subtle scenes - did you catch them?

Hi

I noticed that when Brigitte Lin arrived at the airport with her men, there was Tony's girlfriend (flight attendant) outside looking for a cab probably to Tony's apartment.

After Takeshi makes his last phone call to his ex-May and hears another man's voice then hangs up -- he runs through the subway and up a flight of stairs wailing with anguish. On the passenger walkway above him is Tony in HK police uniform leaning against the railing.

I didnt think the stories were happening at the same time, when we see Faye buying the Garfield it was on April 30th, we know she started working at the Midnight Express on May 1st cause thats when He Qiwu goes after jogging on his birthday and the guy is like try faye, today is her first day. Thus she didnt know 633 prior to that day.

There is no way the stories happen at the same time. At the end of the first story is when Faye starts working there and he bumps into her and says she'll fall in love in 5 hours I think. Thats when her story starts to happen.

Well, this is my favourite film so far [possibly, my favourite film ever] and I have seen it countless times. I like this more than Fallen Angels, although a few friends of mine actually prefer Fallen Angels more. I didn't like Leon Lai's hitman story in that one much though.

I love Ashes of Time, it's a hard film to watch at first but it grows on you. Have you seen 2046 and In the Mood For Love? Fantastic stuff. WKW is possibly the only filmmaker who I quite enjoy all the films directed.

Though I have to discredit alot of things in your post, alas.




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* during the first of the two stories, as brigette lin walks by a store, for a second you see faye walk out of that store in the background, carrying a huge garfield with her. when you watch the second story, you see that she bought this to replace the bear in Tony's apartment. you realize that the two stories are actually happening more or less at the same time
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As everyone else has said, these stories aren't happening at the same time. She most likely bought Garfield for herself ;)

Also, the first story takes place over less than 3 or 4 days.

The second story takes place directly after. And through it, Faye and Tony's relationship could have taken weeks [she pays the Electricity many, many times], to months [very likely], and then a year when she leaves to California.

The inclusion of Takeshi and the subplot of Tony coming to terms with his air hostess suggest that different people take varying lengths of time and ways to get over the same feeling. Takeshi spends a month ringing and obsessing over his ex whom he had 5 years relationship with. And then he purges himself with pineapples. [food is a recurring metaphor for love in WKW's films. Especially in this, Fallen Angels, and In the Mood for Love]. His story is very rapid and fast, and we see this through the cinematography - the stutter speed of the camera is lowered at the start of the film when he's chasing someone. It gives a pulsating, jerky effect, making it look faster than it really is.

Tony's story is unclear how long he takes, as the funny man ignores the letter for weeks or months. The cinematography in this has its own signiture too, where we see Tony isolated from the rest of the world that's going by very fast. [You can connotate/fanwank this as much as you can, I try not to because I think WKW and Chris Doyle just did it because it looked fun]





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* when faye was cleaning Tony's apartment, she moved a ladder next to a wardrobe. later on in the movie, when Tony packed his exgirlfriend's clothes in a box, he steps onto this ladder to put her stuff away ontop of the wardrobe. so in a way, faye quite literally created a bridge for him to "put away his past," as was the purpose of her replacing all of his things little by little. so lost in his quiet depression, Tony doesn't consciously notice these changes, but it does change him - slowly he got over her.
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Nope, Faye didn't leave the ladder where Tony would later step on it. It's in a different position when Tony uses it. The ladder was laid higalty-piggalty all over the apartment as seen randomly in the contuinity of shots.

Faye didn't literally create a bridge for him... she brute-forced her way into his life and subliminally made him fall for her via brain washing and suggestive techniques. And Tony is quite a rubbish cop to not notice his things were being replaced, lol...


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Anyway. did anyone else notice anything else?
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Oh aye.

There's one quick 1 second shot during the first story as Bridget Lin is walking about to Chungking Mansions. The shot focuses on a sign that says "CHUNGKING HOUSE". Slightly confusing, is the house a section of the Mansions or sign making error?

There's more but my brain isn't working right now innit.

At the beginning of the film Cop 223 is escorting a suspect through crowded corridors, he bumps into a man carrying a display mannequin fitted with a blonde wig. The collision looks to me like a preview of his first encounter with Brigitte Lin's character a moment later.