Review of Chungking Express (1994) by Emily L — 01 May 2009

Chungking Express is definitely a movie which is not for everyone. The truth is that actually I haven't been able to completely figure it out; but even so, it has captivated me in an almost obsesive fashion.

This is one of those movies which is not about the plot. Actually, describing the plot might even sound absurd: one of the stories about a cop falling in love with a drug dealer, the other one about another cop invaded in his appartment by a crazy girl from a food shop.

But then again, the movie is not about the plot. In first place, we have all the imaginery, which is captivating itself and unique. In every single take you see a lot of colors and constrasts and in many of those takes you get to see many unusual angles, some of them quite simple, and some of them more elaborated, but at the end unusual.

Also, like in most Wong Kar Wai's movies, you get a lot of ideas about love and relations srpead all over the different events and characters, and the reasonings made by them. Many of these ideas and how they are portrayed are really interesting, and many others are still a puzzle for me (what's up with the cheff salads?).

Phrases such as "If memory can be canned, I hope it never expires; If an expiration date must be added to it, I hope it will be 10,000 years", Tony Leung's character talking with the soap and the towel, the boarding pass which he doesn't know where it takes, are elements which are actually reflections on relationships, empathy, longing and liking.

Another amazing work by Wong Kar Wai.