Chungking Express (1994)

• Year: 1994
• Released: 08 Mar 1996
• Country: Hong Kong
• Adwords: 10 wins & 23 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109424/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chungking_express
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/chungking-express
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: Cantonese, English, Japanese, Hindi, Mandarin, Punjabi, Urdu
• MPA Rating: PG-13
• Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
• Runtime: 102 min
• Writer: Kar-Wai Wong
• Director: Kar-Wai Wong
• Cast: Brigitte Lin, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tony Chiu-Wai Leung
• Keywords: romance, hong kong, girlfriend, drug smuggling, ex-girlfriend,

	8.0/10
	78/100
	87% – Critics
	93% – Audience

Chungking Express Storyline

Two individual stories of lovelorn Hong Kong police officers are told against the backdrop of the bustling but often lonely concrete jungle that is the city, the two stories loosely tied by the same western fast food stall in the Chungking Mansions they routinely frequent. In the first story, He Qiwu, badge number 223, is a plainclothes officer. On April 1, 1994, May, his girlfriend of five years, breaks up with him. He goes through a daily ritual to deal with the news, he hoping the break up is a joke seeing as to the day she tells him. That ritual will end on May 1 – his twenty-fifth birthday – which if she does not return to him by then, he will come to the conclusion that it is not a joke and try to move on without her. The day of his birthday is altered not by May’s return, but by his encounter with an Asian woman wearing a trench coat and a blond wig, to who he is instantly attracted, not knowing that she has had a difficult day in her “job” as a drug smuggler. In the second story, Officer 663, a beat cop, has routinely ordered a chef salad at the stall for his girlfriend, a flight attendant he met on a flight she was working. After they embarked on a relationship, he thought she would be the one. However, she breaking up with him coincides with a young woman, the owner’s cousin, starting her temporary employment at the stall, she who has a penchant for listening to The Mamas and the Papas’ “California Dreamin'” very loudly. As she and the others working at the stall quietly follow 663 dealing with the break-up, 663 may be too distraught to notice that she might like to take the flight attendant’s place in his life, she who is able to insinuate herself in his life in ways he may not fully comprehend. She takes the tact that she does as being in the same position he is with the flight attendant.

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Chungking Express Movie Reviews

Super Goodfeel

Stunned. Chungking Express should be seen at least once for the experience. Caution: may cause smiling and frequent laughter.

What a contrast to Fallen Angels which was the first Wong Kar Wai film I’ve seen. Talk about polar opposites. The characters here are your everyday working people living ordinary lives. I love the idea of the people we walk and pass by everyday. Who knows what a random meeting will lead to? The chemistry between the actors is key. Takeshi Kaneshiro (I never thought of jogging that way) and Tony Leung are both great as two fellows going through a down of sorts. No one wants to be alone. Or have you ever thought to yourself and asked, “What do I want in life? Where do I want to go?” If anyone can relate to that, Wong Kar Wai captures that in his film.

Also, I love the contrast between the leading ladies; Brigitte is mysterious as the enigmatic blone and she still shines through. On the other hand, Faye’s charismatic, bouncy personality is so infectious and definitely made her my favorite. It all comes out through her facial expressions, her dancing, her bright eyed look and super smile is awesome! My mindset is fixed with that song by the Mama and the Papas and Faye. That and her Cranberries’ tribute. When she and Tony are onscreen together, it’s magic. My favorite thing about Tony is for all the different roles he’s played, he always comes off as himself. I’m sure the ladies love his scenes in the apartment!

I wouldn’t consider this a great Hong Kong movie. This is a great film PERIOD. Chungking Express has replay value and there’s so much more to love and appreciate upon later viewings. Definitely see it for Faye!

I like to revisit this movie every now and then, like a quirky, quintessentially cool photo in a pineapple frame

One of Wong Kar Wai’s most experimental features (and this is even for old Wong folks) is one of his earliest efforts, done while in a creative struggle making his epic Ashes of Time. Chungking Express is light and frothy, featuring funny monologues about the importance of pineapple preservation and a charming, aimless usage of Mama and the Papa’s California Dreaming. It’s about the search for romance in a city that is dark and dingy and full of holes someone could easily fall into. But what makes it so charming, and interesting ultimately in that European art-house way, is how Wong Kar Wai keeps a rhythm to his story that doesn’t follow rules, but feels right in a sense like some off-beat song on an obscure album only your hip friend down the block has. I’m not sure who, in the end, I would recommend Chungking Express. Probably film buff friends who enjoy obsessions over pineapple and girls.

There’s also a very good performance turned in by actress Brigitte Lin, who before this was a (enormously popular) pop star, and is slightly used as opposed to cast by Kar Wai as a figurehead, like some flashy, self-conscious symbol of a mystery in and of itself (blond wig, going about the crevices of town on some criminal mystery, the music playing in tight but sweet strings). It’s also great to see Tony Leung in an early role that allows him some space for some little notes of emotion we haven’t seen in future Wong Kar Wai movies where he’s the super-serious or melancholy lover. Not that there aren’t moments of the melancholy in Chungking Express, but they’re presented like it’s the most important thing to the characters, and to the audience is, well, just another piece to their puzzle as a whole character. Little by little we see that this isn’t much as a crime film in focusing on these two cops and this odd woman in a blond wig. Or even Fayes character. It’s a question of what makes up these characters, when romance throws caution into the wind.

I’ve seen Chungking Express in bits and pieces over the years, and while I will eventually get down and watch it from start to finish, all the pieces together (not to draw any sort of parallel in what I described and how I view the movie) stay fresh in my mind. I love revisiting the gil dancing to her own beat to California Dreaming, as if we’re in the room too. I also love how Kar Wai flashes so many techniques into his story, the flashes of colors, the combinations and segues of film speeds and a kind of impressionistic style that puts up noir into a more emotional plane. It’s one of the director’s best.

And the hype was about?…

Oddly enough it is not before 2013 that I got around to watching “Chungking Express”, despite being a huge fan of Hong Kong cinema and having lived and worked in Hong Kong as well. The reason for this? Well, I just never got around to it, despite having heard all the good things about this movie.

And now that I have seen it, I must say that this movie really wasn’t one that stood out that much in my opinion. The movie just didn’t leave that much of a lasting impression on me. Sure there were some really great scenes and some good ideas put to the screen, but overall the two stories told here were not just exceptional. The first story with the drug trafficking ring came off as too hastily put together, because there weren’t any satisfactory ending to it, in my opinion. Whereas the second story with the police officer and the waitress turned out to be much more appealing for me, as it was funnier and had a more coherent red thread throughout its course.

“Chungking Express” is not the type of Hong Kong movie that will appeal just to anyone, it certainly didn’t sit all that well with me, and I must admit that I have seen many more movies from Hong Kong that far outshines this one.

I am not saying that “Chungking Express” is a bad movie, far from it. It is just different – story-wise, that is.

As for the cinematography, well then they really did a good job here. The camera-work and the angles of the shots were just superb, and there was a very dynamic feel to the scenes in both the stories.

Which leaves me to comment on the acting. As a fan of Tony Leung, I must admit that the appeal to the second story had a big part of him being in it, as he always do great jobs with the movies he is in. But also noteworthy here was Faye Wong – also in the second story. Personally, I have never understood the hype about Brigette Lin, but hey, a matter a personal preference, I suppose. It was a bit strange to see Takeshi Kaneshiro in this movie, but he did a good job with his given character.

To me, “Chungking Express” was a fairly mediocre movie, though it did impress on the visual side, but it doesn’t really stand out for me in an otherwise overwhelming market of Hong Kong movies out there. Hence I am giving it a 5/10 rating only.