Library Call Number: PN1995.9..F67 C48 2008
Director Wong made this art film while editing a completely different type of movie; Express follows the lives of two Hong Kong policemen, both at the end of relationships. Officer 223 was dumped by his girlfriend a month before his birthday. Officer 633 is pretty sure he’s been dumped—his flight attendant girlfriend left a letter for him at his usual diner—but he won’t take it from the waitress. The film divides itself between their stories, where, except for a brief section in the middle, they don’t overlap. Following the ups and downs of their romances, the movie gives the viewer an episodic look at modern Hong Kong, while relating two simple slices of life. No big resolutions, no intricate plots, simply intervals in a pair of lonely lives as they look for something more.
Roger Ebert noted: "If you are attentive to the style, if you think about what Wong is doing, Chungking Express works. If you're trying to follow the plot, you may feel frustrated...When Godard was hot, in the 1960s and early 1970s, there was an audience for this style…Many of today's younger filmgoers, fed only by the narrow selections at video stores, are not as curious or knowledgeable and may simply be puzzled by Chungking Express instead of challenged.“
No comments:
Post a Comment