Chung Hing sam lam (1994)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Kar Wai Wong

Writer:

Kar Wai Wong (writer)

Release Date:

8 March 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Mystery | Romance

Tagline:

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

Plot:

Wong Kar-Wai's movie about two love-struck cops is filmed in impressionistic splashes of motion and color...

Plot Keywords:

Flight Attendant | Hong Kong | Pineapple | Obsessive Compulsive Disorder | Whisky

Awards:

7 wins & 9 nominations

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lynne Langdon	...	Complaining customer (uncredited)

Directed by
Kar Wai Wong

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kar Wai Wong		writer

Produced by
Pui-wah Chan	....	executive producer
Yi-kan Chan	....	producer

Original Music by
Frankie Chan		(as Fan-Kei Chan)
Michael Galasso
Roel A. García

Cinematography by
Christopher Doyle
Wai-keung Lau

Film Editing by
William Chang
Kit-Wai Kai
Chi-Leung Kwong

Production Design by
William Chang

Art Direction by
Weiming Qiu

Costume Design by
William Chang

Makeup Department
Lee-na Kwan	....	makeup artist (as Guan Lina)
Zhenglin Li	....	hair stylist
Yuhao Wu	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Jacky Pang Yee Wah	....	production supervisor (as Jacky Pang)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Yuecheng Jiang	....	assistant director
Zeng Shaoting	....	assistant director

Special Effects by
Deng Weijue	....	special effects
Ding Yunda	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Xiaolong Cheng	....	visual effects

Production Companies

• Jet Tone Production

Distributors

• Atalanta Filmes (1996) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Cinema Mondo (2007) (Finland) (theatrical)
• JMM Invest (1996) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Miramax Films (1996) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Rolling Thunder (1996) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Artificial Eye (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• Buena Vista Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (Japan) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Homescreen (199?) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Miramax Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Chungking Express (UK) (USA)
Chongqing senlin (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
Chung King Express (Hong Kong: English title)
Chungking Jungle (literal English title)
Hong Kong Express (Europe: English title)

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

Hong Kong:98 min | 102 min (international version)

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | English | Japanese | Hindi | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Certification:

Finland:K-11 (re-release) | Philippines:PG-13 | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-12 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | South Korea:15 | Singapore:PG | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Jet Tone Production

Trivia:

Kaneshiro Takeshi spoke four languages himself in this film. His narrations were all in Mandarin, most of his live lines are in heavily-accented Cantonese, he spoke Japanese when he called one of his ex-girlfriends, and had one line of English when he apprehended a suspect (he said "hands up!" to him). He used all 4 when he approached Bridgett Lin's character.

Quotes:

Cop663: [to new bar of soap] You mustn't let yourself go. You've gained weight so fast. She may have gone but life goes on. You must stop indulging yourself.
Cop663: [to new towel] You're a real disappointment to me. You've changed so much. You can't just switch personality like this. Her walking out is no excuse.
Cop663: [as it drips] It was such a relief when I saw it crying. It may look different, but it's still true to itself. It's still an emotionally charged towel.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Fa yeung nin wa (2000)

Soundtrack:

Baroque

Wong Kar-Wai's love letter to modern Hong Kong is one of the most invigorating films I've ever experienced.

There aren't many films that I've connected with as much as Chungking Express. It is endlessly rewatchable, consistently thrilling and absolutely life-affirming. Every frame is an absolute pleasure, bursting with colour and life. Wong Kar-Wai's existential love story is one of the most joyful cinematic experiences I've had in my life, and I'm sure that won't change any time soon.

The narrative of the film is simple, once you get over the fact that it is divided into two parts. The first half of the film, starring Brigitte Lin and Takeshi Kaneshiro, is perhaps the most overtly post-modern, referencing both film noir and the British handover to China heavily. It is also perhaps the most visually startling, with DP Christopher Doyle pioneering some astonishing camera techniques, which bend, stretch and distort the film, creating an almost hallucinatory effect; it is disorienting, dizzying, and utterly exhilarating. The second half is the most widely-discussed story, and stars Tony Leung and the absolutely adorable Faye Wong. It is a more straightforward romantic comedy, its style more Godardian than the first.

In fact, Godard is a useful reference point, particularly A Bout de Soufflé, which Chungking Express essentially separates in half, into film noir and romance. This can be seen in the contrast between Brigitte Lin's femme fatale in the first half, her blonde wig and sunglasses reminiscent of Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity, and Faye Wong's strong resemblance to Jean Seberg, the female lead in Godard's film, in the second half.

It is this post-modern fixation on Western popular culture (importantly not Chinese culture) that brings so much colour to the film. Wong shot the film in Hong Kong's Chungking Mansions, a densely populated market area, so the flood of neon logos for Western products is ever-present, at times saturating the screen. The way in which Wong brings these logos to the fore suggests a love of Western culture, and a desire to maintain this, under threat of Chinese rule, and the eventual abandonment of Capitalism. This love is reflected in the soundtrack, which is hugely eclectic, incorporating Vangelis-style-Blade-Runneresque synths, mellow, soft-porn-style jazz, ska, bhangra and Western pop, including Faye Wong's Canto-Pop rendition of 'Dreams', by the Cranberries and, most memorably, the Mamas and the Papas West Coast classic, 'California Dreamin''. The song not only alludes to Faye's desire to escape to California; it is representative of the overall 'catchiness' of Chungking Express. This is a film that captures the exuberance and spontaneity of youth, and has come to represent (to me, at least) contemporary values, and the idea that the pop culture of the late 20th/early 21st Century is just as valid as the so-called 'high' culture found in art galleries, concert halls and museums.

Chungking Express is a justification for popular culture, a justification of modern life, while also showing that art does have a place in the modern world. Wong reclaims art, with a film that combines 'low' and 'high' art, bringing it to the streets of a city where East meets West. If there is a film more representative of everyday modern life, I haven't seen it.