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Review : Chunking Express on DVD
I have heard about Chunking Express but I took a bit of a chance buying it at Uwajimaya. I love Hong Kong cinema but usually watch the action Kung Fu flicks. This film is not what one would expect from the Hong Kong film industry. It is influenced by the French New Wave and American independent cinema. This DVD is in Quentin Tarantino's Rolling Thunder Video collection because he love this film so much as do I. I had a lot to think about this movie and I watched it a number of times before I could gather my thoughts about it.
Chunking Express is a mixture of three short stories. It stars cops but it is not a cop movie and it has romance but it is more a breakup movie than a typical romance.
The writer/director Wong Kar-Wai was in the middle of editing an epic martial arts action movie and he was at an artistic dead end. He stopped work on his epic and wrote and shot this low-budget low-expectation emotional indy artistic film before finishing his blockbuster. All the people from Hong Kong that I have met love this flick.
I really love this movie so I am going to talk about it in detail. If you are worried about having the plot spoiled then stop reading this review right now.
Still there?
Good.
The first tale is set in Hong Kong's seedy immigrant underworld where film goddess Brigitte Lin plays a Greta Garbo like drug smuggler who wears a blond wig, dark glasses and a trench coat. Her story is to try to smuggle drugs using a poor Indian family but things go really wrong and she has to track them down and pick up the peaces of her smuggling operation. This is the only story about love and the lack of love.
Her story opens with a sad violin musical number and slow-motion shots of Hong Kong in a blurry emotional maze of emotions.
The other story is Cop 223 who was dumped by his girlfriend. They broke things off in a rather anticlimactic way and he has been buying a can of pineapple slices a day with the expiration date at the end of the month. His ex girlfriend loved pineapple and he sees the pineapple cans is a symbol of their love. When it expires all chances of her coming back to him will also expire. Their love would have rotten and spoiled if you will.
His ex-girlfriend's name is May and he hangs out in front of a low rent western eatery waiting where his ex-girlfriend used to meet him. He does not really know what to do with his time now that she is not there except to lament and pine after her. He gets anal about checking his messages at his beeper message service and the older eatery owner gives him some friendly love advice and encourages him to move on romantically. He suggest that he ask out a girl who works at the eatery who is ironically also named May. Later on when he goes to ask her out she has found her own guy so he is dumped by two women named May.
The stories of the love lost Cop 223 and the stressed our smuggler in the blond wig are inter cut because they end up meeting each other at a bar when they are trying to drown their sorrows by getting plastered.
The smuggler's story use dates on can in a message from her boss about the time is running out and when she runs into the guy who is trying to screw her over she blows him away and the camera cuts to an expired can. When ever the woman in the blond wig has to blow away some on in the underworld the same haunting minor violin melody plays.
This movie is full of several western pieces of music that are played over and over again to reinforce a emotional mood. All the characters get internal dialog to further explain their motivations to the audience. This is very French New Wave. Some times we see characters from different acts pass by on the street as the focus is in the story at hand. This is cool to see in multiple viewing but it might just be a constraint of a low budget.
The stories are also connected by similar foods eaten by different characters. Food and expirations dates are cinematic devices used by the film maker to tell the story. This could be written off as a romance but it is not quite that. It is not a story of love but a story of the loss of love from a very male perspective.
Cop 223's story ends with him jogging and realizing that his life is not over and he does not need to dwell on the the rejection of his ex-girlfriend. The smuggler with the blond wig gets to blow away the guy who crossed her and dropped her wig and eyeglasses and leaves Hong Kong on a plane to start a new life in another place. WE NEVER GET TO SEE HER EYES.
Act Three is the story of Faye short haired spunky and eccentric woman who started working at the western eatery that her cousin runs. She has a thing for the song California Dreaming and the director plays the song about ten times over the duration of the movie. She is actually played by Faye Wong one of the biggest stars of Cantonese pop music. Unlike Madonna and J-Lo she can actually act. She plays her music super loud and the image of her bopping and dancing to 60s American rock is one of the most memorable from the film. She wants to move way and visit California as a dream.
We are also introduce to a new Hong Kong beat cop 663 who who is dating a flight attendant but is spending more and more time apart. She is leaving him. There is a really sexy flash back of her naked in bed lying down when he lands a toy plane on her back. It is the handheld camera work angles and quick cutting that add heat to his memories.
His girlfriend leaves a breakup letter and the set of keys to his apartment at the eatery. The workers at the eatery open his letter and have reservations about handing it over. More important is that Faye has a set of keys to his place and Cop 663 does not know. Faye tells cop 663 about the letter but he is hesitant to pick it up and leave it in her possession.
Old songs and TV shows are played in the background to add a layer to the composition of the movie. Cop 663 Eats all his lunches at the eatery and he really gets to interact with the owner and Faye. They discuss his eating habit and while it might seam to be pointless it is how the story is told that gives the film flavor.
Faye feels sorry for this guy and she feels guilty about his breakup because she was the one who had to break the news to him with the letter that the flight attendant Girlfriend left. There is a really wonderful shot of him drinking his coffee in slow motion letting the fact that he was dumped by his live in girlfriend as Faye stares at him in the side of the frame.
He mopes around his apartment talking to his soap and dishrag consoling them about the breakup. It is cute and pathetic simultaneously.
Faye runs into Cop 663 when she is out doing errands for the eatery and she has the twisted idea of going to his apartment and paying it a visit. They have a good chemistry together once they get to know each other a bit more. Faye is drawn to his vulnerability that she feels a bit empathetic.
Faye starts to clandestinely visit his apartment and fix the place up from his depression doldrums. She replaces his dish rag, soap, feeds his fish, does his dishes and leave her CDs in his Stereo. His ex-girlfriend left a lot of stuffed animals and Faye is really cute playing with. She even goes as far as to change the brand of sardines in his cupboards. She does all this in a montage sequence to Dreams by the Cranberries that the actress sung in Cantonese. It is quite a song and Is my favorite rendition. She is brightening up his heartbroken life by osmosis.
Eventually Cop 663 runs into her as she is leaving his apartment and then at the restaurant they confront their feelings. The movie ends with a very up beat but emotional conclusion that is open to interpretation.
This is one of the few romantic movies that guys can really relate to. The acting and cinematography make this a gem and the actors are believable and deserve empathy from the audience. I think I am going to buy two more copies of this DVD so I can give it out next birthday or holiday I need to get a gift for. It is like a romantic Pulp Fiction about recovery. If any women are reading this than I implore you to rent this movie as soon as possible. You may have to call around to find a copy but you will love it.
Jake at August 13, 2003 
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Comments
i'll find a copy...sounds like my kinda movie...:)
Posted by: lilly at August 13, 2003 7:12 AM
Be sure to check out Fallen Angels also. :)
Posted by: ZYirAH at August 14, 2003 10:14 AM
My all-time favorite movie... having seen it in my small apt in HK, it's THE picture of HK I will always remember.
Still dreaming about seeing Faye as the worker at the eatery -still open BUT renovated "Midnight Express"- eachtime I have lunch there... :(
Posted by: cop663 at August 19, 2003 5:58 AM
There you go. Hong Kong loves this movie. Faye Wong is a pop star she has more glamorous things to do than work in the eatery. Besides she was a flight attendant at the end of the movie.
Posted by: Jake at August 19, 2003 9:30 AM
Based on all the high praise here, I checked this movie out this weekend -- it was great. I especially enjoyed the neuorotic antics of the heartbroken cops. Also, Faye's stealth altering of the apartment reminded me of another favorite scene of mine from Amelie. I felt the movie managed to capture a lot of diverse interpretations of essientially the same general setting.
As a side note, I believe the having characters from different acts show up in the background was intentional, as it enforces the theme of chance encounters introduced a couple of times by Cop 223.
Not only wonderfully entertaining, I also learned a couple of valuable things from it; (1) everything expires, and (2) the entire lyrics for "California Dreaming."
Posted by: Trapp at September 15, 2003 8:57 AM
Yeah isn't it a fun moody movie. It made me want to eat cans of pineapple and check to see if any of my cans of food have expired in my pantry.
I just got an extra copy of the DVD to give to my stepmom. She would love it.
Did you get the idea that they had a product placement deal with Dole and Coke. You saw their logos about 20 times.
Posted by: Jake at September 15, 2003 9:31 AM
I just viewed this film on the Sundance chanel, and even though at first it seemed too sporadic and cold, I quickly grew interested. I totally fell in love with Cop 663 (anyone know this actors name?), his sensitivity & vulnerability really drew me in, and the fact that he is gorgeous doesn't hurt either...lol. But then I'm sure I'm not the only gay man out there who felt this way. What a wonderfully quirky movie this is.
Posted by: PJ at September 23, 2003 5:26 AM
Cop 663 was played by Tony Leung Chiu Wai ( http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0504897/ )
Posted by: Jake at September 23, 2003 8:35 AM
Does anyone know the name of the other song its not in english! I REALLY LIKE THE SONG BUT dont know the name or artist,please help me!!
Posted by: maeie at December 5, 2003 12:13 PM
Does anyone know the name of the other song its not in english! I REALLY LIKE THE SONG BUT dont know the name or artist,please help me!!
Posted by: maeie at December 5, 2003 12:13 PM
Sorry you might try to get a imported copy of the sountrack or ask someone who speaks Cantonese
Posted by: Jake at December 5, 2003 12:19 PM
Are you talking about the cover of the Cranberry's song Zombie by Faye Wong in Cantonese?
Posted by: Jake at December 5, 2003 12:20 PM
wher I can get the soundtrack? I love all the songs but i have no idea where i can buy or even get this soundtrack. anyone can help?
Posted by: Sofija at December 24, 2003 2:17 PM
I don't know I would start at a Hong Kong music shop. I do not know if there is an official sound track.
Posted by: Jake at December 24, 2003 7:00 PM
oh...thats kinda cool
Posted by: Jack McCrack at December 26, 2003 5:36 PM
theres a review on "chungking express" but not "american pie"? cmon!
Posted by: Jack McCrack at December 26, 2003 5:38 PM
Visually, this movie is a powerhouse. Damn! The use of color and montage is forceful and striking... like Van Gough crossed with Muhammed Ali.
For plot, think Richard Linklater... this movie wanders with a purpose.
It's full of heartbreaking beauty: a feast for the eyes. Awesome.
Posted by: dave at April 9, 2004 3:11 AM
"This is one of the few romantic movies that guys can really relate to."
Make that: "This is one of the few romantic movies that guys and also Tinet can really relate to."
This is one of the very best films I've ever seen. It has influenced some of my comics quite a lot.
Posted by: Tinet at November 30, 2004 12:45 PM
