Monday, October 28, 2013

Movie of the Week – Chungking Express

This week’s movie: Chungking Express (1994).

The film follows two cops who have both recently come out of relationships badly. The first, Cop 223, is hot on the tail of a heroin dealer, while also pining over the loss of his ex-girlfriend (who left him). The second, Cop 663, is too busy missing his former flight-attendant girlfriend to notice a local lunch counter girl who has a crush on him.

The film is written and directed by Hong Kong auteur Kar Wai Wong (also known for his films In the Mood of Love and 2046). It served as his breakthrough work, garnering international acclaim. Wong worked with composers Frankie Chan, Michael Galasso, and Roel Garcia, cinematographers Christopher Doyle and Wai-keung Lau, and production designer William Chang. Wong’s collaboration with Doyle has particularly birthed some of cinema’s greatest emotion-laden photography during their seven films together.


Chunking Express is a stunning cinematic experience, filled with vivid colors and kinetic motion and dramatic energy. It is one of the best films of the 1990s (arguably in the top five). It is a must-see for fans of Kar Wai Wong and 1990s independent film. It is one of the many international films to completely change the way audiences saw and thought about indie cinema during the decade, revolutionizing in many ways Hollywood – ushering in a new era of auteur filmmakers.


Trailer: Here
Available on: Blu-ray

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