Cop663: Since she left, everything in the flat is sad. Everything needed lulling to sleep.

[to a bar of soap]

Cop663: You've lost a lot of weight, you know. You used to be so chubby. Have more confidence in yourself.

[to a threadbare wet dishcloth]

Cop663: You have to stop crying, you know. Where's your strength and absorbency? You're so shabby these days.
He Zhiwu, Cop 223: We're all unlucky in love sometimes. When I am, I go jogging. The body loses water when you jog, so you have none left for tears.
Woman in blonde wig: Somehow I've become very cautious. When I put on a raincoat, I put on sunglasses too. Who knows when it will rain, or when it will turn out sunny?
He Zhiwu, Cop 223: We split up on April Fool's Day. So I decided to let the joke run for a month. Every day I buy a can of pineapple with a sell-by date of May 1. May loves pineapple, and May 1 is my birthday. If May hasn't changed her mind by the time I've bought thirty cans, then our love will also expire.
He Zhiwu, Cop 223: Any canned pineapple that expires on May 1?

Cashier: You know what day it is today?

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: April 30?

Cashier: Right. You think we sell outdated stock?

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: There's still two hours to go.

Cashier: Nobody would buy it. Get a fresh one.

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: People like you are hung up on freshness. You realize what goes into a can of pineapple? The fruit must be grown, harvested, sliced, and you just throw it away! How do you think the can feels about that?

Cashier: Buddy, I only work here. Who cares about how the cans feel? What about how I feel? Loading, more loading, unloading... How I wish cans wouldn't expire! It'd save me loads of work. You like expired cans? Help yourself! As many as you like! On the house!
He Zhiwu, Cop 223: Do you... like pineapple?
[223 leaves the store]

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: [voice-over] Somehow everything comes with an expiry date. Swordfish expires. Meat sauce expires. Even cling-film expires. Is there anything in the world which doesn't?

[to a passing street person]

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: Buddy, how about some swordfish?

Street person: [223 gives a can of swordfish to the passing street person. The street person looks at the can and throws it on the ground]

Street person: It's expired. Don't want it.

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: You sure?
[223 phones some potential dates]

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: Lulu? This is Qiwu. Want to come out for a drink? You're in bed already? This early? You were asleep? Never mind. Bye.

[He phones another]

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: Chieko-san? Guess who? This is Qiwu. That's right. Want to come out for a drink? Your husband? When did you get married? Five years! Has it been that long? You have two kids! You're happy, that's great! Okay, never mind.

[He phones another]

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: Is Kong Siu-wai there? This is He Qiwu. We were classmates in grade four. You don't remember? Nothing, goodbye.
He Zhiwu, Cop 223: If memories could be canned, would they also have expiry dates? If so, I hope they last for centuries.
Cop663: You like noisy music?

Faye: Yes. The louder the better. Stops me from thinking.

Cop663: You don't like to think? What do you like?

Faye: Never thought about it.
Cop663: I thought we'd stay together for the long haul, flying like a jumbo jet on a full tank. But we changed course.
[Faye is confronted by her boss]

Faye: I'm not daydreaming.

Manager of 'Midnight Express: Right. You're not daydreaming. You're sleepwalking.
[663 finds his apartment is flooded]

Cop663: Did I leave the tap running, or is the apartment getting more tearful? I always thought it would cope okay. Didn't expect it to cry so much. When people cry, they can dry their eyes with tissues. But when an apartment cries, it takes a lot to mop it up.
Cop663: [to new bar of soap] You mustn't let yourself go. You've gained weight so fast. She may have gone but life goes on. You must stop indulging yourself.

Cop663: [to new towel] You're a real disappointment to me. You've changed so much. You can't just switch personality like this. Her walking out is no excuse.

Cop663: [as it drips] It was such a relief when I saw it crying. It may look different, but it's still true to itself. It's still an emotionally charged towel.
[633 confronts an intruder]

Cop663: What are you doing in my apartment?

Faye: You asked me to visit.
[633 after Faye fails to meet him at the California restaurant in Hong Kong]

Cop663: Actually, she did go to California that evening. But it was the other one.
[633 on the previous owner of his restaurant]

Cop663: He has great business sense. First he sold me fish and chips, then the whole thing.
Cop663: Would you let a person on board with a boarding pass like this? It's dated today, but it got blurred in the rain. I don't know where it's taking me. Do you?

Faye: No idea, but I'll give you another.

Cop663: Great.

Faye: Where do you want to go?

Cop663: Wherever you want to take me.
He Zhiwu, Cop 223: At the high point of our intimacy, we were just 0.01 cm from each other. I knew nothing about her. Six hours later, she fell in love with another man.
He Zhiwu, Cop 223: In May's eyes, I'm no different from a can of pineapple.
Cop663: On board every flight, there's one stewardess you long to seduce.
Air Hostess: [kiss-off letter] Change of flight. Your plane cancelled. Here's your key. Bye.
Cop663: [to a shirt] Lonely? You look like a mess. Cold? I'll warm you up.

[irons it]
Woman in blonde wig: Actually, really knowing someone doesn't mean anything. People change. A person may like pineapple today and something else tomorrow.
He Zhiwu, Cop 223: We broke up on April's fools day, so I took it as a joke. I'm willing to humor her for a month.

Chungking Express Quotes

Extended Reading

Chungking Express short comments

Tiffany 2022-03-21 09:02:13

Sunglasses and tigers are a perfect match. I can't tell whether the sunglasses made Wei Zai or Wei Zai made the sunglasses. Every film can resonate deeply. Some directors now should learn to learn about sunglasses and settle down and recognize them. Seriously shoot something.
Oma 2022-04-24 07:01:14

[A+] The opening technique of hand-held camera and frame drawing creates an unparalleled fantasy: the city is ubiquitous, but it is deliberately blurred in the movement of the characters, the emotions are extracted from it, and it turns into a blurred and flowing medium existence. Time is also ambiguous, but under the complicated and trivial scheduling, an inescapable direction is still established. When the second "0.01" moment occurred, the movie burst into infinite charm, which was the moment that truly belonged to Wong Kar-wai. California Dreams and Dreamers add color to the images in the constant rotation of the soundtrack, and the narrative is extremely light, like a rebirth after a lovelorn. Cans will always expire, airline tickets will always fade, and instead of struggling with that deadline, it’s better to swallow it whole and point to a destinationless future (as the old saying goes: “make a movie about politics”).