi does. Leung makes his character likeable in Chungking Express, he does it by adding a little extra something to the movie by delivering his lines in his own charming way. The new woman in cop 663's life is played by Faye Wong. Leung and Wong are compatible on screen, but Leung always seems to be compatible with his female opposite players. Definitely a plus point for Leung. Wong looks somewhat adorable in this movie. She has to play a woman who is trying to cheer up a heartbroken guy. It's not that it's not convincing, but I've seen more movies with Faye Wong as an actress. While you might not notice this in Chungking Express, the thing about her is that I feel that she can't show many emotions. But I have to admit she did a pretty good job in Chungking Express.The cast did a good job by making the characters likable. Main characters are compatible and this is a positive point.










In the first part, it looks like they used a handheld camera, this is very clear during the chasing scenes. In the second part we see a different technique, less blurry than the first part. The second part also features a technique where the main object is moving very slowly, but the background is moving faster. The events take place at several places. We see Faye redecorating 663's apartment, this is actually Christopher Doyle's apartment. The many places with its colourful background and sometimes vibrant colours are mostly Tsim Sha Tsui, a busy area in Hong Kong. Not only do we see 663's apartment, there are bars, local food stores, local eating places, local market place and many other places that have characteristics of Hong Kong. The title Chungking Express refers to two places, Chungking Mansion and Midnight Express.

Two separate stories can clearly be distinguished in Chungking Express. Each story featured in the movie is about a cop dealing with love. Both cops are suffering from a break up, but we don't see any clear emotions such as tears showing that pain. Lacking tears, brilliant Wong manages to make things very clear in both stories. Love sickness can lead to crazy things, look at cop 223 eating a can of pineapples every day. There is not only sadness, but also happiness as cop 663 manages to find new love. Like the sadness part, there is no clear element that represents happiness (think about kissing, holding hands and other things that represent 'happy love'). But Wong does it again, the happiness in the movie is convincing.
Cop 223's break up felt sadder than 663's story. Even though 663 got dumped, his love problems got presented less sadder. The second part is definitely the strongest part of the movie, this may be due to more conversations in that part. It features camera techniques that are simply amazing. Add an irresistible great actor Tony Leung and a somewhat adorable Faye Wong to that.

Chungking Express is irresistible, even after seeing it for the second time. Many Wong Kar Wai fans have chosen this movie as their favourite to date, this is not without good reasons. The actors did an excellent job by making the main characters likable. If that's not enough, we even get to see Doyle's apartment when we look at 663's apartment. The stories featured in the movie are simply, yet amazing when you think about the time Wong took to make this movie! The second story is definitely the strongest part of the movie, but this doesn't make the first story a bad one. The tagline "If my memory of her has an expiration date, please let it be 10,000 years..." seems to fit the first story about cop 223 perfectly. If you have seen other movies by Wong that you like, then this might be something for you. For those who have seen this movie already, don't forget it and watch it again.

Written by Mialee L. aka Sukachu.










Links:

• Get one of Wong Kar Wai's best movie! Remastered dvd available here.