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Chungking Express

created by Dorian

(thing) by Dorian (10.5 mon) (print)   ?   1 C! I like it! Sat Nov 13 1999 at 10:22:53

Wong Kar-wai's 1994 movie. There's a cop who's been dumped by his girl. There's a mystery woman (Brigitte Lin) who's into drug-smuggling. Then there's another cop (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) who's been dumped by his stewardess girlfriend, but meets a girl (Faye Wong) who works at a fastfood shop, and she takes to breaking into his apartment and doing his housework. Best of all is when the 2nd cop walks into close-up to the sound of "California Dreaming". This film made Quentin Tarantino cry. Magic.

(thing) by drenehtsral (1.2 wk) (print)   ?   2 C!s I like it! Wed Jan 16 2002 at 17:13:57

Chungking Express was written by Wong Kar-wai. The movie was made in Hong Kong in 1994. The film stars:

A couple additional notes on the film:

This movie is a story about a handful of lonely people in a busy and anonymous city. It's about being surrounded by people but feeling alone. It's about the silly rituals and little things people to to help them cope with the world. It's really a film about human nature and the little dramas that make up real life.

The film centers around the regular customers and employees of a small deli in Hong Kong. It's broken down into two stories, each about a regular customer (both are police officers, although they don't know each other), who has recently suffered a heartbreak. The owner of the deli plays an avuncular busybody who offers advice and consolation to the lovelorn. The real beauty of the film is the intense humanity of the characters. Each one is very real, down to their faults, their hangups, their individual mannerisms, their private thoughts and speculations, their hopes and dreams, and their little pleasures in life.

For the most part nothing completely remarkable happens in this film, but that is part of what makes it so cool. The film tells a story that is not terribly exciting in isolation, but because you get to know the characters so deeply, you find yourself really riveted to the story.

If you like this movie, you may also care for "Smoke", and likewise, if you cared for Smoke, watch Chungking Express if you get the chance.


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