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| Chungking Express 7 of 10 |
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| Directed by Won Kar-Wai Cinematography by Christopherr Doyle and Wai Keung Lau Brigitte Lin Tony Leung Chiu Wai Faye Wong Takeshi Kaneshiro Valerie Chow Chen Jinquan |
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| An amazing stylistic masterpiece, and one of the most unconventionally beautiful films I have ever seen. Wong Kar-Wai is in complete control of his cinematic tools, and the results are breathtaking. There were at least two sequences in this film where I was forced to stop and think about what just happened, strictly from a visual standpoint. I ended up watching one of the sequences over half a dozen times, just to make sure and let it sink in. And the way Wong Kar-Wai films the chase sequences in the early part of the film is absolutely mesmerizing. Which brings me to my first real complaint. It�s a peculiarity of my personality that style can only take me so far. And so my tastes tend to be influenced by that fact. Its not completely fair to the director in this case, who is clearly very interested in the style of his film. But the entire first story left me cold. The character of He Zhiwu was too self-absorbed and simplistic for me to really get involved. And although I can see several interesting connections between the two stories, it was not until the second one that I became truly involved. There, although still oozing with the style from earlier, the film really began to work on a story level as well. And at that point, I truly became involved. Tony Leung Chiu Wai was superb, a wonderful mix of humor and sorrow. The scenes where he is discussing his apartment�s grief over his lost girlfriend were fantastic. And I truly became involved in the story. If I had only seen the second half, I would have missed out on some truly amazing visual stuff. But I think I would have missed out on a fair amount of frustration over the lack of focus in the early part of the film. Despite this complaint, I can easily recognize Wong Kar-Wai's amazing ability. And the film is well worth a watch, especially for the true film aficionado. Somehow I've become very cautious. When I put on a raincoat, I put on sunglasses too. Who knows when it will rain, or when it will turn out sunny? |
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