There's this incident which a friend of mine is fond of relating to me whenever I bring up Wong Kar Wei's name in his presence. It happened when 'Ashes of Time'(ªF¨¸¦è¬r), another Wong Kar Wei movie first hit the theatres here. Boasting a star-studded cast of Maggie Cheung, Brigitte Lin, Carina Lau, Charlie Yeung, Leslie Cheung, Jacky Cheung and both Tony Leungs(!), as well as a well-known Louis Cha sword-fighting novel title, my friend simply had to catch the movie. So he watched the show at this neighbourhood cinema one day. It turned out to be a bad mistake - for him at least. He was thoroughly confused by the enigmatic monologues ("I come from the East, so I am called Evil East.") and the surreal scenes (Brigitte talking while fondling a horse). Around him, members of the audience were standing up to leave, but not before shouting a string of obscenities at the screen. My friend too left soon thereafter, even before Jacky had a chance to make his appearance.
Such is the intense reaction against the controversial Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai. But I thought 'Ashes of Time' was pretty interesting, so you can probably understand why 'Chungking Express' by Wong Kar Wai is my favourite movie. Quentin Tarantino loved the film so much that he signed a deal with Miramax to start his own releasing company Rolling Thunder, to sell 'Chungking Express' in the US. So it arrived with some hype and after watching the movie when it first came out, I liked it immediately. Since then, I have watched the movie at least 15 times - whenever there's a rerun on television, but mostly from the VCD. I don't get tired of it, because everytime I watch, I seem to learn something new about the movie. In fact, putting up this section on the Net has really helped me gain a better understanding of the movie.
Perhaps one of the lesser reasons why I enjoyed the movie so much ws it's star-studded cast, a characteristic of Wong Kar Wai movies. 'Chungking Express' stars Brigitte Lin, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Faye Wong and Tony Leung. But other than these mega-stars, the production as a whole was pretty minimalistic. Valerie Chow guest stars while the stills photographer, makeup artist and lights man double up as three of the other minor characters. See Full Credits for the cast and crew list. Sets were on location, no special effects or stunts and filming was concluded in two weeks(plus production is two months only!). Editing was also superb(no wonder those guys won an award!) as the film was cut to its bare essentials. It was again a characteristically low-budget film by Wong Kar Wai, who includes so many mega-stars only because of the goodwill and friendship between them. In fact, many actors and actresses are indeed clamouring to be part of his productions, as he is known for churning up award winning films(not intentionally, definitely, which is good!) like 'As Tears Go By' and 'Days of Being Wild'. However, only a select few whom he admires, like Tony, Carina, Leslie and Faye, are lucky enough to get roles from him.
And this is vastly different from Hollywood movies nowadays, which tend to have only one or two lead characters, due to their high wages and ample opportunities. Character development is often neglected and everyone else just seems to be acting as foil for the lead characters or as plot requirements. The story just gets dragged along by the lead characters while stunt actions and computer special effects drown out your senses. Most movies, you will get such a linear view, but in "Chungking Express" you get a perspective(omniscient?) view of life(it's not even a story!) in that world, as well as four main characters who are very well-fleshed out.
"There are movies that push and there are movies that pull. Now, the second group, pullers, tend to race along without taking full account of where they're heading, occasionally hitting dead-ends only to careen down blind alleyways. Everything hurtles along so fast, you only later realize how half-digested, even half-baked, most of what you saw was. But in compensation for this recklessness, there's a sense of excitement and exhilaration; instead of those rough, heavy hands pushing at your back, you feel dragged along at breakneck speed. Sometimes you're even going so fast, the movie takes flight and you glide up with it. Chungking Express soars." - Reviewer
'Chungking Express' is thus a film you will remember. Ask yourself how much of any Hollywood film you can actually remember now? Usually we watch films nowadays just for that relaxation and feel good effect. After taking in all the sights and sounds of the big screen, no one really cares about the loopholes in the plot(read:Jackie Chan movies especially!!!). But if we strip away all the adornments like what "Chungking Express" does, we are forced to examine the film in greater detail and thus gain greater satisfaction from watching it. Memorable Scenes contains almost the entire transcript of the film, but believe it or not, I had typed it out mostly from memory, and just filled in the missing bits by watching the VCD(again!) alongside. Some friends have complained loudly whenever I describe entire scenes of Chungking Express to them before, complete with the dialogue...
Most people cannot seem to understand Wong Kar Wai films like 'Chungking Express' due to his different presentation style. I love it! I like the way 'Chungking Express' brings you into its world. There are strong and recurring themes about love and loniness in the film, yet they are only presented in an abstract manner, through the thoughts and actions of the characters. The audience is thus forced to read deeper into the story, which is why some people find 'Chungking Express' incomprehensible, because they do not wish to or cannot, look deeper. One thing I particularly like is that the film is very realistic, in that I can relate easily to the actions of the characters. Ironically, I find it very believable that broken-hearted lovers will resort to such absurd acts like eating pineapples, jogging, talking to inanimate onjects shown in the film. This is what makes the film so close to us and the themes which it portray so real. For a more indepth look at the film and its characters, see my Analysis section.
Oh yes, before you think this is just an arty film, there's also plenty of humour involved from the actions and witty dialogue. Garanteed fun! Check out the Top Ten List for the funniest moments in the film!
PS: There is another alternate version of Chungking Express used for international release like in the US. I haven't had the chance to view this one, but according to someone who has watched both, the one for international audiences is more in-depth, especially for the first story. In fact, I have seen a screenshot where the woman in the blonde wig actually bumps in 663 outside the Hyatt!
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