"Chungking Express"

Chungking Express is a film that tells two stories one after the other. Ironically, both stories involve love and a policeman. The stories only intertwine when the first one is ending and the second one is beginning.

Chungking Express was a 1994 film written and directed by Wong Kar-Wei. The Chinese film title translates to “Chungking Jungle” which means “jungle of the city”. The English translation is Chungking Mansions, which is the midnight express food stand where one of the characters works.

The first story stars Takeshi Kaneshiro as Cop 223 who recently was dumped by his girlfriend and Bridgette Lin a woman in a Blonde wig that is trying to survive in the harsh and cruel world of drug smuggling. Cop 223 is a very entertaining character. He recently broke up with his girl and refuses to get into another relationship for a month, which will be May 1st. One night he approaches the woman in the blonde wig at a bar, she is so tired that she falls asleep in a hotel. He leaves her at the hotel. On his birthday he receives a message that says Happy Birthday, he meets a woman at a snack food store it’s at this point that the stories intertwine.

The second story stars Cop 663 played by Tony Leung and Faye played by Faye Wong.  Cop 663 also is recovering from a recent break-up until he meets Faye at a snack bar. Faye is also an interesting character because she is secretly obsessed with Cop 663. At first he shows interest but then he is a little resilient because he catches her sneaking in his apartment while he was out at work to “improve his living conditions”. But this aside, he still have feelings for her, she is making him a happier person. They agree to meet for dinner but she stands him up, stating that she wanted to find meaning in her life and see the world. He is devastated. They meet up later after Cop 663 buys the snack bar that Faye used to work at. They are reunited and are a couple again.

The movie was very eccentric. At times it was confusing. Mainly because the stories don’t really intertwined.  It’s kind of like your watching one story one second and another the next. The editing and music were very upbeat with quick cuts and matching music. The cinematography was good, a lot of shots from different places. I think I would like to watch this movie again so I could get more out of it.