Chungking Express

I picked up a copy of 'Chungking Express' last week. It's the movie that really hooked me on to Wong Kar Wai's work. I had been entranced when I first watched 'Days Of Being Wild', but after 'Chungking Express', I was hooked. And I've watched every Wong Kar Wai movie since then. Which is quite something because his movies tend to be in Mandarin or Cantonese and I'm a banana who no speakee those languages very well, if at all.

It's hard for me to describe his work. He seems to be making the same movie over and over again - just in different time zones and locations and story lines. But I do know that thanks to Christopher Doyle, his cinematography is amazing. You've got to watch his movies in the cinema to truly appreciate the vistas of colour and impressions that wash across the screen.

And going through his stories and dialogue is like peeling an onion layer after layer. If you understand film, it's fascinating. Art for art's sake. And you get new insights and interpretations whenever you watch the movie again. But if you don't.........

There were eight of us when I first saw 'Chungking Express' in 1994. Two were raving about how good the movie was. The other six were totally confused and had no idea what the story was about.

But the fascination has been there for me ever since.

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: 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.

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.