Disappointed


I hate to say it, mostly because this DVD was a blind buy rather than a rental, but I was pretty disappointed by Chungking Express.

While the directing and cinematography were absolutely SUPERB(!) I really couldn't get into the story, which I blame mostly on what I thought was poor acting (except for Tony Leung), I seriously could NOT stand to watch Faye Wong's character for another second.

Don't get me wrong, Wong Kar Wai is brilliant, and this movie was interesting definitely had it's moments, I just felt that the acting and character development were poor.

But hey, it looks like it's just me, everyone else is raving about it.

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You're not alone, stewartjadams! I agree, there's not much to it except pictures and montage. At least, I didn't manage to recognize whatever there is to be appreciated. It is my experience that if I don't care about the characters, I won't care about the movie either. Then again, this is my problem and mine alone...

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I agree with you guys.
I had a hard time liking the film.
And I've seen lots of asian films.
(I'd recommend Survive Style 5+ over this one any time. It's got style and substance!)
This movie has some really respectable critical response riding on its back though....but there's also a consensus that it's hard to get into the film if you're not really attracted to its style.
Roger Ebert said the following on his review of the film:
"This is the kind of movie you'll relate to if you love film itself, rather than its surface aspects such as story and stars."
and Mick LaSalle wrote something similar:
"More impressive than engaging."
Both of them gave the movie starred reviews.

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6.5 years later, I gotta say, I agree.

I remember seeing ads for this movie back in the mid 90s and never got around to see it. I saw it was rated very high, so decided to check it out.

It was bland and boring. I found it to be one of the longest hour and a half movie I have ever seen...

Maybe it is a cultural thing, but Faye's behavior is just creepy, demented, and unlikable.

The only character I was actually interested in was the Manager of the food stand.



I hate IMDB's Signature policy...

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Another 6 years later and I also agree with this general assessment.

I didn't know it was going to be two stories, so I felt the first story ended too suddenly. The second story had too much of the same song and didn't engage me because I didn't feel sympathy with Faye.

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To each his own. I actually think Faye Wong is the highlight of the movie. Then again, I'm a fanatic. I love pretty much everything about this movie.

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Exactly. The acting in the last scene of the movie, the expression on the face of Tony Leung is memorable, and Faye too seems more mature and at ease now when talking to him. Very few film are 9/10 for me, very few, and this is one of them. It is a masterpeice. I had to see it again to realize how much I adore this film. On first viewing I liked it but barely understood it possibly because of the lack of structure and harmony in storytelling. Second time it was easier and I loved it. The music was so good. The editing and cinematography meaningful. This was not just a successful exercise in style, but a creation of a genre in itself. It is such an alienating film but sensitive people across the globe, specially cinephiles will get attached to it.

If people don't like this film, it might be due to their limited perception of the definition of a good film. I am amazed how come it was made in three months. This film inspires me to create a dreamy, experimental film with similar themes and overtones. Wong Kar Wai is hands down, top 10 filmmakers of the modern cinema, if there exists any such kind.

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Me too!
I loved 'In the mood for love' and also loved 2046. Didn't like Days of being wild much. And this one is the one I like least. Faye's character is like mentally retarded or something. was she supposed to be so? and if it's the case, still it was VERY irritating. The first story is boring and unreal. I couldn't relate to the characters,nor their lines. Peopel here say/do things normal people wouldnt say/do in real life. To me it was one of the main reasosns I couldn't enjoy it. The drug dealer looked more like a cross dresser or a man wearing a wig. This character had no weight (and most of the other ones too). The cop.. well.. I never believed he was really a cop. More like a soft, heartbroken high school student.
Why should I care at all for him if he decided to fall in love with the first woman (man wearing a blonde wig) that enters the bar? Am I supposed to care about the 2 of them (one of them is a drug dealer and we r given no reason to like)?

I liked some scenes and metaphors, though. The scene were we first see the air hostess at his place, with the instruction in the background. The metaphor of the flat crying (when it was flooded with water) or jogging to lose water so as not to cry.
I wonder if 3-Iron was influenced by that film. The idea of visiting flats when no one is there, cleaning and changing things around.. and playing the same song over and over.
Anyway I'm glad that Wong Kar-wai made better movies after. It shows how he grew along the way.. and if In The Mood, and 2046 are his last movies, then he is going on the right track. Of course they all feel like one long movie, all with the same idea, more or less, but he was able to present those ideas in a much better, solid and engagging way in the last 2.

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Normally I'm very patient with films, I try to find good elements in films that don't immediately appeal to me. But this film annoyed me so much I felt the need to throw things at the screen. The music is cheesy and the motion blur effect is very annoying. The film is obviously character driven rather than plot driven, which I usually find a good thing, but in this blatant A bout de Souffle rip-off the main characters are too shallow and their monologues too bland.

Though less annoying, every time "In the Mood for Love" shows on TV I tell myself I'm going to concentrate and watch the film until the end, but I get bored and distracted after about 20 minutes. I think it's the blatant Godard influence combined with the heavy focus on relationships (or lack of them) that turns me off WKW's films.

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I loved it.Faye Wong's character is cool.I realy like the mood.Well there's my 2cents.'My opinion is the weakest fuc<' - Nocando

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watch it again man seriously , it grows on you

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I love Chungking Express but I agree it's not for everyone. If you are into linear storylines and so forth, then this movie ain't for you.

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Huh - A Bout De Souffle rip-off? Where the hell is that one coming from? There was nothing nearly as forcedly existential about Chungking as the tail end of Breathless and the characters in that Godard film were every bit as shallow as the ones here - if not shallower. And unlike that self important French snob, Karwai actually seems to have the necessary looseness and sense of humor to make this type of thing work. The technique is the one single thing Breathless has going for it and even there it´s squarely beaten by Chungking.



"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

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I watched this movie yesterday and after a good night sleep I still don't know what to make of it. I was aspecially annoyed by the lack of connection between the two different stories.

The first one just ended without an ending. By the end of the movie I had already forgotten about it. I knew to little about the woman to get involved in the story. I expected an impossible-love-story about a policeman and a criminal woman, who is chasing some lost drugs. Instead, the movie went nowhere. Maybe because my dvd-box says "Quentin Tarantino presents", I expected more crime than drama. The first part of the movie shows fast images of the policeman and the woman in several chases, so my expectations rose. Than suddenly it stopped ...

I like emotional movies with weird love stories, but this was just to little to become interesting.

I thought the second story had much more potential to become a great movie. The theme of breaking in to a home and redecorate it, is a nice idea for a movie and Kar-Wai Wong should have focussed more on the emotional part of this theme instead of showing us a slightly-retarded woman. Ki-Duk Kim did a better job on this in "Bin-Jip" (aka "3-Iron").

If Kar-Wai Wong had left out the first part and made the second part into a complete movie, it might have been a lot more interesting.

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I think you're looking at the first story the wrong way. It's about fleeting connections. No, it never developed into a love story between them but there was still something there, and they will both remember it.

This is a movie that takes a second viewing to really see how all these chance encounters connect. Look at how easily it could have been the first detective that dates Faye Wong's character. He bumps into her but then leaves the story because he misunderstands the Midnight Express manager.

I would say one of the main themes of the movie is how these seemingly insignificant events and encounters can mean much bigger things down the line. The hustle and bustle of Hong Kong represented that in today's fast-moving society, you have to grab hold and take charge of these minor encounters because it's the only chance you're going to get.

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it's a beautiful film and has some of the best designs and cinematography i've ever seen. but that's all it has going for it. it's style over substance and the entire film is really just an exercise in creating beautiful shots and scenes. the story was an interesting concept but it was just handled really badly. it's pretty much the Chinese version of the French Three Colours Blue. pretty to look at but nothing else

http://betterwithbob.blogspot.com/

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i agree that it is really disapointing.i dont understand why its over rated.

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I saw it some years ago (will see it again soon) and I thought it was very charming, a superbly conceived mix of comedy and drama. It obviously owes a great deal to French nouvelle vague films, especially early Godard: almost nothing is _stated_ as important, things unfold and happen in the moment, but it also develops those traits. Tony Leung's pineapple can business and his sometimes awkward encounters with people are so touching and convincing.

I loved the scene when the grocer tells him off "Take all this out-of-date fruit and these potatoes too, young man! I'm giving them away. Do you like stale food, son?" and he replies "You don't respect the efforts of the working people! Do you realize how much work it takes to produce good pienapples?" - that exchange effortlessly suggests the difference between countryside morals and a modern commercial big city, or even between old and new China.

And of course, the photography is amazing.



You are a lunatic, Sir, and you're going to end up on the Russian front. I have a car waiting.

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This was a total yawnfest. Glad I saw Fallen Angels before this because if this was my first Wong Kar Wai film I'd never have watched any more of his.

"All the leaves are brown...."

Pure Cheese. We don't want to hear the same song 10 times in the film.

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this is a reaction that many have after watching any wong kar wai film...

defo a unique style...


love them all.

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