The main thing that you'll notice about Chungking Express (which incidentally must challenge for worst translated title ever) is the style. A mirage of flashy effects, beautiful cityscapes and vivid colors, the film is a joy to look at. On one hand, this is great, as it breaks the formula ... Read review
Chungking Expresstells two stories loosely connected by a Hong Kong snack bar. In one, a ... more
cop who's been recently dumped by his girlfriend becomes obsessed with the expiry dates on cans of pineapple; he's constantly distracted as he tries to track down ...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Cult filmmaker Wong Kar Wai's hugely influential breakthrough film is a supremely stylish ... more
combination of love story and thriller set in and around Hong Kong's infamous Chungking Mansions a vast complex of shabby hostels bars and clubs. The film tells the stories of two lovelorn cops (Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung) and the women with whom they become involved: a mysterious blonde-wigged drug dealer (Brigitte Lin) and an impulsive young dreamer (Faye Wong). Featuring a charismatic cast a cool pop soundtrack and stunning photography by Christopher Doyle Chungking Express is both unconventional and dazzlingly original.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Two stories which revolve around cops, drugs and dreamers. In the first a cop meets a ... more
woman in a late night bar, not realising that she's a heroin smuggler. In the second a broken-hearted cop in a fast-food joint fails to realise that the counter girl has a crush on him. Cantonese and Mandarin dialogue with subtitles.
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Action/Adventure - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Jack Ging, Marla Heasley, Lance Legault, Melinda Culea, Mr T, Dwight Schultz, Dirk Benedict, George Peppard, Carl Franklin
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 1977 - Action/Adventure - Director: Clint Eastwood - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring:Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney
Advantages: Unique style, nicely told stories. Disadvantages: No real connection between both stories offered.
...thing that you'll notice about Chungking Express (which incidentally must challenge for worst translated title ever) is the style. A mirage of flashy effects, beautiful cityscapes and vivid colors, the film is a joy to look at. On one hand, this is great, as it breaks the formula look that seems to dictate the style of some many films. On the other hand it's unfortunate as it can distract away from the stories on offer here, which is a shame, as ... ...films I write about. Chungking Express is an excellent film that deserves to be seen, although I do question exactly who would like it. It's not an easy film by any means, but that shouldn't put people off, although if they want a stepping stone, In The Mood For Love (also by Kar Wai Wong, and reviewed by me) is a far more accessible film. Overall though, Chungking Express, underneath all of the visual styling does tell two very simple, very beautiful ... more
The main thing that you'll notice about Chungking Express (which incidentally must challenge for worst translated title ever) is the style. A mirage of flashy effects, beautiful cityscapes and vivid colors, the film is a joy to look at. On one hand, this is great, as it breaks the formula look that seems to dictate the style of some many films. On the other hand it's unfortunate as it can distract away from the stories on offer here, which is a shame, as however nice the film looks, the underlying stories are the most important part.
Chunking Express tells two similar, yet very different stories about love and the losing of it. In the first, Cop 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro) is getting over the break-up with his girlfriend. He gives himself a month for her to return. If she doesn't in that time, he decides to fall in love with the first woman that he sees. He does this, and it just so happens that the woman he falls in love with (Brigitte Lin) deals in international drug trafficking. In the second story, Cop 633 (Tony Leung) is getting over the break-up from his girlfriend too. He isn't looking for someone else, but the employee of the cafe he visits, Faye (Faye Wong) takes it upon herself to improve his life by sneaking into his apartment when he is out and doing little things for him.
Now, the skill displayed by Kar Wai Wong is to successfully play with our perceptions. A viewer going into the film blind wouldn't be aware of the two story structure, and thus would be expecting the first story to develop in a generic cop falls in love with criminal storyline. That it doesn't makes the film certainly unique, and to some, probably frustrating. The story is never fully developed as it jumps to the next story before any kind of resolutions, or even revealations can occur. What we have here is simply a snapshot of a small period in time, that doesn't really have a beginning or an end, just a middle. Personally I find that this works in the films favor, but how much one enjoys it will hinge heavily on how nicely the viewer likes everything to be wrapped up.
The second story on the other hand does have a resolution, even if it's a somewhat strange one. The entire second story in itself is strange though, even if one can get through how far fetched the concept is. I chose to overlook it as the beauty of the story underneath was worth it, but whether others can do this is another matter. Both Leung and Wong are perfect in their roles, to the point that even though they are completely different, we can see how well they do suit each other. That one person would go so out of their way just to make anothers life a little better without any recognition is a wonderful thing, even if the film itself at times seems to disagree.
On a visual level, you will be hard pushed to find a more stylised film. This is all the more impressive considering most of the locations used aren't particularly interesting in themselves. The skill of Wai Wong is that he can make even the mundane interesting, which in effect is what the film is about as a whole. The stories aren't earth shattering, yet the way they are presented to us makes them feel like they are. The same applies to the sense of visual style within the film. Even the crummiest cafe feels important with the attention to detail that it receives. The uniqueness of the film as a whole is pushed also by the strange soundtrack choices on the film. The characters, despite being Chinese, seem obsessed with western music, and as such this plays a large part in what we are constantly hearing. This is amplified for the second story where 'California Dreamin' by the Mamas and the Papas is played endlessly. Although this does fit nicely with the overall resolution, and in hindsight works well, while viewing it can be at times a little distracting.
Once again I find myself trying to push a foreign (and as usual lately, a Chinese one) onto people who may not have discovered it otherwise. This may in fact be a lost cause, as it seems to be with many foreign films, but the attempt is still worth it if even a few people then become curious about any of the films I write about. Chungking Express is an excellent film that deserves to be seen, although I do question exactly who would like it. It's not an easy film by any means, but that shouldn't put people off, although if they want a stepping stone, In The Mood For Love (also by Kar Wai Wong, and reviewed by me) is a far more accessible film. Overall though, Chungking Express, underneath all of the visual styling does tell two very simple, very beautiful stories, and that's the part that matters.
Advantages: Multiple narratives which are intelligently woven together showing experiences of love and loss Disadvantages: If you don't like having to read subtitles then this will not be the film for you
...Songshen .... Man
REVIEW
Chungking Express is a film which is set in Hong Kong, showing the fast paced culture that is present here and presenting the lifestyles of three main individual; the characters of Faye, Cop 223, and Cop 663. The lives of these three key individuals are woven together along with the Blonde Woman at the beginning who remains nameless despite having her own sub-story in the film and her own voiceover narrative.
This film ... ...Kong can now be seen to possess. The effect of globalisation is subtly portrayed in this film such as with the logos of McDonalds, Coca, Cola, and Del Monte amongst other shown in the film. The Coca Cola label is often focussed on in the fast food place that Faye works in and it can be seen that Wong Kar Wai is here presenting to us that Hong Kong is just like any other major city such as New York or London in many respects.
At the beginning of ...
RazzaLazza 22.06.2006
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Chungking Express (DVD)
Advantages: Simple story,Performances. Disadvantages: Might not appeal to many.second story slightly boring
Chungking Express was released in 1996 and is in Cantonese/Mandarin.Set in Hongkong,it tells two different stories with some sense of similarity. Both of them focus on two different policemen who are coping with a breakup with their respective girlfriends. This is a romantic drama,where the characters undergo a loss of love and somehow in their own way finds new hope and love. The first story has Takeshi Kaneshiro and he does a fine job at portraying ... ...his own style by buying canned pineapples) for her to return. The second story has Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Faye and covers a longer duration. The film is one of those where a viewer has a lot to read between the lines,it is certainly a film that was ahead of its times. The backdrop of the small restaurant makes an interesting impression on the viewers mind. The characters are given a lot of nifty details and certain sequences are really well enacted ...
aadnan613 03.11.2009
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Chungking Express (DVD)
Advantages: An historical document that's fast and funny, a wild ride Disadvantages: None
Won Kar-Wai's CHUNGKING EXPRESS was released in 1994, part drama, part thriller, part romance, part comedy and a melancholic fable on the loneliness of this modern world in which we have lost ourselves. Based in Honk-Kong's Chungking Mansions, a visually stunning, densely populated complex of neon-lit shabby hostels, bars, clubs and drugs, we follow four of its isolated inhabitants as the similarities of their unusual stories very cleverly link whilst, ... ...with shaky hand-held cameras. Indeed, CHUNGKING EXPRESS absolutely crackles with a breathless sense of urgency that after one hour-and-forty minutes left me speechless, having brilliantly reflected the lexicon of emotions of city life, portrayed in those crucial years in which it was made, those leading up to Hong-Kong's handover to China. A great film.
(A film-only review; not to be associated with the format it comes on, available bonus features ...
Charles_Strickland 26.10.2006 (27.10.2006)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Chungking Express (DVD)
Two stories which revolve around cops, drugs and dreamers. In the first a cop meets a woman in a late night bar, not realising that she's a heroin smuggler. In the second a broken-hearted cop in a fast-food joint fails to realise that the counter girl has a crush on him. Cantonese and Mandarin dialogue with subtitles.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
ARTIFICIAL EYE; FUSION MEDIA SALES, ARTIFICIAL EYE; FUSION MEDIA SALES; SONY DADC
Release date
28/06/2004
No of Discs
1
Catalogue No
ART 278 DVD
Barcode
5021866278308
Director of Photography
Christopher Doyle
Languages
Main Language
Cantonese\Mandarin
Subtitle Language
English
Technical information
Special Features
Filmographies
Aspect Ratio
Wide Screen, 16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 2.0, Dolby Digital
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 2.0 Cantonese Mandarin
Professional reviews
Review
"...High octane visuals and action... Rapturous entertainment..." (Sight and Sound, )
"...Wong Kar-Wai is the most fashionable director on the planet. The last word in movie chic..." (The Face, )
"...Clearly one of the greatest talents of contemporary cinema..." (The Guardian, )
"...Sheer bliss... Fast, funny and very catchy... Essential viewing..." (Time Out, )
DVD 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 police officer (Tony Leung) whose air-hostess girlfriend has left him and the shy young waitress (Faye Wong) who lets herself into his flat and cleans for him without his knowledge. Featuring lively, stunning photography from Kar-Wai regular Christopher Doyle and the Mamas & the Papa's California Dreaming, as part of the poppy soundtrack, this is a dazzling cult favourite.
Compare Chungking Express (DVD) to other similar Action & Adventure »
![Chungking Express [DVD] [1995]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78516608.jpg)
