Wong Kar-wai

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Lore & Background

Wong Kar-wai made *Chungking Express* during a two-month break from editing his wuxia film *Ashes of Time*. He said: 'While I had nothing to do, I decided to make *Chungking Express* following my instincts', and 'After the very heavy stuff, heavily emphasized in *Ashes of Time*, I wanted to make a very light, contemporary movie, but where the characters had the same problems.' The script was conceived during a three-month intermission during the production of *Ashes of Time* and was developed as a relatively low-budget film completed within this hiatus with the intention of generating revenue quickly. The screenplay was not finished by the time filming began; Wong finished it when filming paused over New Year, writing the second story in a single day. He developed a third story, about a love-sick hitman, but felt it would make *Chungking Express* overlong, and produced it as a separate film, *Fallen Angels* (1995). Wong wanted to film in Tsim Sha Tsui since he grew up in the area and felt a strong connection to it, calling it 'an area where the Chinese literally brush shoulders with westerners, and is uniquely Hong Kong.' He was drawn to Chungking Mansion for its many lodgings, mix of cultures, and significance as a crime hotspot; he felt that, as a 'mass-populated and hyperactive place', it worked as a metaphor for Hong Kong itself. Wong has said he is inspired by the works of Haruki Murakami; as an example, the film's original title '重慶森林' (which translates into 'Chungking Forest') mirrors the Chinese title of Murakami's *Norwegian Wood* (1987), '挪威的森林'.

Reader's Guide

Wong Kar-wai's *Chungking Express* features recurring themes of loneliness, love, memory, and alienation. The film depicts everyday objects as replacements for genuine human connection in times of desperation or emotional uncertainty. In the first story, He Zhiwu's attachment to cans of pineapple (his former girlfriend May's favourite food) and his repeated phone calls to acquaintances show his attempts to cope with emotional loss. The recurring theme of expiration dates, such as the pineapple cans that expire on May 1, reinforce the temporality of relationships. Urban space plays a huge role in the film; the iconic line 'At our closest point, we were just 0.01 cm apart from each other' highlights the tension between physical proximity and sporadic connections within dense urban areas. The film makes use of step-printing, a cinematographic technique that duplicates individual frames to create a blurred, staccato effect, frequently combined with handheld camerawork and natural lighting to create a documentary-like aesthetic. The film's diptych structure, which follows two separate love stories linked by recurring themes and locations, departs from conventional linear storytelling. Released in 1994, the film, which explores themes of anxiety and loneliness, has been interpreted as reflecting the atmosphere of uncertainty and transience that characterized Hong Kong in the years before the 1997 handover.

Did You Know?

• Wong Kar-wai made *Chungking Express* during a two-month break from editing his wuxia film *Ashes of Time*.
• The screenplay for *Chungking Express* was not finished by the time filming began; Wong wrote the second story in a single day.
• The film's original Chinese title '重慶森林' mirrors the Chinese title of Haruki Murakami's novel *Norwegian Wood*.
• Wong wanted to film in Tsim Sha Tsui because he grew up there and felt a strong connection to the area.
• The third story Wong developed for *Chungking Express* became the separate film *Fallen Angels* (1995).