105 Chungking Express (重庆森林, 1994) RePodcast

This episode was originally released May 17, 2021

This week we discuss the Wong Kar-Wai classic Chungking Express, the changing face of Hong Kong, stillness and transience, quirkiness and metaphor, and what a romantic comedy should be.

 

Chungking Express is a 1994 Hong Kong romantic crime comedy-drama film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. The film consists of two stories told in sequence, each about a lovesick Hong Kong policeman mulling over his relationship with a woman. The first story stars Takeshi Kaneshiro as a cop obsessed with his breakup with a woman named May, and his encounter with a mysterious drug smuggler (Brigitte Lin). The second stars Tony Leung as a police officer roused from his gloom over the loss of his flight attendant girlfriend (Valerie Chow) by the attentions of a quirky snack bar worker (Faye Wong).

"Chungking" in the title refers to Chungking Mansions in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, where Wong grew up in the 1960s. "Express" refers to the food stand Midnight Express, located in Lan Kwai Fong, an area in Central, Hong Kong.

 

I Love This You Should Too is hosted by Samantha & Indy Randhawa