Chungking Express (1994) Review
4/5 Stars
Chungking Express is my first Wong Kar-Wai film. From what I hear, he’s a legendary filmmaker best known for his romance film In the Mood for Love. I hear it’s “a masterclass in yearning” which was never the most exciting pitch to me, so I mostly ignored his work. IMDB labeled Chungking Express as a crime drama romance which piqued my interest, but after watching it, that’s not really true. Chungking Express is an anthology film about two heartbroken cops that frequent a local restaurant. This movie reminded me the rule of anthology films: there’s always at least one dud. I’ve heard this, and I can’t think of an example of it not being true. With only two stories, it’s still true for Chungking Express.
The first story follows a young cop name He Zhiwu (Takeshi Kaneshiro) who was recently dumped by his girlfriend May. Most of the story is expressed in Zhiwu’s inner monologue. He’s not taking the breakup well. He has a juvenile romantic way of thinking that is hilariously pathetic. He’s looking for a sign to move on, so he decides to give it a month. If she doesn’t take him back, he will give up on his relationship with May. Adding a bit of good luck charm to his plan, he eats a can of pineapples with the expiration date of May 1st every day until the expiration date arrives. Why pineapples? May loves pineapples. This man is too much, but I feel for him. The expiration date arrives, and he officially gives up on May. He heads to the bar. To move on from May, he says he will fall in love with the first woman who walks in.
The first woman to walk in is a woman wearing a blonde wig and sunglasses (Brigitte Lin). This is not the first time she has appeared in this story. The story opens with Zhiwu’s inner monologue speaking of the many people we pass on the street every day. Most of them will be strangers, but some of them may become significant people in our lives. This opening scene is captured at a low framerate focused on the woman in the blonde wig moving quickly through the streets. The people around her are all a blur emphasizing Zhiwu’s words. Zhiwu is chasing down a perpetrator leading him to bump into the woman. The frame freezes. Zhiwu says this is the woman he is going to fall in love with. Between scenes with Zhiwu, the movie follows the woman working in the streets selling drugs and passports. This meeting between Zhiwu and the woman in the blonde wig at the bar doesn’t go as expected. There is no romance between cop and criminal. The fact that Zhiwu is a cop is irrelevant to the rest of the story. This is about a failed love connection. Zhiwu tries to chat up the woman, but she’s not interested. He persists, but she eventually drinks herself unconscious. He helps her to a hotel room and waits for her to sober up, but he eventually moves on with his life.
The movie doesn’t dig into who the woman in the blonde wig is. Zhiwu chatting her up does appear to cause her to do some self-reflection. There are brief glimpses of a white man seducing another Asian woman in a blonde wig. The movie doesn’t explain who he is, but after her night with Zhiwu, she murders this white man. It’s a shocking bit of violence that feels out of nowhere. The story ends, and it feels abrupt. While the second story was going, I was expecting the movie to go back and finish the first story, but it never does. The line about falling in love with this woman appears to be a joke. As much fun as I had with Zhiwu’s heartbreak, this ending was unsatisfying. This is the dud of the anthology.
The second story makes this movie worth watching. Zhiwu’s story ends with him bumping into another woman named Faye (Faye Wong). He says she will fall in love with another cop only referred to as Cop 663 (Tony Leung Chiu-wai). Unlike the previous section, this story gives rich coverage of both Faye and Cop 663. Faye starts working at the Midnight Express for her uncle (Piggy Chan). She catches the attention of Cop 663 who frequents the restaurant because of her loud music. Licensed music plays a huge role in this part of the movie. “California Dreamin’” in particular as it’s the song Faye plays at the restaurant all the time way too loud. Faye develops a crush on Cop 663 from afar. She picks up details on him dating a flight attendant that ends in a breakup. The flight attendant leaves a note and keys to Cop 663’s place for him at the Midnight Express because she knows he’ll be there eventually. Instead of giving him the letter, Faye keeps the keys and enters his home when he’s not around.
This woman Faye was not only breaking into this man’s house; she was rearranging the place. Changing sheets, replacing his stuffed animal and flip flops, and adding fish to his fish tank. She went into his apartment every day. I was freaking out expecting her to draw too much attention, but Cop 663 is too heartbroken to notice. His approach to heartbreak is more sweet than the pathetic Zhiwu. He talks to inanimate objects in his apartment with reassuring words clearly meant for himself. He even continues to do this after Faye has switched out the objects which is bizarre, but he takes it as a sign of things getting better. That skinny bar of soap and torn up towel he shared encouraging words with are now brand new. Faye’s actions are helping uplift this man.
Before Faye does her daily B&E, she checks up on Cop 663 to make sure he’s not going to be at his place for a while. It’s in these moments when Cop 663 begins to notice her. He’s developing an affection for her. I keep thinking the girl should just ask him out at this point before this all comes crashing down, but she never does. Of course, she finally gets caught. Instead of facing the consequences, she runs away. She foolishly returns to work where he catches up to her. Once again, the fact that he’s a cop doesn’t factor into this. He doesn’t arrest her. He asks her out. This feels like the start of their relationship, but she doesn’t meet him for the date. She takes her dream trip to California instead.
A year later, she comes back. They both clearly had an effect on the direction of each other’s lives. Cop 663 has now bought the restaurant Faye used to work at. Faye became a flight attendant. Faye is still a bit skittish around Cop 663, but the cop still holds affection for her. The connection endured the time apart.
These cops go through heartbreak, but they recover and get back out there looking for love. These meetings between people hold their effect even if they don’t last. The first story lacks an even hand in the portrayal of its characters. The blonde woman is too distracting to not prompt more questions about her life, and the ending is too explosive to leave without a follow-up. The second story is a romance worthy of the greats with a woman not yet ready to embrace her feelings and a man regaining his strength to pursue his again. The movie leaves me questioning why it chose to follow cops when their occupation never factors into the story. Technically, both love interests are criminals, but it’s especially odd in the first story featuring drugs and murder. Chungking Express may only have one worthwhile story, but it’s strong enough to carry the movie.