Another classic that I was disappointed by after "The Exorcist" this week...
I wish I could love Chunking Express but something just held me back from being fully immersed in it. There were many parts I loved such as the unique cinematography and handheld style that was used throughout the movie. The colors of the Chunking mansion in Hong Kong were definitely visually pleasing. Some of the dialogue was great and I wish I understood it in its native language of Cantonese. I loved the quirkiness of the characters - I didn't even know Tony Leung starred in many of Wong Kar-wai's movie, kind of like how Bong Joon Ho has a long history with Song Kang Ho. I loved the use of music ("CALIFORNIA DREAMING!!") and it was good that I actually happened to listen to a playlist that had all the songs from the movie.
But I guess I didn't expect the whole - "Wong Kar-wai's films are supposed to be experience, not comprehension" thing and I suppose I was just left kind of in the blind. I kept thinking about how the two stories are connected and how they might come together. I wondered about what the drug operation of "The Woman" was gonna turn out to be given that the movie had two policemen protagonists. I kept trying to make "sense" of the plot because that's the way I've been watching movies but it seems that I should have loosened up on some of those tendencies when I was watching "Chunking Express". It felt long at parts because I wasn't sure where the plot was headed to and once I realized it was supposed to be more "felt", the movie was already at an end.
While I couldn't appreciate this film as much as many others did, it opened up new ways of experiencing a film and I hope that I could enjoy more of Kar-wai's film down the road.
I wish I could love Chunking Express but something just held me back from being fully immersed in it. There were many parts I loved such as the unique cinematography and handheld style that was used throughout the movie. The colors of the Chunking mansion in Hong Kong were definitely visually pleasing. Some of the dialogue was great and I wish I understood it in its native language of Cantonese. I loved the quirkiness of the characters - I didn't even know Tony Leung starred in many of Wong Kar-wai's movie, kind of like how Bong Joon Ho has a long history with Song Kang Ho. I loved the use of music ("CALIFORNIA DREAMING!!") and it was good that I actually happened to listen to a playlist that had all the songs from the movie.
But I guess I didn't expect the whole - "Wong Kar-wai's films are supposed to be experience, not comprehension" thing and I suppose I was just left kind of in the blind. I kept thinking about how the two stories are connected and how they might come together. I wondered about what the drug operation of "The Woman" was gonna turn out to be given that the movie had two policemen protagonists. I kept trying to make "sense" of the plot because that's the way I've been watching movies but it seems that I should have loosened up on some of those tendencies when I was watching "Chunking Express". It felt long at parts because I wasn't sure where the plot was headed to and once I realized it was supposed to be more "felt", the movie was already at an end.
While I couldn't appreciate this film as much as many others did, it opened up new ways of experiencing a film and I hope that I could enjoy more of Kar-wai's film down the road.