Review of Chungking Express (1994) by Alvin Y — 13 Apr 2011

Chyngking Express is a movie that I think makes me sometimes depressed and most of the time feel happy from these characters and the world that they're in. The reason why I watched this movie is because recently I read an article about Quentin Tarantino, yes the guy who made Pulp Fiction and the Kill Bill films, so what is his connection to this film, is he the director or the producer, NO, here's why, on that article, Tarantino claims that he cried at the end of this picture while watching it at UCLA. What! He cried, that's shocking. Here's why, because he said that this is a film that you can relate to yourself than to follow it's plot to the end even though most of the time it gets a little complicated. What I think of Tarantino's opinion, is that it is fair because I had the same thoughts of him while watching this movie BUT I didn't cry at the end, instead I felt a lot of things are missing but anyhow, the concept like the inventive use of film techniques and use of soundtrack just works, kinda like a Jean Luc Godard style of filmmaking. For instance, the lady name Faye or I think May, she listens to the song California Dreamin' by the Mamas and the Papas, in this film it was played like 5-10 times, and I think I get the idea why, simply because she wants to go to California, but why she needs to listen to this song over and over again, even at her job. One thing is this policeman, our main character who is so lonely and depressed because his girlfriend split with her and now he has to find another woman by eating canned goods that are almost about to expire so that he countdown the days. Now, does it making sense or not yet? Another thing is that where did the wigged lady go after the second story begins?

Overall, what more could I say, this is a good movie that talks about these people's journeys and sacrifices about life and love. Even though it had 2 stories, it feels like it is somewhat connected to each other. So, again for Tarantino, I think he loves this film as much, and now I get it why, but to me, still I wasn't impressed more but instead felt inspired to these people once in a while.