Review & Summary of Chungking Express (1994) — Ashley Hajimirsadeghi

The plot of Chungking Express is split into two different stories; our first story features Cop 223, who has been dumped by his girlfriend May on April Fool’s Day. He refuses to believe it, and, so, he buys a can of pineapple every day for the month because it’s her favorite thing to eat. He goes to convenience stores and hunts down the perfect can: ones that expire exactly on May 1st. Naturally, when the time comes, he realizes it isn’t a joke, and is left to pick up the pieces of himself once again.

Cop 223 then falls in love with a drug smuggler at a bar. Can’t get any worse than that, right? Especially because she’s wearing a blonde wig that looks fake, sunglasses that completely cover her face, and a beige trench-coat. We fall into the antics of their story, and then are thrust into the second story.

We meet Cop 663, played by the lovely Tony Leung, who also is going through a breakup with a flight attendant. He’s obsessed with this woman, has her stuffed animals in his apartment, and then we see him occasionally playing with toy airplanes. Ah, so it’s the season of heartbreak in this film for sure.

But then we meet Faye, played by the stunning Faye Wong. She works at a food store that Cop 663 often frequents, and she has fallen hard for him. She’s so smitten and we catch glimpses of her longing gazes, and then we really begin to venture into the rabbit hole of this strange romance that’s brewing between them.

This movie is genuinely funny at times, and I’m a tough cookie to please when it comes to humor. Whether it’s Cop 663 just talking to this massive teddy bear about his love life or Faye Wong’s character literally breaking into his apartment to clean for him, it’s a fun, fun ride. It follows the ups and downs of relationships with a tinge of humor and hope, giving the viewers an enjoyable experience that’s also extremely cinematic at the same time.

I also really love the tiny homages to the cultural diversity in Hong Kong we see throughout the film, although the depictions aren’t the best. Blonde-wig woman, who remains unnamed, is stolen from by Indians. We don’t get a positive depiction of them there. But we do see glimpses of non-East Asian people at bars and on the corridors of the streets, which is absolutely fascinating.