CHUNGKING EXPRESS (Hong Kong 1994) *****
Directed by Wong Kar-wei

CHUNGKING EXPRESS is the film that inspired filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and it is not difficult to see why.  Director Wong breaks all the rules to deliver this giddy colourful palette of cinematic mastery combined with a mesmerizing soundtrack of old hits and a crazy story (in fact two stories).

The two stories are told in complete sequence, once after another, with little connection, except that if one is attentive enough, one will see three characters in the second story appear briefly in the first.  Both stories are of cops falling out of love.

The first is cop, He Qiwu, also known as Cop 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro) Qiwu’s girlfriend May (never shown on screen) broke up with him on April 1.  He chooses to wait for May for a month before moving on. Every day he buys a tin of pineapple with an expiration date of May 1. By the end of this time, he feels that he will either be rejoined with his love or that it will have expired forever.  If all this does not make any sense, it gives Wong an excuse to film him roaming around the streets.  But best is the unrelated story of a woman in a blonde wig (Brigitte Lin) surviving in the drug underworld after a cocaine smuggling operation goes sour. Again this story makes no sense but it gives way to one of the most enormously satisfying chase on screen.  At first using hand held camera, then stop motion, the images on screen are nothing less than stunning.  The colour of the woman’s bright yellow dress as she outruns her predators intermingled with the neon lights and signs of the underground is also pure cinematic delight.

The second story involving an unnamed Cop 633 (Tony Leung) similarly deals with a breakup, this time with a flight attendant (shown on screen this time as Valerie Chow). He meets Faye, the new girl at the snack bar (Faye Wong) who secretly falls for him. Here, Wong uses the song California Dreaming to enhance the story of the two new lovers.  The second story has a stronger narrative but lacks the cinematic energy of the first.

CHUNGKING EXPRESS, has been said to require multiple viewings and this is correct.  Cinematographer Chris Doyle who has worked with Wong in many of his films will be present for a Q and A for a special presentation of this film at the TIFF Lightbox.  Needless to say, this event is not to be missed!