About Chungking Express

The movie tells of two cops and their two happenstance romances. The stories meet briefly in the middle, but are not related.

Wong Kar Wai took a break from Ashes of Time to film Chungking Express. It was filmed in chronological order, with Wong Kar Wai mostly writing the script as he filmed. A third story was planned, but due to the length of the first two it was split into a separate movie, Fallen Angels. Thus, Fallen Angels is often considered a sequel of sorts to Chungking Express.

Writer:	Wong Kar Wai
Director:	Wong Kar Wai

Cast

Woman in Blonde Wig:	Bridgitte Lin (Ching-hsia Lin)
Cop 663:	Tony Leung Chiu Wai
Faye:	Faye Wong
He Zhiwu, Cop 223:	Takeshi Kaneshiro
Air Hostess:	Valerie Chow
Manager of 'Midnight Express':	Chen Jinquan
Richard:	Lee-na Kwan (Guan Lina)
Man:	Zhiming Huang
The 2nd May:	Liang Zhen
Man:	Songshen Zuo

Quotes

He Zhiwu: We're all unlucky in love sometimes. When I am, I go jogging. The body loses water when you jog, so you have none left for tears.

Woman in blonde wig: Somehow I've become very cautious. When I put on a raincoat, I put on sunglasses too. Who knows when it will rain, or when it will turn out sunny?

He Zhiwu: We split up on April Fool's Day. So I decided to let the joke run for a month. Every day I buy a can of pineapple with a sell-by date of May 1. May loves pineapple, and May 1 is my birthday. If May hasn't changed her mind by the time I've bought thirty cans, then our love will also expire.

He Zhiwu: Somehow everything comes with an expiry date. Swordfish expires. Meat sauce expires. Even cling-film expires. Is there anything in the world which doesn't?

He Zhiwu: If memories could be canned, would they also have expiry dates? If so, I hope they last for centuries.

Cop663: You like noisy music?
Faye: Yes. The louder the better. Stops me from thinking.
Cop663: You don't like to think? What do you like?
Faye: Never thought about it.

Cop663: I thought we'd stay together for the long haul, flying like a jumbo jet on a full tank. But we changed course.

He Zhiwu: At the high point of our intimacy, we were just 0.01cm from each other. I knew nothing about her. Six hours later, she fell in love with another man.

He Zhiwu: In May's eyes, I'm no different from a can of pineapple.

Air Hostess: Change of flight. Your plane cancelled. Here's your key. Bye.

Cop663: Would you let a person on board with a boarding pass like this? It's dated today, but it got blurred in the rain. I don't know where it's taking me. Do you?
Faye: No idea, but I'll give you another.
Cop663: Great.
Faye: Where do you want to go?
Cop663: Wherever you want to take me.

Cop663: What are you doing in my apartment?
Faye: You asked me to visit.

Cop663: Did I leave the tap running, or is the apartment getting more tearful? I always thought it would cope okay. Didn't expect it to cry so much. When people cry, they can dry their eyes with tissues. But when an apartment cries, it takes a lot to mop it up.

Soundtrack

The official soundtrack album features music composed by Roel A. García and two covers by Faye Wong (The Cranberries' Dreams & The Cocteau Twins' -Random Thoughts). The tracklisting is as follows:

1. Faye Wong - Dreamer
2. Chasing the Metaphysical Express
3. Sensuous Forest
4. Fornication in Space
5. Rain - Tear and Sweat
6. Night Snack
7. Entering the Hardboiled Wonderland
8. Rock Like a Dog
9. Heartbreak (Interlude)
10. Sweat Farewell
11. Faye Wong - Random Thoughts

A couple memorable songs from the movie are not on the soundtrack. They are:

1. The Mamas & The Papas - California Dreamin'
2. Dennis Brown - Things in Life
3. Dinah Washington - What a Diff'rence a Day Makes

Awards and Nominations

1994 Golden Horse Awards

Won - Best Actor (Tony Leung Chiu Wai)

1994 Locarno International Film Festival

Nominated - Golden Leopard (Wong Kar Wai) Hong Kong.

1994 Stockholm Film Festival

Won - Best Actress (Faye Wong)

Won - FIPRESCI Prize (Wong Kar Wai)

Nominated - Bronze Horse

1995 Hong Kong Film Awards

Won - Best Picture

Won - Best Director (Wong Kar Wai)

Won - Best Actor (Tony Leung Chiu Wai)

Won - Best Editing (William Cheung Suk-Ping, Kwong Chi-Leung, Hai Kit-Wai)

Nominated - Best Actress (Faye Wong)

Nominated - Best Supporting Actress (Valerie Chow Kar-Ling)

Nominated - Best Screenplay (Wong Kar Wai)

Nominated - Best Cinematography (Christopher Doyle, Andrew Lau Wai-Keung)

Nominated - Best Art Direction (William Cheung Suk-Ping)

Nominated - Best Original Film Score (Frankie Chan Fan-Kei, Roel A. Garcia)

1997 Independent Spirit Awards

Nominated - Best Foreign Film (Wong Kar Wai for Hong Kong) Hong Kong.