“Chungking Express” The atmosphere that flowed through Hong Kong in the early 1990s as captured by the masterpiece of romantic movies

“Chungking Express” synopsis

Mo (Takeshi Kaneshiro), a detective who is convinced that his girlfriend has broken up with him, goes to a bar and decides to fall in love with the next woman who comes in. He meets a blonde female drug dealer (Bridget Lin). meet. And just like Mo, Officer 663 also lost his lover. Policeman No. 663's girlfriend did not return to his home and left the letter and the duplicate key to his home at a delicatessen store. Faye (Faye Wong), a new clerk at the delicatessen store, tries to give them to him, but Officer 663 won't accept them. Faye then takes the key for herself and sneaks into Officer 663's home. He cleans his room, redecorates it, adds more fish to his tank, deletes his ex-girlfriend's voicemail, and begins a secret life.

Index

• An unexpected all-time best
• Part 1: The story of deadlines and capitalism
• Part 2: A story about the outside
• The miracle of cinema, beyond meaning and structure
• “The atmosphere of the times” captured by improvisation

An unexpected all-time best

A pop and stylish love story. ``The Chungking Express'' (1994), which shines brightly in director Wong Kar-wai's filmography, is still loved nearly 30 years after its release and continues to gain new fans. The phrase ``cool that never gets old even with the passing of time'' may be meant for this work.

Kar-Wai, who was suddenly nominated for the Camera d'Or (best new director) at the Cannes Film Festival for his debut film " I Want to Hold You Right Now " (1988), went on to film " Days of Being Wild " (1990) and then " Flaws in Paradise " (1994). ) has begun production. However, production of ``Flaws in Paradise'', which featured a number of star actors, was difficult. Without waiting for the project to be completed, Kar-wai began filming this film, wanting to ``make a film that feels more light and free.''

“Chungking Express” preview

Regardless of his intentions, this film inadvertently changed Kar-Wai's destiny. In 1995, the year after its release in Hong Kong, it won four awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards, also known as the Hong Kong Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Quentin Tarantino, who was all the rage with his works ` `Reservoir Dogs '' (1992) and `` Pulp Fiction '' (1994), was enthusiastic about this work and introduced it in the United States, so the names Kar-Wai and ``Chungking Express'' became world famous. It started to roar inside.

``Chungking Express'' is the ``best of all time'' by film director Wong Kar-wai. There are already hidden themes in this work that are common to Kar-wai's later works. In other words, the atmosphere of Hong Kong in the early 1990s is clearly reflected in the ``coolness that never gets old.'' In this article, I would like to take a closer look at the core of this film, which was born by chance, but was meticulously crafted.

Part 1: The story of deadlines and capitalism