Chungking Express (1994)
"Chung Hing sam lam" (original title)

Wong Kar-Wai's movie about two love-struck cops is filmed in impressionistic splashes of motion and color. The first half deals with Cop 223, who has broken up with his girlfriend of five ... See full summary »

Director:

Kar Wai Wong

Writer:

Kar Wai Wong

Stars:

Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Faye Wong

9 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Brigitte Lin	...	Woman in blonde wig (as Ching-hsia Lin)
Tony Leung Chiu Wai	...	Cop 663
Faye Wong	...	Faye
Takeshi Kaneshiro	...	He Zhiwu, Cop 223
Valerie Chow	...	Air Hostess
Chen Jinquan	...	Manager of 'Midnight Express'
Lee-na Kwan	...	Richard (as Guan Lina)
Zhiming Huang	...	Man
Liang Zhen	...	The 2nd May
Songshen Zuo	...	Man

Storyline

Wong Kar-Wai's movie about two love-struck cops is filmed in impressionistic splashes of motion and color. The first half deals with Cop 223, who has broken up with his girlfriend of five years. He purchases a tin of pineapples with an expiration date of May 1 each day for a month. By the end of that time, he feels that he will either be rejoined with his love or that it too will have expired forever. The second half shows Cop 663 dealing with his breakup with his flight attendant girlfriend. He talks to his apartment furnishings until he meets a new girl at a local lunch counter.

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Plot Keywords:

girl | hong kong | love | expiration date | date | 

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Taglines:

If my memory of her has an expiration date, let it be 10,000 years...

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some violence, sexuality and drug content

Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese English Japanese Hindi Mandarin

Release Date:

8 March 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Chungking Express

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Box Office

Gross:

SGD 167,000 (Singapore)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jet Tone Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min 102 min (international)

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cop 663's apartment is in fact the apartment of Christopher Doyle.

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Goofs

The woman in the blonde wig had no apparent opportunity to get the beeper number except from Cop 223 himself the night before, and he wouldn't have started to abandon his beeper as useless if he had just given someone new the number.

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Quotes

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: Do you... like pineapple?

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Connections

References A Clockwork Orange (1971)

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Soundtracks

"California Dreamin'"
by The Mamas and the Papas

User Reviews

The movie and the feeling, both are confusing.

Hmm. I just saw this on tv. Before it started they called it "Hong Kong's Pulp Fiction" and warned the audience for violent scenes. I have no idea why they did that because this was not the action flick I expected, instead I got a romantic film which still kept me interested. Hell, I might even say it touched me a little.

It starts rather uninteresting, the first part being the "thriller" ingredience of this movie, but it got better when we got to meet the first of the lovesick cops. I really liked all the characters except the girl with the wig who just looked stupid and faceless with her big sunglasses on all the time.

Sure some of the shaky camerawork and excessive use of the strob effect were a bit annoying, but the director's playfulness pays off as we get some really cool and original shots as well.

In the end though this movie actually made me feel something and I think you should see it.