Chungking Express / Chung Hing Sam Lam

Writer/Director: Wong Kar Wai (In the Mood for Love / Fa yeung nin wa, Happy Together / Cheun gwong tsa sit, 2046)
Cast: Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Brigitte Lin, Faye Wong, Chen Jinquan
Hong Kong, 1994

Seen: Aug 26, 2006 thanks to Rogers Direct

Reason to see: Its on my List of 101 Films I Can't Believe I Haven't Seen

After watching about the first 15 minutes I realized that this was not the film I expected it to be, I must have gotten it confused with another film, possible something on imdb's top 250 or something like that. Turns out for me, that this isn't a bad thing, I quite enjoyed this film and may not have seen it otherwise. Now realizing that come from Wong Kar Wai who brought us In the Mood for Love, all things are good. I loved that film. Add to that Tony Leung? Happy sigh. It's all good. There was a lot of quirkiness in this film, some of which I believed wholeheartedly as the zany things people do, or the stories they make up to themselves to pass the time or to create a sense of meaning. There was some other quirkiness I didn't quite believe. However you really get a sense of their present-ness. Where they are at that moment, how life if affecting them. What they are thinking, doing, hoping, remembering, dreaming and all of this without feeling like a cliché. A wonderful portrait of 2 lives.

Shannon's Overall View:
I enjoyed it
I look forward to watching it again, this time with fresh eyes
I'd recommend it

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© Shannon Ridler, 2006