Director
Wong Kar-wai
Leading Actors/Actresses
Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Brigitte Lin, Faye Wong, Takeshi Kaneshiro
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Valerie Chow
Genre
Crime, Drama, Romance
Language
Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Hindi, English
Awards
Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai), and Best Editing (William Cheung Suk-Ping, Kwong Chi-Leung, Hai Kit-Wai) at 1995 Hong Kong Film Awards. Best Actress (Faye Wong) and FIPRESCI prize (Wong Kar-wai) at 1994 Stockholm International Film Festival.
Date of Release
1994
Producer
Yi-kan Chan, Jeffrey Lau
Setting and Context
Hong Kong 1990s
Narrator and Point of View
Points of view is that of Cop 223, Woman in Blonde Wig, Faye and Cop 663
Tone and Mood
Serious, Dramatic, Romantic
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonists are Cops 223 and 663, antagonists are their ex-girlfriends May and the Air Hostess
Major Conflict
Both Cops 223 and 663 have been broken up with by their girlfriends, and they seek to move forward.
Climax
Cop 223 spends one night with the woman in the blonde wig and receives a happy birthday message from her the next day that makes him remain hopeful about love. Cop 663 buys the restaurant where Faye used to work and they begin a possible romance when she returns from California.
Foreshadowing
The opening sequence showing the woman in blonde wig go behind a curtain foreshadows that she's dealing in something mysterious and dangerous.
Understatement
The doubling that occurs throughout the film (between the two cops, the women in blonde wigs, Faye and May) is never referenced explicitly or commented on by any of the characters, making it slightly understated.
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
Wong Kar-wai's visual style is now legendary, and in Chungking Express he introduced a dazzling camera style and dream-like editing that's at once reminiscent of a home video and of cutting-edge avant-garde filmmaking.
Allusions
Allusions to pop songs by The Cranberries ("Dreams") and The Mamas and the Papas ("California Dreamin'") have a prominent place in the film.
Paradox
Cop 223 makes a living catching bad guys, but paradoxically is spending the night with a murderer and doesn't know it.
Parallelism
The theme of doubles, the depiction of expiration dates, and the repetition of pop songs create elaborate parallel structures that pervade the film.
