Details
Movie Description
Acclaimed Hong Kong New Wave director Wong Kar-Wai presents a kinetic, offbeat look at his city in these two stories. The first concerns a young woman (Brigitte Lin) who has been double-crossed in a heroin deal and her budding romance with a lovelorn cop (Takeshi Kaneshiro). The second deals with another officer (Tony Leung) whose girlfriend has left him and the young waitress (Faye Wong) who tries to help him without his knowledge.
Film Notes
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85:1
Audio:
Stereo - Cantonese
Subtitles - English - Optional
Additional Release Material:
Introduction - 1. Quentin Tarantino
Trailers
Interactive Features:
Scene Access
Interactive Menus
Theatrical release: March 8, 1996.
The film was shown at the New York Film Festival in September 1994.
The first film distributed in the United States by Quentin Tarantino's company, Rolling Thunder. The film was a major influence on Tarantino's PULP FICTION. After seeing CHUNGKING EXPRESS, Tarantino said, "I just started crying. I'm just so happy to love a movie this much."
The film was shot in only 23 days.
Wong Kar-Wai modeled Brigitte Lin, who plays the woman in the blonde wig and
sunglasses, on Gena Rowlands in John Cassavetes's GLORIA as well as on
Greta Garbo. In fact, at the Bottoms Up bar Lin orders a whiskey--the first
words ever spoken onscreen by Garbo were "Gimme a whiskey," in NINOTCHKA.
Lin's character also talks about wanting to be alone, a Garbo trademark. CHUNGKING EXPRESS was Lin's final film.
Wong had spent so much time working on ASHES OF TIME that he needed a break
from editing that picture and ended up making CHUNGKING EXPRESS in the
interval.
Faye Wong, who plays Faye, was a Chinese rock star, and she made her
feature-film acting debut in CHUNGKING EXPRESS. She can be heard on the
soundtrack singing a version of the Cranberries' "Dreams." Faye also sings
two other songs--"Random Thinking" (also known as "Weird Thinking") and "Know Oneself and Others."
The song that represents Faye throughout the film is the Mama and the Papas'
"California Dreaming."
Tony Leung's character, who is never named, is cop number 663.
Takeshi Kaneshiro plays He Qiwu, who is cop number 223. His telephone account number is 368, and his password is Undying Love, which can also be translated as "Love You for 10,000 Years," which helps explain the film's English-language tag line: If my memory of her has an expiration date, let it be 10,000 years...
There were originally going to be three main stories in the film, but only two were used; the third one became FALLEN ANGELS.
The apartment where cop numer 663 lives is in actuality the apartment of director of photography Christopher Doyle.
At the 1995 Honk Kong Film Awards CHUNGKING won honors for Best Film, Best
Director (Wong Kar-Wai), and Best Editing (William Chang Suk Ping).
Dinah Washington's version of "What a Difference a Day Makes" also appears
in the film.
Industry Reviews
"...Exhilarating....There is no mistaking Wong's talent..."
Rolling Stone - Peter Travers (03/07/1996)
"...Visual flair....[Wong] displays aggressive energy..."
New York Times - Janet Maslin (09/26/1994)
"...Head over heels with stop-motion...and gleefully spinning off socko genre lines..."
Film Comment - Robert Horton (11/01/1994)
"...CHUNGKING EXPRESS is as fresh as falling rain, a pair of love stories full of pain and humor....Wong has as wonderful a way with actors as he has with a camera..."
Los Angeles Times - Kevin Thomas (03/08/1996)
"...Wong is more of an art director, playing with the medium itself, taking fractured elements of criss-crossing stories and running them through the blender of pop culture..."
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert (03/15/1996)
"A hip and quirky movie, perhaps, but one that's gently profound, too."
Uncut - John Mulvey (09/01/2004)
"Full of Wong's signature blurred slo-mo, this playful charmer interweaves two stories..."
Entertainment Weekly - Missy Schwartz (04/11/2008)
Quotations
"I wonder if there's anything in the world that won't expire." -- He Quiwu, Cop 223 (TAKESHI KANESHIRO)
"... because I've become more and more unlike Bruce Willis." -- He Quiwu, Cop 223 (TAKESHI KANESHIRO), when asked why his girlfriend left him.
"Did I leave the tap on, or is my apartment getting more tearful?" -- Cop 663 (TONY LEUNG CHIU-WAI), after there's a flood in his apartment.
"You've lost a lot of weight -- you need more self-confidence!" -- Cop 663 (TONY LEUNG CHIU-WAI), to his bar of soap.
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