Chungking Express (1994)
Starring Takeshi Kaneshiro, Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Faye Wong, Valerie Chow, Piggy Chan, Kwan Lee-na, Wong Chi-Ming, Leung San, Rico Chu, Lynne Langdon, Vickie Eng, Thom Baker
IHBM8.5Excellent
Two melancholic Hong Kong policemen fall in love: one with a mysterious underworld figure, the other with a beautiful and ethereal server at a late-night restaurant he frequents.
My review · Reviewed 10/07/2022
The great Patrice O'Neal once said that he might enjoy some movies more if he knew how to watch them. I thought of that quote during this movie as I wasn't sure how the movie should be consumed. In the opening scenes we are presented with some kind of underworld activity that is led by a woman in a trench coat who wears sunglasses at night. I took this to mean that there was some kind of mystery afoot so I had my radar up for that. In short, the movie is unlike anything that I can recall seeing in my 1300+ reviews. It is almost like they took a series of (possibly related) stories and put it through a kaleidoscope. The stories kind of bled together - that is also what made me think that there was more to the movie than there was. I am assuming that the movie might take several viewings to take it all in (at times I was a bit lost, but it turns out that you don't need to get into the details of the movie). I can see why this movie isn't for everyone and why Quentin Tarantino was obsessed with it.