In this Critical analysis essay, I chose my own topic, which is discuss the distinctive themes and stylistic traits of the Hong Kong director Wong Kar wai, with emphasis on two film Chungking Express (Wong, 1994) and Happy Together (Wong, 1997)
Quentin Tarantino in the DVD of Chungking Express explain the back story of the making of the film Chungking Express, he says back in 1994, Wong Kar wai just finished making the film Ashes of Time (Wong 1994), which takes him two years shoot in the desert in China, and after the shooting of the film was finished, there is huge project of editing the film, and Wong Kar wai was very tired so he decided to take a break and he already had an idea of the film Chungking Express, it finally took him only about two months to finish the whole film, so after that, Wong Kar wai is refreshed and then concentrate on editing the film Ashes of Time. But ironically become the film that first brought Wong Kar wai international attention.
According to Stephen, Wong's initial inspiration for Chungking Express was a short story named “On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning ” by the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami. The Chinese Tile for the film is “Chungking Senlin”, which can be translated as either “Chungking Jungle”, or “Chungking Forest”. According to Bordwell and Thompson (438), “The first takes place on the Kowloon peninsula of Hong Kong, in and around Chungking Mansions, a decaying block of cheap guest quarters, shops, and Indian restaurants.” Wong told Ciment that he shot the film in the Chungking house quarter of Hong Kong because “this overpopulated and hyperactive place is a good metaphor for the city itself” (Peter cited Ciment). So the term “jungle ” in the title may imply that the city is like a jungle. On the other hand,the English title for the film, Chungking Express, says Peter “nicely encapsulates both halves of the film.” According to Tsui(Peter cited Tsui), “Chungking” represents the first part of the story, as it takes place in the Chungking Mansion and “Express” refers to the fast food place, “Midnight Express” where the second part of the story takes place.
One of the most commonly asked question is why Wong put the two different stories in the same movie. According to Quentin Tarantino in the DVD, there are initially Three stories in the film, but after the shooting of the first two stories, Wong thinks its enough to make a feature film, so he shoot the third story separately as the film Fallen Angels (Wong, 1995). The two stories in the film Chungking Express may seem quite different when you first see it, but if you observe carefully, there are actually quite a lot of similarities both in the characters and the plot, and the two stories also constantly refer to each other as well. For example, the two main male characters are both cops, and when they are lovelorn, there is one shot in the first story when officer223 (for ease of recall,I will call him 223) stay at home eating pineapple cans beside the fish tank, and similarly in the second story officer 633(for ease of recall, I will call him 633) also stay at home talking to the stuffed toys beside the fish tank . There is also a shot in the first story when the main actress Lin is staying in a bar wearing sunglasses and muses. There is another shot when Faye, the main actress in the second story staying in a bar wearing sunglasses and muses.the main actress in the second story staying in a bar wearing sunglasses and muses.the main actress in the second story staying in a bar wearing sunglasses and muses.
The two stories also has been divided neatly through a shot, when at the end of the first story, 223 bumping into Faye at Midnight Express, the frame freezes and 223's voice over commentary says, "we are only 0.01 centimeter away, I know nothing about her, six hours later," then, the frame fade out, and there is a shot 633 approach the Midnight Express, then the commentary continues, "she fell in love with another man." And after that, the second story begins, and 223 never appear again. Peter states that “The overlapping of narratives is also reflected in the doubling of various characters, another favorite Wong technique.” It also live a lot of room for the audience to find their own connections between the two stories,and the parallel narrative also give the viewers a chance to compare and contrast the two stories to find their similarities and differences.
If you observe very carefully, you can find that Wong also insert two scenes in the first story which is very significant, the first scene is a long shot of 633 appears for a few seconds handing over the railing of a subway station. And the second scene is a long shot of Faye Wong walking out of a shop holding a stuffed Garfield cat (later in the second story we can see 633 in his apartment talking to it), and Lin was smoking in front of the shop. By the time we saw these two scenes, we have no idea who they are, or simply just ignore them. But these two scenes actually convey a very important information that the two stories in the film is happening simultaneously rather than consecutively. According to Peter “Much of this playful doubling is related to the ubiquity of chance.” He also state that the ultimate source the film derived from is film by the late Polish master Kzrystof Kieslowski, like The Double Life of Veronique and the Three Colors trilogy.
Wong also use the visual images and sounds quite innovatively, as Peter state:
The film throws the viewer immediately and quite viscerally into what has become Wong's aesthetic signature, the Stretch printing of action scenes accompanied by heavily inflected music on the sound track and even more strongly accented sound effects.
Most of the shots in the film are shot with a handheld camera, as Peter says, “At times the filming feels almost like a throwback to the self-conscious 'veracity' of Italian neorealism.” There is one particular shot which occurs twice in the film, which Peter refers as “Striking audiovisual technique”, a shot that is new to Wong, but then been used quite often in his later film such as Happy Together. Here I emphasize on the film Chungking Express, the first time this technique has been applied in the film is where a long shot shows 633 and Faye are standing still in the Midnight Express, while a large number of anonymous people are passing in front of them. The second time is a medium long shot show 633 standing close to the camera in a bar with his image remaining unchanged, while a similarly large number of faceless crowed passing behind him.One effect of this new technique which Peter states is, “To add to the visual, graphic expressivity related to that of abstract painting.” It can also been perceived as a symbolism that the fast moving crowed can represent world which is constantly changing, while the still image may imply that they are the people who lives in the fringe of the world, and can not really follow up the fast changing world.
Another Wong's favorite technique is the first-person monolog, which has been used very often through the whole film. This monologic style can give the audience more information to help them understand the story better, and give the audience another perception to the characters who says those monolog. Wong also have a great sense of time and space, for example, the sequence when 633 buying snacks for his girlfriend in the Midnight Express through chef's special, then fish and chips, pizza, until her girl brake up with him, he only buy a cup of coffee, the shots always shot from Faye's subject point of view, the space is always the same, in Midnight Express, but Wong indicate the time difference through the costume changing marked by Faye. This sequence handle the time and space quite subtly,it shot from Faye's point of view which bring the audience into Faye's position, and we feel what ever she feels, and fancy what ever she fans.
The music in Wong's film is just as important as his visuals, for example the song “California Dream” play very often in the second story to match with Faye's dream of going to California. Also in the first story, when Lin is doing her drug smuggling business with the Indians, the music which has been played is the typical Bollywood songs. Even the languages spoken by the characters has been carefully considered, where 223 is talking to Lin in the bar, ask her whether she likes pineapple or not, he uses Cantonese, Japanese, English and mandarin. All these music and sound gives the film a lot of elements, it creates a certain mood, gives more meanings to the characters and makes it more entertaining to the audience.
Wong also tends to convey the motif of the film in a very implicit way. For example in the film Chungking Express, there are quite a few shots of many American products, companies and brands, such as Coca Cola, Mc Donald's, United Airlines, etc. This can be an portrayal of the nature of the post modern society, the culture, the value, the way we are thinking, living and doing things has gradually been influence by the pop culture and been Americanized. We have more choices than ever before, just like 633 said in the film, as there are many choices of food, there are also many choices of love. The expiry date which has been commonly mentioned by 223 is also a satiric implication, that everything now has an expiry date, even love. And it is simply a sign state young people in Hong Kong,or virtually every body in the world today communicate and shares with themselves and each other through globalised popular culture.
Wong also implies a very implicit political motif which has rarely been mentioned by the western critics. The expiry date can also refer to Hong Kong as a British colony at that time (1994) will be hand over to the People's Republic of China in 1st July 1997. This has been expressed more integrated in the film Happy Together, which he made in 1997. The Two main characters Lai and Ho are all from Hong Kong, and Lai can represent the people who want to go back to China, as he does in the plot, and Ho may represent the people who still want to stay his foreign lovers (Britain). And Chang is from Taiwan, which represent the situation between China and Taiwan at that time. As Lai said in the film, no matter how far Chang goes, he still have home to return, which might mean that Taiwan at that time was like a republic country,rules by themselves and have its own system. But on the other hand, Lai and Ho have no home to go, and can only wander around, and they don't know what their situation is, what to do, and what their future is .
To conclude, Wong Kar wai uses his camera and music in a very stylish way, and also express the themes of his film in a very implicit way, and film art itself is a very subjective thing, and all the things I have try to explain is only my research from other people's interpretation and my own.
Bibliography
Brimette, Peter. (2005) Wong, Kar-wai, 1958- --Criticism and interpretation. Urbana : University of Illinois Press
David, Bordwell & Kristin Thompson (2003) Film Art An Introduction, Von Hoffman Press
Teo, Stephen. (2005) Wong, Kar-wai, 1958- --Criticism and interpretation. London : BFI
Filmography
Ashes of Time (Kar wai, Wong, Hong Kong 1994)
Chungking Express ( Kar wai , Wong, Hong Kong, 1994)
Fallen Angels (Kar wai, Wong, Hong Kong 1995)
Happy Together (Kar wai, Wong, Hong Kong, 1997)
La Double vie de Véronique (Krzysztof, Kieslowski, France/Norway/Poland, 1991)
Trois couleurs: Blanc (Krzysztof, Kieslowski, France/Poland, 1994)
Trois couleurs: Bleu (Krzysztof, Kieslowski, France, 1993)
Trois couleurs: Rouge (Krzysztof, Kieslowski, France, 1994)
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