Chungking Express
Short description
Chungking Express follows two Hong Kong policemen dealing with the end of relationships. Officer 223, known by his badge number, is unable to move past being left by his girlfriend and sets himself a deadline for waiting for her. When it passes, he crosses paths with a woman in a blonde wig who is caught up in a criminal drug operation. The second story concerns Officer 663, whose girlfriend has left him and who spends his evenings at a late-night eatery, unaware that Faye, the young woman working there, is drawn to him.
Wong Kar-wai wrote and directed the film, his third feature in a directing career of eighteen films. It followed Days of Being Wild and was released before Ashes of Time. Jet Tone Production made it, and the cast includes Brigitte Lin, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Faye Wong and Valerie Chow. The two stories connect through the eatery where the characters pass.
The film runs 103 minutes and mixes comedy, drama and romance across its Hong Kong setting. On IMDb it holds 7.9/10 from around 110,000 votes, while on TMDB it has 8/10 from roughly 2,285 votes. A critics' rating of 8.1/10 from 71 reviews places it close to the audience scores. The large number of votes reflects a lasting international audience decades after its 1994 release.
What's left behind the scenes
- Quentin Tarantino specifically created a distribution company for the film's release in America.
- Wong Kar-wai created Brigitte Lin's character, the mysterious woman in the white wig, based on the images of Greta Garbo and Gena Rowlands in John Cassavetes' "Gloria" (1980).
- The director initially intended the film to have three stories. Later, the third, unused part was included in the film "Fallen Angels" (1995).
- The disc that the policeman gives at the end is a Japanese edition of the album "The Best of Francoise Hardy."
- Takeshi Kaneshiro's character is named He Zhiwu, or Policeman #223. In "Fallen Angels" (1995), Wong Kar-wai's next film, Takeshi Kaneshiro also played a role. His character is also named He Zhiwu, and while hiding from the police, he states that his prison number was 223.
- Wong Kar-wai worked on this film concurrently with the project "Ashes of Time," in between shooting – only 23 days were spent on the screenplay, directing, editing, and post-production. Kar-wai took on this film to immediately fulfill a contract for two films. He would come up with and record each new scene at night, and film it in the morning.
- Actor Takeshi Kaneshiro speaks four languages in the film: his character's voiceover is in Mandarin Chinese, he pronounces several phrases in Cantonese, he communicates with his ex-girlfriend in Japanese, and he addresses the mysterious heroine Brigitte Lin in English once.
- Wong Kar-wai worked on this film simultaneously with the project "Ashes of Time" (1994) during breaks in filming – it took only 23 days for the script, staging, editing, and post-production. Kar-wai took on this film to immediately fulfill a contract for two films. He later described "Chungking Express" as a film similar to a road movie – he invented and wrote each new scene at night, and filmed it in the morning.
- In 1995, Quentin Tarantino specifically organized a distribution company for the American release to promote the film in the United States.
- Takeshi Kaneshiro's character is named He Zhiu, or Policeman No. 223. In "Fallen Angels," his character is also called He Zhiu, and while hiding from the police, he says his number in prison was 223.
- The correct localization of the title is "Chungking Express".
- Police officer No. 663's apartment was filmed in the apartment of cinematographer Christopher Doyle.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
