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

Wong Kar-Wai modeled Brigitte Lin's character after Gena Rowlands in John Cassavetes's "Gloria", and actress Greta Garbo.

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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

Woman in blonde wig: Actually, really knowing someone doesn't mean anything. People change. A person may like pineapple today and something else tomorrow.

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Connections

References Midnight Express (1978)

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Soundtracks

"Things In Life"
by Dennis Brown

User Reviews

Did I just watch 2 movies?

Chongqing senlin, released in 1994 and directed by Kar-wai Wong, takes place in Hong Kong and is the classic love struggle/heroine smuggling film. To say this film is unique is an understatement. While Chongqing senlin drastically deviates from traditional Hollywood blockbusters, it is still able to provide as much excitement as Armageddon and as much confusion as Waterworld.

The plot connects two storylines, one of which revolves around a blond wigged woman, played by Brigitte Lin, who is hired to smuggle heroine out of Hong Kong. The other focuses on young Cop 223, named He Zhiwu played by Takeshi Kaneshiro, who has just broken up with his girlfriend of 5 years. Depressed and lonely, Cop 223 decides to buy a can of pineapple, his ex-girlfriend May's favorite fruit, every day until May 1.

Wong strings the two stories along using mixes of handheld camera and set shots, normal film, video, and pixilated images. The plot of the film is interesting and gripping, as well as hard to follow, but the true nature of the film comes through in the actual film itself. The direction and cinematography are both superb, and for viewers looking to appreciate a well made movie Chongqing senlin should satisfy, but for average Joe this film may rate somewhere near The Postman.

Chungking Express, released in 1994 and directed by Kar-wai Wong, takes place in Hong Kong and is the classic girl meets guy, girl likes guy, girl breaks into guy's apartment with stolen key and plays with his possessions film. What the film lacks in plot clarity it makes up for in technical excellence.

The plot connects two storylines, one of which revolves around Cop 663, played by Tony Leung Chiu Wai, who breaks up with his airlines stewardess girlfriend. The other story follows a young service industry worker named Faye, played by Hong Kong's pop queen Faye, who falls in love with Cop 663 and does her best to become part of his life without ever needing to talk or be with him by using his apartment only when he's not there.

The two plots entwine and work off of each other but they are slow and unimportant. The commentary on loneliness and depression, and the depiction of the difficulties of real everyday relationships are the true focus of the story, and Wong uses pace and perspective in order to advance these ideas. Chungking Express proceeds slowly and deliberately, creating a sense of repetitiveness that adds to the feeling of depression showed by Cop 663. The film also uses a lot of hand held camera, which allows the audience to lose themselves further in the frustrations of the relationships. While Chungking Express may be too slow paced and trivial for Hollywooded viewers, film buffs and aficionados would be interested by its unique film style.