Wong kar wai is probably the most innovative and avantgarde director ever to come out of hong kong. The sequence with zhiwu loitering outside his girlfriends window appears. The source of bright light that infiltrates the room are the windows. Chungking express symbols, allegory and motifs gradesaver. Brigitte lin in chungking express 1994 jinquan chen and faye wong in. Takeshi kaneshiro, tony leung chiuwai, brigitte lin, faye wong. Time figures prominently in wongs multicharacter romance chungking express. The cinema of wong kar wei for me is the superbly gorgeous photographs and film stills, some 250 in total, all neatly collected in this beautiful hard cover volume.
With each successive step in this progression, wong. Black girl film club is biweekly podcast aimed at creating a space for black girls to watch and discuss movies. Chungking express explores the daily routines that inhabitants of urban. The 10 most distinct traits of wong karwais cinema.
The whiplash, doublepronged chungking express is one of the defining works of. Wong karwai decided to follow up his second film days of being wilda critical sensation but commercial flopwith a wuxia film, the chinese equivalent of the japanese samurai film but with more focus on the chivalric aspects of the story. Order is generally associated with laws, structure, control, and in the play, it is exemplified by the classical temperament, corresponding also to newtonian science. Chungking express explores the themes of loneliness, transience and identity within the environment of the city. Its the story of two cops dealing with love and realtionships in the fastpaced world of hong kong. Brigitte lin, faye wong, tony leung, takeshi kaneshiro can a dream be catching. Prior to those, i had seen the grandmaster and found it utterly lacking in style, character and story. Chungking express not only was made in a pretty short time period but also with very simple equipment and a cast consisting of crew members the films still photographer doubled as the midnight express owner, the makeup artist played the waitress named may, and the person in charge of lighting behind the camera assumed the role of the. Almost none of the script was completed before shooting wong only knew that he wanted to look at relationships in hong kong. Today, it feels very much like the product of its time, and i fell in love with it the moment i heard faye wongs cover of dreams by the. What is the importance of cinematography and editing in creating meaning and generating response in chungking express. You have until july 31st 2009 to be eligible to win.
See all 2 formats and editions hide other formats and editions. Director, wong kar wai, and cinematographer, christopher doyle use high energy visuals and heavily edited colour to explore these themes. I didnt know there were some dreams you dont wake up from. Chungking express was actually done during the editing of wong karwais ashes of time, as wong was having editors block and needed something to cleanse his pallette. In chungking express, the narrative comprises two separate stories, told in sequence, about policemen working the beat in the vicinity of the chungking mansions, a famously seedy hong kong locale and gathering place for night people of all ethnicities. Director, wong kar wai, and cinematographer, christopher doyle use high energy visuals and heavily edited colour to explore. Cult hong kong filmmaker wong kar wais chungking express is a stylish combination of romance, deadpan comedy and film noir set in and around hong kongs notorious chunking mansions, a complex of shabby hostels, bars and clubs teaming with illegal immigrants. For all the lighthearted humor and sweetness to be found here, chungking express isnt exactly a cuddly film, and if its cutesy at times then its a cuteness mixed with real pain and also real beauty. This works in both a personal sense the roving jungle of urban existence, swamped by the shifting identities of global commerce and fashions. The sequence with zhiwu loitering outside his girlfriends window appears earlier in. Struggling to finish postproduction on his lengthy genre film, ashes of time, wong decided to shoot chungking as a way too make a bit of quick cash. Rashomon, the goddess, ugetsu, black girl, chungking express, and the killer form and style topics covered.
Chungking express is mostly shot with a handheld camera, and the result perfectly fits the crowded and tense urban environment where the film takes place. My blueberry nights doesnt have the richness ofin the mood for love or the goofy charm of chungking express and fallen angels, but it is gorgeous to look at and it has a sweet, endearing soul. In chungking express, two young men try to forget, with great difficulty, the women who have dumped them. Wkw warps and expands the ultratransience of modern hk, where the issue of identity is never clear cut.
The second album, with the talented sonique, took itself far too seriously and, as a result, disappeared without trace a pity as trumpets was a great. The opening sequence is an important counterpoint to the closing ten minutes. Chungking express is quite possibly my favorite wong film, with 2046 a pretty close second. Wong kar wai originally planned to have three stories, but wisely expanded the second and more compelling story of chungking express. Definitions of chungking express, synonyms, antonyms, derivatives of chungking express, analogical dictionary of chungking express english. Chungking express 1994in story and in execution, chungking express is a film with multiple angles and points of viewwe see characters through windows and from both sides of a lunch counter. History of african, asian, and latin american film films annotated for this course. The two central male characters are policemen who have recently split up with their longterm girlfriends, and now find themselves alone in hong kong. Chungking express four years after his cult classic days of being wild, hong kong maverick stylist wong karwai trampolines back with a quicksilver magical mystery tour through the. Wong kar wais chungking express presents two loosely tied stories of unrequited love which besides themselves, mediate a kaleidoscopic journey through tsimshatsui, and central on hong kong island, exploring themes of identity and urban disconnect. May 05, 2019 chungking express 1994 is a crime romantic drama film, balanced at some points by comic relief elements, written and directed by wong karwai during his break from editing ashes of time. Film education resources film library chungking express. Kai tak airport, certain bars and restaurants, even corridors and escalators exist now only in the memories of those who once used them. Theme setting general for contact form settings captcha and custom sidebar.
Faye wong as one of the lovers in wong karwais chungking express. Chungking express explores many key themes and ideas in relation to the story arch of the characters, the ambiguous setting of hong kong as an omnipresent force and its aesthetic the opening sequence is an important counterpoint to the closing ten minutes. Although the stories are not explicitly connected, characters from the second story make cameo appearances in the first, creating a connection between time and. His father was a sailor and his mother was a housewife. Wong karwais chungking express wong karwais 1994 film, chungking express was created and distributed under interesting circumstances. The book is structured as six conversations between powers and wong each in a different locale, including the restaurant where he shot in the mood for love and the snack bar where he shot chungking express. Here is a list of 20 stunning themes for windows 7 and windows 8. Chungking express is a 1994 hong kong comedydrama film written and directed by wong karwai. Rashomon, the goddess, ugetsu, black girl, chungking express, and the killer. Join hosts britney and ashley as they analyze movies and the film industry from their unique, and often underrepresented, point of view. Chungking express, by contrast, represented a continuation and further development of wong kar wais nowcelebrated personal style of filmmaking, which had been evolving through his first two features, as tears go by wong gok ka moon, 1988 and days of being wild a fei zheng chuan, 1990. S express s soundtrack lp from mid 80s is one of my all time faves, and some of the 12 remixes that appeared during that creative phase were excellent and many never made it to cd ofcourse. Urbanity and identity in chungking express brycgstowe.
Nov, 2015 chungking express explores many key themes and ideas in relation to the story arch of the characters, the ambiguous setting of hong kong as an omnipresent force and its aesthetic. Nov 18, 2017 based on the novel by agatha christie, branaghs colorful, fluid murder on the orient express is a worthy companion to the books previous bigscreen adaptation, sidney lumets 1974 version. Chungking express cert 12, 100 mins chungking express is a film divided into two separate stories, each one dealing with loneliness and isolation in the big city. Last year, i struggled through the incoherent ashes of time and felt that in the mood for love was a neat retro clothing advert stretched out to an empty two hours. Additionally, the handheld camera gives a very realistic visage, which even included walls and doorways appearing in the frame. The film is an idiosyncratic riff on the plot and themes of mean streets, set in the.
Discussing each of wongs eleven films, the conversations also explore wongs trademark themes of time, nostalgia, and beauty, and. In chungking express, wong karwai employs the theme to build a dreamlike logic in the film, giving the viewer a sense of uncanny similarity in a bustling hong kong where so many of the faces that pass on the street are ones our characters will never see again. Chungking express study guide contains a biography of wong karwai, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Wong karwai was born on 17 july 1958 in shanghai, the youngest of three siblings. The impending and dramatic baroque by michael galasso sets a dark tone as the nondiegetic score, bringing a sense of foreboding and. The 10 most distinct traits of wong karwais cinema taste. Meanwhile, 1993s the good sonthough not a hitsuggested a dramatic versatility that could see culkin into the ever. Chungking express was wong karwais third film to be released and his international breakout feature. As part of the second new wave of hong kong cinema, wong moved far away from the traditional jackie chan and shaw brothers style of films that focused on action, and he explored more substantial themes, including human psyche, politics, and the social conditions in hong kong.
Urbanity and identity in chungking express brycgstowe magazine. On top of using visual techniques like framing to reflect the themes of the. Chungking express wong kar wai, 1994 a level film studies. Chungking express 1994 imdb directed by kar wai wong.
See more ideas about chungking express, faye wong and old anime. Imagine a small town of, say, 35,000 people, with only a handful of public places. Much of the melancholy beauty of chungking express and later wong films, for that mattercomes from missed connections, mad love, and soured romances, pairings with little chance of working out, however much heat they might generate in the moment. Chungking express, the title under which the film was released in the united states, is not a direct translation of the original hong kong title, chung hing sam lam chungking jungle. In many of his later films, the bitterness started to overwhelm the sweetness. Chungking express bluray the whiplash, doublepronged chungking express is one of the defining works of nineties. Chungking express is a great film to probe these ideas. 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. Jun 20, 2019 in arcadia, tom stoppard presents a dynamic interplay of order and disorder that exists eternally and creatively demastes 91. Key ideas and themes in chunking express wong kar wai. Order and disorder in tom stoppards arcadia literature.
The film consists of two stories told in sequence, each about a lovesick hong kong policeman mulling over his relationship with a woman. Evolution of attitude in eliots the love song of j. Express yourself with our modern responsive designs that are beautifully crafted to look good on devices of all sizes. Wong kar wais chungking express presents two loosely tied stories of. Biography early life and career beginnings 19581989 wong karwai was born on 17 july 1958 in shanghai, the youngest of three siblings. Lastly, chungking express also boasts a very unusual soundtrack a wonderful mix of. Theme from s express is an acid house song by british dance music band s express, from their debut studio album, original soundtrack, written and produced by mark moore and pascal gabriel. The impending and dramatic baroque by michael galasso sets a dark tone as. Watching chungking express now is like time travel. Today, it feels very much like the product of its time, and i fell in love with it the moment i heard faye wongs cover of dreams by the cranberries.
Make a movie in hong kong, and its like making it in someones hometown. By the time wong was five years old, the seeds of the cultural revolution were beginning to take effect in china and his parents decided to relocate to britishruled hong kong. If true, its the strongest possible example i can imagine of the role of luck and spontaneity in the creation of great works of cinema. Despite on how much has been written about this movie, the basic plot is pretty simple. Chungking express 1994 is a crime romantic drama film, balanced at some. The 10 most exquisitely lit movies of all time page 2. The story centres on a small takeaway stall, the midnight express, which is. Heading into 1994, macaulay culkin was the biggest child actor since the days of shirley temple. Create amazing websites whatever your business is with our wide range of mobileready wordpress themes. Chunking express 1994 to say that chungking express is my new favorite wong karwai movie is weak praise of no significance. Weve added annotation files for a variety of films for two core classes at ucla.
Best of all, branagh directs himself in the role of the famous detective poirot, and its as natural a fit as his outings as henry v and hamlet were. Key ideas and themes in chunking express wong kar wai 1994. Chungking express study guide contains a biography of wong karwai, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and. Apr 12, 2018 luke magar dissects and decolonises the classic drama, chungking express. One of the landmarks of early acid house and late 1980s sampling culture, the single became an instant hit upon its release in april 1988, peaking at. According to legend, it took wong karwai six weeks to make chungking express, from initial conception to final cut, during a break in the editing of his troubled martial arts epic ashes of time. Jun 30, 2010 but in viewing chungking express or wongs other films, i hesitate to credit so much of this to intentions of the artist, for the most surprising thing about rewatching chungking express is the.
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