In Wong Kar Wai's films, there are always those faces. Tony Leung, Leslie Cheung, Faye Wong, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Brigitte Lin... I always feel that in his movies, those big-name stars have a very different feeling and taste. It is worth mentioning that, in contrast to the unintelligible Chinese titles, the English translations of Wong Kar-wai's films are very tasty. For example, "In the Mood for Love", which is like a great collection, is translated as "In the mood for love". In the emotion of waiting for love, it interprets the state of each character in the movie very well. Another example is "Evil in the East and Poison in the West", which is translated as "Ashes of time", the ashes of time.
Many people think that Wong Kar-wai's films are boring and unintelligible. Wong Kar-wai and his films with heavy personal imprints once became the self-proclaimed label of "petty bourgeoisie" and young literary and artistic people. Movies should be a happy thing. We don't have to deliberately exclude certain films and choose certain films in order to show our taste. You can touch things once more, but if you feel bored, can't understand, or don't like it, then don't watch it. Personally, when I like a person, I watch Wong Kar Wai's films quietly. It doesn't need to be very attentive or even read in its entirety, but it will resonate at a certain moment.
"Chongqing Forest" is such a film. At that time, Faye Wong was also called Wang Jingwen. This old film from ten years ago is still touching today.
The fast-switching shots, the psychedelic background music, the dull colors, the low-key narration, and the chaotic crowd, this opening is very confusing, very artistic, very "Wong Kar Wai".
What a thrilling and confusing story is about to unfold? If you look forward to it, obviously Wong Kar-wai's films can't give you the answer you want.
"Chongqing Forest" can be seen as two independent stories. In layman's terms, maybe we can sum it up like this, he told the story of two policemen. The story of two brokenhearted people.
in the first story. Police Officer 223 He Zhiwu, Ah Wu, played by Takeshi Kaneshiro. The female drug dealer is played by Brigitte Lin. This kind of character setting can deduce many stories. But Wong Kar-wai is not telling any of them. The role of a female drug dealer doesn't make any sense. They also don't know each other's identities in the movie. They just met by chance in a late-night bar and left, without bringing any changes to each other's lives, and leaving almost no trace of their existence.
In the film, Lin Qingxia wears a raincoat and sunglasses at the same time, revealing her inner sensitivity and lack of security. She said, "You never know when it will rain or when the sun will come out." In the empty airport lobby, the blonde woman, the Indian man who suddenly disappeared. At that moment it was as if the world had changed, everything had changed. You can't help but wonder, along with the people in the film, if everything really happened.
Ah Wu broke up with his girlfriend Ah May on April 1, one month before his birthday. Ah Wu bought a whole month's worth of canned pineapples, 30 cans of canned pineapples that expired on May 1. It is unclear whether he is saying goodbye to love or trying to keep love. There is a plot in the film, Ah Wu calls his girlfriend's house. Chat with your girlfriend's family and have nothing to say. In the unstable composition, the audience easily sees the embarrassment and self-anaesthesia hidden behind his pretended composure.
In the early morning of May 1, Awu ate all the expired cans. The narrator said in a low voice, "I don't know when, everything has a date on it. Even the insurance paper is about to expire, and I'm starting to wonder if anything doesn't expire." Yes, everything has an expiration date. It is said that the shelf life of love is 7 months. In this hurried age, eternity has become a luxury.
Ah Wu kept calling women with different names and even his classmates in the fourth grade of elementary school, wanting to invite someone out for drinks. The news of marriage and childbirth from the other end of the phone can only make people sigh at the changes in the world and the vicissitudes of life. Everyone is inherently alone. Everyone lives in their own little world and doesn't care about others.
Next is the rivalry between Takeshi Kaneshiro and Brigitte Lin. They met at the bar and unfolded that classic line. Ah Wu talked to Brigitte Lin in various languages - "Do you like pineapple", "Do you like pineapple", "Do you like pineapple". At that moment, we clearly saw our own sadness, our own insignificance, our own ridiculousness and absurdity in Ah Wu.
Ah Wu is used to running when he is in love. He said that running can evaporate the water in your body and make you less prone to tears. When did we all learn to pretend and refuse to reveal our feelings easily? At the end of the first story, the pager that was abandoned by Awu on the sports field rang. It's Brigitte Lin. Message him a happy birthday. Sometimes that little warm feeling comes from strangers who don't even know their names.
In the second story, Police Officer No. 633 is played by Tony Leung. He once had a girlfriend who was a flight attendant. I used to buy supper for my girlfriend every night. At the suggestion of the convenience store owner, he changed the types of late-night snacks for his girlfriend. And he himself only drinks black coffee. There are so many options for late-night snacks, not to mention boyfriends? His girlfriend left, so he doesn't have to buy supper from now on.
I like that young Faye Wong in the movie. thin. Eyebrows are clear. There are distinct edges and corners. There is a delicate mind hidden under the boy-like carelessness. I really like the dialogue in the movie. She said to her cousin "I didn't dream" with a childlike innocent and ignorant expression. My cousin said, "You're not dreaming, but you're sleepwalking." And I just like her sleepwalking expression.
The flight attendant's girlfriend left a letter to 633 at the convenience store, with the key to 633's room attached to the letter. The owner of the convenience store opened the parting letter with the steam from the kettle. A letter was circulated by N unrelated people, from the convenience store owner to the kitchen helper, to A Fei. Is there any privacy? What is safe? A Fei steals the key, sneaks into 633's house, and sneaks into his love illusion.
Alfie is immersed in her own personal love. Sneak into his house, clean his room, change the water in his fish tank, give him a new towel soap, a new tablecloth, and a new flavor of canned food. How could 633 be unaware of such a big change, and just still talk to those soap and towels? This is the movie. Logic and reason in reality do not apply to movies. Even if it is an illusion, as long as it feels real, then it is real. Love is an illusion. It's a personal thing. Nothing to do with anyone else.
The rivalry between Tony Leung and Faye Wong is very interesting. Always in the noise of "California dream", the two start a loud conversation, and then "Power off", the music stops and the conversation starts again. There is even a half-minute utter silence in the film. 633 was drinking black coffee while Affili leaned on the counter boredly. Crowds come and go. But. silence. Boundless silence.
The people in the movie have their own weird habits. 633 likes to speak to inanimate things. Talk to yourself. Not aware of the changes in life around you. A Fei is used to making up lies, going on her own love adventures, making encounters with 633, and is used to dreaming, dreaming of seeing the sunshine in California.
Her dream came true. She went to California, and a year later, came back. When I came back, my hair was long, tied in a bun at the back of my head, and I was wearing a stewardess uniform. That kind of vivid aura and childishness still came out from time to time, when she looked at you from above her sunglasses.
Her love doesn't seem to be hers anymore. 633 kept the letter she wrote and took down her cousin's small convenience store. Then one day, it was the man he was waiting for who rolled up the scroll door, and Affi came back. The movie is over.
While watching the movie, I found some very interesting clips and shots. Such as the one-high Garfield plush doll. Indian-inspired soundtrack. Another very interesting thing is that the room 633 in the movie is actually owned by Wong Kar Wai's royal photographer Du Kefeng.
These inadvertent little discoveries are also one of the joys of watching movies.
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