In a bit of history repeating itself, Lin in retirement has become like Garbo in her later years -- at least according to various press reports and internet rumors -- staying away from the movie industry and formal interviews, but remaining a very nice person.Its the story of two cops dealing with love and realtionships in the fast-paced world of Hong Kong.The first part concentrates on Takeshi Kaneshiro as he pines for the girlfriend who dumped him.
Chungking Express Cinematography Series Of StrangeEvery night, he goes through a series of strange rituals hoping to get her back.
Chungking Express Cinematography Movie Industry AndWhen they seem to fail, he goes on a series of binges, first eating all the pineapple he can pick up and then heading to a local watering hole where he gets well and truly soused, after which he meets up with a mysterious smuggler played by Brigitte Lin (in her last film role and nearly unrecognizable in a blonde wig and big sunglasses). The second story focuses on Tony Leung, who also has gone through a break-up, as he develops a strange relationship with a girl who works at a local cafe (Faye Wong). Like most of Wong Kar-Wais works, its at times obtuse and almost overly self-indulgent. However, there are so many scenes in Chungking Express which stick in your mind -- almost like fleeting images from a dream -- that by the end of the movie, or especially after repeated viewings, that it tends to grow on you, like the guy at the bar who you think is obnoxious at first but turns out to be a pretty good chap in the end. For instance, Faye has a habit of breaking into Tonys apartment and rearranging his furniture -- and Tony never seems to realize this. There are also parts which seem to translate into movie-making mastrubation, such as the seemingly infinite repeating renditions of California Dreaming. The song is Fayes favorite and it plays almost every time she is onscreen at very high volume. Im aware of what a musical motif is, but at times the repitition get ridiculous. Perhaps not coincidentally, these scenes are often those which feature the least gimmicks to them, the ones where the actors can simply work. The scenes where Takeshi tries to pick up Brigitte by asking her if she likes pineapple in five different languages, Tony berating his dishrag for not having enough absorbency, or especially the small scenes of Tony and Faye meeting up in a local market and awkwardly flirting, are both funny and powerful in a quiet way. It is in these scenes that Chungking Express transcends typical romantic movie territory becuase the characters become something more than cookie-cutter caricatures as present in most other movies of the type. Even though their actions seem unrealunbelivable (in terms of the romantic movie canon) at first, the more we learn and see about them, the more you feel connected to them -- and more importantly, the more you care about where the movie will lead to. But I feel that Chungking Express is so well-done that it warrants a viewing from anyone who considers themselves a serious movie fan. If you want to expand your Hong Kong movie horizons to something other than cops and robbers or kung fu, this is an excellent place to start. Almost none of the script was completed before shooting -- Wong only knew that he wanted to look at relationships in Hong Kong. Wong would write scenes during the day and then have the actors work them out at night. As I mentioned before, this was Brigitte Lins final film role, even though techincally, Ashes of Time (which Lin also starred in) came out later. Wong wanted her to wear the blonde wig in order to both poke fun at and take advantage of the Greta Garbo vibe Brigitte carried with her. At this point in Hong Kong film history, Brigitte was a huge star in Asia after the popular Swordsman trilogy, but shied away from the limelight, just as Garbo had. After Chungking Express, Lin (like many HK actresses) married out of the movie industry with a relationship with a businessman, in this case one of the founders of the Espirit clothing company -- perhaps, not coincendentally, one of the major corporate sponsors of the movie.
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