Chungking Express (1994)
Chungking Express
”Two Hong Kong policemen fall in love with mysterious women from the underworld and a late-night restaurant server.”
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Why watch this film?
Depending on who you ask, 'Chung Hing sam lam' can be considered the third or fourth feature film of the great Hong Kong filmmaker, Wong Kar-Wai ('In the Mood for Love'), as it was made during a break in the production of 'Ashes of Time', and was released at the beginning of the same year. What is certain is that the movie marked his first undisputed success in Hong Kong and attracted greater attention from the international audience, with a markedly own visual and narrative style, emphasizing disconnected and fragmented stories about love and sorrow through hypnotic cadence images. In total contrast to his previous productions, 'Chung Hing sam lam' is a film that brings out the best of his vision, filmed by pure creative impulse of an independent spirit in less than a month.
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Plot summary
Two melancholy Hong Kong policemen fall in love: one with a mysterious female underworld figure, the other with a beautiful and ethereal server at a late-night restaurant he frequents.
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From the same director
In the Mood for Love
It would be technically correct, albeit limiting, to say that 'Fa yeung nin wah' is one of the most beautiful films about love and heartache in cinema history. Released with the arrival of the new century - and millennium - but set in the crucial decade of the 60s for modern Asian history, 'Fa yeung nin wah' is not only a postmodern ode to the desire for intimacy, but also to the inevitable transience of all that exists, whose remains are nothing more than intangible, unattainable, and increasingly blurred memories. Director Wong Kar-Wai manages to capture in the film the one thing that remains in the end: displacement, the feeling of being in a time and place that no longer exists and to which one always yearns to return.
Ashes of Time Redux
Released in 1994 and selected for the Berlin Film Festival that year (where it won the Best Photography award, by Christopher Doyle), 'Dung che sai duk' was only the third feature film directed by Wong Kar-Wai (fourth if taking into account 'Amores Expressos', filmed during a brief hiatus in production and released earlier), commissioned to finance his other projects. Although it is a movie classified as "wuxia" (fiction of martial arts in ancient China), the director has a very unconventional approach, with a fragmented narrative and even difficult to follow at certain points, although this disposition to break with conventions helped to put it in the sights of the Western audience. In the face of criticism, Wong Kar-Wai released a new version in 2008, entitled 'Redux', with a slightly shorter duration. However, as it was not re-released from an original copy of the movie, 'Dung che sai duk Redux' suffers from lower image quality and color treatment, although it still provides beautiful images. It is, without a doubt, one of the most overlooked and least appreciated works of the filmmaker.
Fallen Angels
This is the fifth feature film by Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai. 'Fallen Angels' was conceived as the third story to be told in 'Chungking Express', his previous movie about two lovesick cops. When deciding that his film was complete as it was, Wong proceeded to reimagine the third story into a new production, but with a distinct visual proposal that makes them together a diptych: day and night in Hong Kong. In collaboration with his "go-to" cinematographer, Christopher Doyle, the photography of 'Fallen Angels' uses wide-angle lenses to shoot its protagonists close up and distort the world around them, evoking their emotional detachment from reality.
Happy Together
This is the movie that solidified Hong Kong's Wong Kar-wai as one of the most exciting filmmakers worldwide, after productions such as "Chungking Express"; and it is also considered one of the most influential films in the context of New Queer Cinema (despite being an outside production to the United States and the United Kingdom, considered as the epicenters of the movement). “Happy Together” employs a simple narrative in story, yet very stylized in its execution, with a perfectly everyday and natural portrayal of a homosexual relationship that struggles to survive, without falling into the typical melodramas of movies about the subject. ‘Happy Together’ gave Wong Kar-wai the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
2046
The last part in Wong Kar-wai's unofficial trilogy, alongside 'Days of Being Wild' and 'In the Mood for Love'. If the latter is about the unfulfilled temptation of a love within reach in an era where time seemed immutable, '2046' is about regret, the impossibility of returning and reclaiming what was let go, with the catharsis of artistic creation as the only solace. An ode to heartbreak and loneliness as melancholic as it is visually extravagant.
My Blueberry Nights
"My Blueberry Nights" is a 2006 film directed by Wong Kar-wai. The movie tells the story of Elizabeth (Norah Jones), who embarks on a journey across the United States to escape her troubles. Along the way, she meets a series of colorful characters who help her find herself. The film is visually stunning, with Wong Kar-wai's signature style of dreamy, impressionistic visuals. The performances are excellent, with Norah Jones making an impressive acting debut and Jude Law delivering a standout performance. The soundtrack, featuring original songs by Norah Jones, is also a highlight of the film. While the movie may not be for everyone, those who appreciate Wong Kar-wai's unique vision and style will find much to enjoy in "My Blueberry Nights". Overall, "My Blueberry Nights" is a beautiful, introspective film that will leave a lasting impression on viewers.
The Grandmaster
Selected to open the Berlin Film Festival in 2013 and nominated for two Academy Awards (Cinematography and Costume Design), this movie marks the return of Hong Kong's great filmmaker, Wong Kar-Wai, to martial arts cinema after his first (and until then only) foray into the genre with the film ''Ashes of Time'. Inspired by the life of the legendary martial arts master and mentor of Bruce Lee, 'Yi dai zong shi' is by far the most expensive movie in the director's career, and although it shares its protagonist with the 'Ip Man' movie series, it presents a totally different approach. The action sequences are equally spectacular, but one can perceive the director's trademark, from the involvement of actors like Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi, to the captivating visual style and fragmented narrative to portray a period of Chinese and Hong Kong history that has been left behind, through the perspective of its protagonists.
Drama
Cake
'Cake' takes us into the darkly funny world of Claire Bennett (Jennifer Aniston) who initiates a dubious relationship with a widower (Sam Worthington) while confronting fantastical hallucinations of his dead wife (Anna Kendrick). With her feisty housekeeper cum caretaker (Adriana Barraza) ever at her side, Claire searches for human connection and self-forgiveness in this tale of personal redemption.
Lie With Me
Lie With Me (Arrête avec tes mensonges) - An emotional French drama directed by Olivier Peyo, has been awarded the award for Best Narrative Feature Film at FilmOut San Diego. The film follows a writer who returns to his hometown of Cognac after 35 years to represent a cognac brand and reunites with the son of his first love, a role played by Victor Belmondo, triggering an avalanche of passionate memories of his youth.
Kidnapped
In Kidnapped (Rapito), Italian filmmaker Marco Bellocchio delves into one of the murkiest and most controversial episodes in the history of the Catholic Church, the "Mortara case". In 1851, when Jewish boy Edgardo Mortara becomes gravely ill, his Catholic nanny decides to baptize him in an emergency. However, papal law dictates that all Catholics must be raised as such, so the cardinal orders the boy to be taken and handed over to the church, against his parents' wishes, who decide to fight for him. The film recounts a controversial case that captured the attention of the rest of Europe and America, and skillfully portrays the clash of interests between the waning power of the church, Mortara's parents, and public opinion, with irreversible consequences for all involved.
