Set deep inside the sprawling and sweaty mega city that is Hong Kong, Chunking
Express tells the story of two love sick policemen who have lost love. The
first story stars Takeshi Kaneshiro as Cop 223 who was dumped by
his girlfriend on April 1st and decides to wait for her to change
her mind until his birthday a month later before moving on. At this time he
meets a mysterious woman in a blonde wig (Brigitte Lin) who has connections to
the underworld. The second story features Tony Leung Chiu-Wai as Cop 663, a man
who has recently been dumped by his air hostess girlfriend. He frequents a
small food stall called Midnight Express where the quirky and attractive Faye
(Faye Wong) works.
At times I struggled to follow the storyline of the film
which was a huge problem for me but there is enough to like besides that, that
the film was really enjoyable and it features some great cinematography and
quirky ideas. I loved the shots of central characters in slow motion with the
rest of the world sped up. They looked fantastic and also worked as a metaphor
to show the disconnection and loneliness that you can feel in a big city. The
locations were also really interesting as I haven’t seen much Hong
Kong cinema before; most of the places were new and exciting to
watch.
