Chungking Express (1996)
93%RT Audience Score: 93%
Awards & Nominations: 10 wins & 23 nominations
Even if all it had to offer were writer-director Wong Kar-wai’s thrillingly distinctive visuals, Chungking Express would be well worth watching; happily, its thoughtfully drawn characters and naturalistic performances also pack a potent dramatic wallop.
Chungking Express is like a rollercoaster ride of emotions, with its frenetic blend of slow motion, pixilation, and rushing backgrounds. It’s a visually-striking drama that will leave you feeling both exhilarated and despondent at the same time. The film is a meditation on love, with two films in one, and Faye Wong is a real delight. It’s the cinematic equivalent of popcorn on a hot stove, with boundless energy and sheer visual zing. Wong Kar-wai is a masterful director who knows how to craft a film that’s both intoxicating and melancholic. If you’re looking for a fun and creative movie that will leave you feeling all the feels, then Chungking Express is the perfect choice.
Production Company(ies)
Jet Tone Production
Distributor
Miramax Films, Miramax Home Entertainment [us]
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Lan Kwai Fong, Central, Hong Kong, China
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for some violence, sexuality and drug content
Year of Release
1996
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:4-Track Stereo Dolby SR
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1 (original ratio)
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Runtime:1h 43m
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Language(s):Cantonese, English, Japanese, Hindi, Mandarin, Punjabi, Urdu
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Mar 8, 1994 Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 21, 2002
Genre(s)
Comedy
Keyword(s)
starring Takeshi Kaneshiro, Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Faye Wong, Valerie Chow, directed by Kar-Wai Wong, written by Kar-Wai Wong, produced by Chan Ye Cheng, comedy, PG-13 rating, Miramax Films, Miramax Home Entertainment, box office gross $114.9K, reviewed by Robert Horton, Jeff Shannon, Peter Travers, Michael Wilmington, Dave Kehr, Desson Thomson, David Nusair, Josh Larsen, Matt Patches, Kanishk Devgan, Matt Brunson, Clint Worthington, naturalistic performances, distinctive visuals, romantic melancholy, love, loss, heartbreak, drug dealer, pineapple, waitress, airport, stewardess, idiosyncrasies, pop songs, food, lunch shack, police officers, cop 223, cop 663, blonde wig, Hong Kong, audiovisual kaleidoscope, French New Wave, Chinese, 90s
Worldwide gross: $1,324,762
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $2,528,634
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,352
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 275,751
US/Canada gross: $600,200
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,145,629
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,156
US/Canada opening weekend: $32,779
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $62,567
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,127
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Takeshi Kaneshiro – He Zhiwu, Cop 223
Tony Leung Chiu Wai – Cop 663
Faye Wong – Faye
Valerie Chow – Air Hostess
Kar-Wai Wong – Director
Director(s)
Kar-Wai Wong
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
Chan Ye Cheng
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
10 wins & 23 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (63) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (55) | Rotten (8)
What Chungking Express has are a couple of interesting situations, which don’t quite justify a feature-length movie.
April 10, 2018
Robert Horton
Film Comment Magazine
TOP CRITIC
I’ve never been a big fan of technique that calls attention to itself, but Wong’s frenetic blend of slow motion, pixilation, rushing backgrounds and frozen foregrounds (or vice versa) is as integral to this movie as its bubbly story and characters.
May 28, 2014 | Rating: 3/4
Jeff Shannon
Seattle Times
TOP CRITIC
[Wong’s] hypnotic images of love and loss finally wear down your resistance as seemingly discordant sights and sounds coalesce into a radiant, crazy quilt.
May 28, 2014
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
TOP CRITIC
Chungking Express is a breezy little Hong Kong movie that has more life, energy, humanity and sheer visual zing than most other shows you’ll see in a month or so.
May 28, 2014 | Rating: 3.5/4
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
Dull it is not, but Wong’s trademark sense of romantic melancholy fails to jell amid all the excess.
May 28, 2014 | Rating: 2/4
Dave Kehr
New York Daily News
TOP CRITIC
It’s the cinematic equivalent of popcorn on a hot stove with jump-cut shots, freeze frames, stirringly beautiful images and boundless energy.
May 28, 2014
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
…a visually-striking drama that unfortunately grows less and less engaging as it progresses…
February 17, 2022 | Rating: 2/4
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
Whatever ineffable thing Wong Wong Kar-wai does-let’s call it despondent extravagance-he distilled it into its purest form here.
July 28, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/4
Josh Larsen
LarsenOnFilm
It’s all intoxicating.
July 7, 2021
Matt Patches
Polygon
The masterful Wong Kar-wai crafts this exquisitely shot film – two films in one, really – into a meditation on love. Along the way, he uses music as only he can…
March 29, 2021
Kanishk Devgan
Film Companion
Faye Wong is a real delight.
March 27, 2021 | Rating: 3/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
Chungking is sprightly and fast-paced, its understanding of time as malleable as its step-printed chase sequences that begin the film.
March 26, 2021
Clint Worthington
The Spool…
Plot
Wong Kar-Wai’s movie about two love-struck cops is filmed in impressionistic splashes of motion and color. The first half deals with Cop 223, who has broken up with his girlfriend of five years. He purchases a tin of pineapples with an expiration date of May 1 each day for a month. By the end of that time, he feels that he will either be rejoined with his love or that it too will have expired forever. The second half shows Cop 663 dealing with his breakup with his flight attendant girlfriend. He talks to his apartment furnishings until he meets a new girl at a local lunch counter.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Faye Wong’s character in Chungking Express has an idiosyncratic affinity with the song “California Dreamin'”.
Kar-Wai-Wong.jpg
