CHUNGKING EXPRESS Decrypted: Alienation In The Urban Jungle

However, given Wong Kar-wai’s statements that he sees a spiritual continuation of Chungking Express in his later Fallen Angels, it’s uncertain if he will indeed be the one to bring the sequel screenplay to life. Nevertheless, we have every right to expect another visual symphony of love and loneliness in the urban jungle. This news inspired me to take another look at the film’s original version, a work that, with its unique narrative and unconventional approach to romance, changed my perspective on cinema.

Wong Kar-wai weaves his story from a combination of two novellas, each focusing on different pairs of characters. In the first, policeman 223 has just broken up with his longtime girlfriend. He wanders aimlessly through the streets of nighttime Hong Kong, trying to fill the void left by his ex, whom he undeniably still loves. The policeman hopes his girlfriend will return to him by May 1, his 25th birthday. When this doesn’t happen, he decides to keep himself company with another woman, eating 30 cans of pineapple beforehand. He roams the city and ends up in a bar, promising himself to fall in love with the first woman who walks in. That’s how he meets a mysterious femme fatale in sunglasses and a blonde wig, unaware that she leads a gang of drug smugglers.

The second, longer novella also revolves around a policeman with a broken heart. Officer 633 is suddenly and unexpectedly left by the girlfriend with whom he had a happy and successful relationship. Unable to move on from the loss, he falls into a rut. Meanwhile, Faye, who works in his favorite fast-food bar, falls for him. She becomes his secret admirer, not stopping at shy glances or clumsy attempts to get his attention at the bar or tender thoughts anchored in the policeman. Due to an unexpected turn of events, she comes into possession of the keys to the object of her affection’s apartment. She visits it several times in the policeman’s absence, trying to cleanse the atmosphere of sadness, depression, and lethargy. The man, unaware of the whole situation, slowly forgets about the breakup and pays increasing attention to Faye.

It’s impossible not to mention the style Wong Kar-wai used in his film. The first few seconds leave the viewer thinking they’re about to watch a thriller with a crime story in the background. Hasty, blurred shots, the constant impression of motion, the sense of chaos, a fleeing woman, and an armed man. But the director quickly and playfully turns the story 180 degrees to overshadow the criminal plot with the melancholic confessions of policeman 223. Though the two novellas differ in their pacing, the film ultimately becomes a slow-paced and atmospheric melodrama. It focuses attentively on the mundane everyday activities of the main characters. It patiently observes the aimless wandering policemen, Faye mixing sauces, or daydreaming behind the counter of one of the thousands of street bars in Hong Kong. Accompanying these are tasteful shots where neon lights and smears of blurred light cut through the city’s nighttime landscape. Wong Kar-wai chooses the shots very specifically. In many scenes, like the drinking scene in the bar in the first novella, the director allows for artistic overhead shots. He plays with reflections of light, mirror images, and colorful filters. Often, the camera watches the characters as if from hiding, from a voyeuristic perspective, such as in the scene where Faye spends time with the policeman in his apartment. This voyeuristic view further enhances the sense of excitement and intensifies the mood of intimacy between the characters. This is often accompanied by the shaky handheld camera. Chungking Express differs significantly from the elegant and stylish In the Mood for Love. It is more modern and experimental, with a dynamic yet poetic atmosphere of a big city. Chungking Express tells about the routine of four randomly chosen characters from the streets of Hong Kong, but does so in a captivating and charming way.

Wong Kar-wai employed an interesting formal experiment in his film. He combined the two above novellas, which share a lot but remain separate independent stories. The director leaves many traps and clues in the film, leading us to believe that the two stories will eventually reveal a intricate web of connections, harmoniously merging into one logical whole. But this does not happen. There are many similarities, but none affect the overall story. The protagonists of both stories are policemen experiencing heartbreak. We are not sure if they know each other. Although it seemed likely, the men do not meet on screen. They only pass each other unknowingly, like everyone else, including Faye and the woman in the blonde wig. The camera captures these two women in the same frame, but they never confront each other. The criminal activities of the woman from the first story never become the focus of interest for either policeman, although it seemed plausible.

The most distinct point of contact between the two stories is the brief relationship between policeman 223 and Faye. The characters from the two different stories did not know each other but were aware of each other’s presence. At the end of the first novella, the policeman even showed interest in the woman, but the viewer quickly realized that she was meant for a completely different story. The two stories are linked by the same setting. Hong Kong, the Midnight Express bar, frequented by both officers. Furthermore, policeman 223 mentions that this bar was where he met his ex-girlfriend. Another similarity is the narration by the characters. The four main characters share their thoughts and comments with the viewer from off-screen. Sometimes these comments reveal a broader knowledge of the characters, extending beyond the story they are involved in. For example, policeman 223 at the end of the first novella, upon making eye contact with Faye, says from off-screen: We were only separated by a millimeter. I knew nothing about her. Six hours later, she fell in love with someone else, although nothing indicates that the man knows policeman 633 or is aware of the relationship that is about to develop between him and the bar employee.

There are moments, however, when the two stories contrast sharply with each other. They share a nostalgic mood, a palpable sense of longing, thoughtful cinematography, atmospheric play with light, and an eclectic soundtrack. The flagship song of the first story is the reggae track Things in Life by Dennis Brown, while the second features California Dreamin‘ by The Mamas & the Papas. The first story, however, clearly fits into the stylistics of film noir. We have a typical crime story here. Police officer 223 patrols a much more dangerous neighborhood of heightened crime, where a wig-wearing heroine oversees a drug cartel, recruits people for smuggling, and even kidnaps a child for ransom, ultimately killing her employer. The second story unfolds in what seems like a different, much quieter place. Police officer 633 never has to use his weapon even once. It even seems like he lacks things to do while patrolling the area, as most of his screen time is spent wandering aimlessly, eating meals in bars, or leisurely sipping coffee in front of Faye, who is captivated by the sight. The novellas also differ in their timelines. The first one tells of events unfolding over just four days. The second novella’s action spans a period longer than a year, focusing on the significant moments in the development of the relationship between the police officer and the bar employee.

Nevertheless, Wong Kar-wai leaves the viewer with a certain sense of deception and dissatisfaction by not unifying the stories of the two pairs of protagonists. They remain separate, individual tales with a few insignificant points of intersection. Why, then, did the director choose to combine these stories into one film? There is no doubt that the on-screen story is driven by the poetics of chance. At the beginning of the film, there are many people on the streets, yet for some unknown reason, the camera stops on just four faces and later focuses on them. Chance also decided the meeting of the protagonists of the two novellas. If the story had gone differently, the main pair of protagonists might have been Police officer 223 and Faye. Fate, however, decreed otherwise. By placing the protagonists in unconscious proximity to each other, interweaving their fates on the streets of Hong Kong, the director encourages viewers to seek and create their own connections between the on-screen characters. He suggests that everything happening on screen is nothing but a matter of whimsical fate.

The most important protagonists of Chungking Express can be narrowed down to four, but they do not seem to be the only key figures. The city is also a key character—the arena of intertwined narrow, claustrophobic streets. Hong Kong intersects its streets in such a way that the fates of the protagonists overlap. It twists its paths so that the woman in the wig ends up in the bar where the troubled police officer 223 sits. It sets its districts so that police officer 633 is assigned to the one where Faye works. Although the director presents its different sides—the more criminal and the less—it is presented as an anthill of millions of people passing by each other daily. As the arena of chance encounters, from which arise relationships as extraordinary and unique as those from the two presented novellas.