View source for Chungking Express

{{Short description|1994 Hong Kong film by Wong Kar-wai}}
{{Use Hong Kong English|date = August 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| native_name    = {{Infobox Chinese|child=yes
|  t    = 重慶森林 
|  s     = 重庆森林 
|l = Chungking (Chongqing) Forest
|  j       = Cung4 Hing3 Sam1 Lam4
|  p         = Chóngqìng Sēnlín
}}
| image          = Chungking_Express.jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = US theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Wong Kar-wai]]
| producer       = {{Plainlist|
* Chan Yi-kan
* [[Jeffrey Lau]]<ref name=dvdcom>{{cite video | title= "Chungking Express" end credit (Miramax/Criterion version) | medium=DVD/Blu-ray | publisher=Miramax/Criterion}}</ref>
}}
| writer         = Wong Kar-wai
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Brigitte Lin]]
* [[Takeshi Kaneshiro]]
* [[Tony Leung Chiu-Wai|Tony Leung]]
* [[Faye Wong]]
}}
| music          = {{Plainlist|
* [[Frankie Chan]]
* Roel. A Garcia
}}
| cinematography = {{Plainlist|
* [[Christopher Doyle]]
* [[Andrew Lau Wai-Keung|Andrew Lau]]
}}
| editing        = {{Plainlist|
* [[William Chang]]
* Kai Kit-wai
* Kwong Chi-Leung
}}
| studio         = Jet Tone Production Co., Ltd.
| released       = {{Film date|df=y|1994|07|14|Hong Kong|ref1=<ref name="HKFA">{{cite web |url=http://ipac.hkfa.lcsd.gov.hk/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1W14767121IF0.636&profile=hkfa&uri=full=3100024@!56464@!0&ri=2&aspect=basic_search&menu=search&source=192.168.110.61@!horizon&ipp=20&staffonly=&term=Chungking+express&index=FILMBRP&uindex=&aspect=basic_search&menu=search&ri=2 |title=Chungking Express |publisher=[[Hong Kong Film Archive]] |access-date=3 February 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121218111227/http://ipac.hkfa.lcsd.gov.hk/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1W14767121IF0.636&profile=hkfa&uri=full=3100024@!56464@!0&ri=2&aspect=basic_search&menu=search&source=192.168.110.61@!horizon&ipp=20&staffonly=&term=Chungking+express&index=FILMBRP&uindex=&aspect=basic_search&menu=search&ri=2 |archive-date=18 December 2012}}</ref>}}
| runtime        = 98 minutes
| country        = Hong Kong
| language       = Cantonese<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/chungking-express-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmzc4nje|title=Chungking Express|publisher=[[BBFC]]|access-date=August 9, 2021|archive-date=22 September 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240922034917/https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/chungking-express-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmzc4nje|url-status=live}}</ref><br>Mandarin
| budget         = 
| gross          = {{Plainlist|
* $600,200 (United States)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=chungkingexpress.htm |title=Chunking Express |website=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=3 February 2012 |archive-date=21 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111121043241/http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=chungkingexpress.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>
* HK$7.6 million (Hong Kong)<ref name="HKFA"/>
}}
}}

'''''Chungking Express''''' is a 1994 Hong Kong [[Anthology film|anthology]]<ref>{{cite web |last=Scott-Travis |first=Shane |date=2015-08-05 |title=25 Great Anthology Movies That Are Worth Your Time |url=https://www.tasteofcinema.com/2015/25-great-anthology-movies-that-are-worth-your-time/3/ |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=Taste of Cinema - Movie Reviews and Classic Movie Lists}}</ref> [[Crime film|crime]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=The other side of Chungking Express {{!}} UCL The Bartlett Development Planning Unit |url=https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/dpublog/2020/07/28/the-other-side-of-chungking-express/ |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=blogs.ucl.ac.uk}}</ref> [[comedy-drama]] film written and directed by [[Wong Kar-wai]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/chungking-express-v133717|website=[[AllMovie]]|title=Chungking Express (1994)|access-date=11 January 2013|last=Blaise|first=Judd|archive-date=24 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524032046/https://www.allmovie.com/movie/chungking-express-v133717}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thecinematheque.ca/films/2020/chungking-express|title=The Cinematheque / Chungking Express|access-date=23 January 2021|archive-date=29 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129103056/https://thecinematheque.ca/films/2020/chungking-express|url-status=live}}</ref> The film consists of two stories told in sequence, each about a lovesick [[Hong Kong Police Force|Hong Kong policeman]] mulling over his relationship with a woman. The first story stars [[Takeshi Kaneshiro]] as a cop obsessed by his breakup with a woman named May and his encounter with a mysterious drug smuggler ([[Brigitte Lin]]). The second stars [[Tony Leung Chiu-Wai|Tony Leung]] as a police officer roused from his gloom over the loss of his flight attendant girlfriend ([[Valerie Chow]]) by the attentions of a quirky snack bar worker ([[Faye Wong]]).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-03-14 |title=10 iconic looks in Asian cinema, including that Bruce Lee jumpsuit |url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/film-tv/article/3255389/10-iconic-looks-asian-cinema-bruce-lee-outfit-akiras-biker-bomber-jacket-faye-wongs-chopped-hair |access-date=2024-03-24 |website=South China Morning Post |archive-date=24 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324205354/https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/film-tv/article/3255389/10-iconic-looks-asian-cinema-bruce-lee-outfit-akiras-biker-bomber-jacket-faye-wongs-chopped-hair |url-status=live}}</ref>

"[[Chungking]]" in the title refers to [[Chungking Mansions]] in [[Tsim Sha Tsui]], [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]], where much of the action in the first story transpires. It is a place with a reputation as Hong Kong's dark underbelly, rife with crime, sex, and drugs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/film/then-and-now-iconic-locations-from-wong-kar-wais-chungking-express|title=Then and Now: Iconic locations from Wong Kar-wai's Chungking Express|work=Time Out Hong Kong |publisher=[[Time Out magazine|Time Out]]|access-date=October 9, 2024|archive-date=10 November 2022|archive-url=https://archive.today/20221110033428/https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/film/then-and-now-iconic-locations-from-wong-kar-wais-chungking-express|url-status=live}}</ref> "Express" refers to the food stand Midnight Express in [[Lan Kwai Fong]], an area in [[Central, Hong Kong]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Poet of time: Wong Kar-Wai on Chungking Express {{!}} from the Sight & Sound archive |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/archives/wong-kar-wai-chungking-express |access-date=2022-08-09 |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |date=21 May 2020 |archive-date=9 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809082135/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/archives/wong-kar-wai-chungking-express |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Then and Now: Iconic locations from Wong Kar-wai's Chungking Express |url=https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/film/then-and-now-iconic-locations-from-wong-kar-wais-chungking-express |access-date=2022-08-09 |website=Time Out Hong Kong |archive-date=3 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303034313/https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/film/then-and-now-iconic-locations-from-wong-kar-wais-chungking-express |url-status=live}}</ref>

The film premiered in Hong Kong on 14 July 1994 and received critical acclaim, especially for its direction, cinematography, and performances. Since then it has been regarded as one of Wong's finest works, one of the best films of 1994, of the 1990s, of the 20th century, and of [[List of films considered the best|all time]], as well as one of the best [[Anthology film|anthology films]] and [[Romantic comedy|romantic comedies]] ever made.

In 2022, the film appeared at number 88 on the decennial ''[[Sight and Sound]]'' critics' poll of the greatest films of all time.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chungking Express (1994) |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/e764a546-65ee-57e3-b249-7e6dd54ee441/chungking-express |access-date=2022-12-02 |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |archive-date=22 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240922034516/https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/e764a546-65ee-57e3-b249-7e6dd54ee441/chungking-express |url-status=live}}</ref>
{{TOC limit|2}}

==Plot==
===First story===
Hong Kong police officer He Zhi Wu's girlfriend, May, breaks up with him on 1 April. To verify her earnestness about ending the relationship, Zhi Wu chooses to wait for a month.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chungking Express |url=https://www.criterion.com/films/226-chungking-express |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=Criterion Collection}}</ref><ref name="nottingham.ac.uk">{{Cite thesis |last=Gan |first=Wendy |title=0.01cm: Affectivity and Urban Space in Chungking Express |date=November 2003 |publisher=[[University of Hong Kong]] |url=https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/scope/documents/2003/november-2003/gan.pdf |access-date=15 June 2020 |archive-date=15 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215074117/https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/scope/documents/2003/november-2003/gan.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> Every day he buys a tin of pineapples with an expiration date of 1 May, because May enjoyed pineapples and 1 May is his birthday. Meanwhile, a woman in a blonde wig tries to survive in the drug underworld after a smuggling operation goes sour.

On 1 May, Zhi Wu approaches the woman in the blonde wig at the [[Bottoms Up Club]]. She is exhausted and falls asleep in a hotel room, leaving him to watch TV and order food. He shines her shoes before leaving her still asleep. She leaves in the morning and shoots the drug baron who set her up. Zhi Wu goes jogging and receives a message from her on his pager wishing him a happy birthday. He visits his usual food store in [[Chungking Mansions]], where he collides with a new staff member, Faye.

===Second story===
Another police officer, Cop 663, is also dealing with a breakup—with a flight attendant. Faye secretly falls for him. One day, the flight attendant visits the food store and waits for the man. She learns it is his day off and leaves a letter for him with the store owner containing a set of keys to the officer's apartment.

Faye tells the officer of the letter, but he delays reading it and asks the store to keep it for him. Faye uses the keys to repeatedly enter the man's apartment to clean and redecorate. Gradually, her ploys help him cheer up. He finds Faye coming to his apartment and realises that she likes him; he arranges a date at a restaurant named California. Faye does not arrive, and the store owner, her cousin, goes to the restaurant to tell him that Faye has left for the US state of California. She leaves him a [[boarding pass]] drawn on a paper napkin dated one year later.

Faye, now a flight attendant, returns to Hong Kong. She finds that the officer has bought the food store and is converting it into a restaurant. He asks her to stay for the grand opening, and to send him a postcard if she leaves. As Faye is about to leave, he presents the boarding pass, wrinkled and water-stained, and she writes him a new one. She asks him what he wants the destination to be, to which he replies, "Wherever you want to take me."

==Cast==
* [[Brigitte Lin]] as woman in blonde wig
* [[Takeshi Kaneshiro]] as Ho Chi Moo / He Zhi Wu ({{lang-zh|c=何志武|p=Hé Zhìwǔ}}, Cantonese ''Hòh Ji-móuh''), nicknamed Ah Wu (Cantonese ''Ah Mouh''), Cop 223
* [[Faye Wong]] as Faye
* [[Tony Leung Chiu-wai]] as Cop 663
* [[Valerie Chow]] as flight attendant who breaks up with Cop 663
* Chan Kam-chuen as manager of the takeaway restaurant Midnight Express
* Thom Baker as double-crossing drug dealer
* Kwan Lee-na as Richard
* Wong Chi-Ming as man
* Leung Sun as the second May, who works at the Midnight Express
* Choh Chung-Sing as man

==Theme==
* "''Chungking Express'' tells its story of love, loss, and memory through the romance of goods". In the first story, He Zhi Wu desires closer social contacts but can only depend on desperate phone calls to May's parents and cans of pineapples (May's favourite food) as substitutes for actual physical and emotional contact and intimacy.
* "At our closest point, we were just 0.01&nbsp;cm apart from each other." 0.01&nbsp;cm is an urban space of possibilities—separation or connection, strangers or friends. This is a form of urban space that is of interest to Wong—that physical gap between busy passers-by in the city. 
* "In the first story, Wong suggests that the sharing of 0.01&nbsp;cm in a busy city can produce an [[affect (psychology)|affect]]. In the second, the possibility of sustaining a relationship through the non-simultaneous sharing of space is posited."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://gw2jh3xr2c.search.serialssolutions.com/?sid=sersol&SS_jc=TC0001409785&title=The%20sensuous%20cinema%20of%20Wong%20Kar-wai%20film%20poetics%20and%20the%20aesthetic%20of%20disturbance |title=Bettison, Gary. Sensuous Cinema of Wong Kar-wai : Film Poetics and the Aesthetic of Disturbance. Hong Kong University Press, 2014. |access-date=15 June 2020 |archive-date=15 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615005158/https://gw2jh3xr2c.search.serialssolutions.com/?sid=sersol&SS_jc=TC0001409785&title=The%20sensuous%20cinema%20of%20Wong%20Kar-wai%20film%20poetics%20and%20the%20aesthetic%20of%20disturbance |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Production==
[[File:Chungking-interior.jpg|thumb|upright|Shops inside [[Chungking Mansions]]]]
[[File:Central-Mid-Levels escalators at night IMG 5228.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Central–Mid-Levels escalator]]s]]
[[File:Hong Kong Kai Tak Flight Information.jpg|thumb|upright|The departure hall of the former [[Kai Tak Airport]] is featured in the film]]
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",<ref name="erasingclouds">{{Cite web |last=Lafrance |first=J. D. |date=2004 |title=Cinematic Pleasures: Chungking Express |url=http://www.erasingclouds.com/0519chungking.html |website=erasing clouds |access-date=9 October 2006 |archive-date=17 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170317160926/http://www.erasingclouds.com/0519chungking.html |url-status=live}}</ref> 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." Originally, Wong envisioned the stories as similar but with contrasting settings: one in [[Hong Kong Island]] in daylight, and the other in [[Kowloon]] at night. He felt that "despite the difference, they are the same stories": one was about encountering love in the tight city, the other about keeping love without physical connection.<ref name="erasingclouds" /><ref name="nottingham.ac.uk" />

The screenplay was not finished by the time filming began; Wong finished it when filming paused over New Year. He wrote the second story in a single day.<ref name="erasingclouds" /> 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 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. He called 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.<ref name="erasingclouds" />

Wong has said he is inspired by the works of [[Haruki Murakami]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-05-21 |title=Poet of time: Wong Kar-Wai on Chungking Express {{!}} from the Sight & Sound archive |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/archives/wong-kar-wai-chungking-express |access-date=2024-10-16 |publisher=[[British Film Institute]]}}</ref> As an example, the film's original title "{{lang|zh-HK|重慶森林}}" (which translates into "Chungking Forest") mirrors the Chinese title of Murakami's [[Norwegian Wood (novel)|''Norwegian Wood'']] (1987), "{{lang|zh-HK|挪威的森林}}".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lin |first=Ho |date=2024-10-06 |title=Life Is But a Dream: "Chungking Express" |url=https://www.camera-roll.com/chungking-express-review/ |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=Camera Roll}}</ref>

The second story was shot in [[Central, Hong Kong|Central]], including [[Lan Kwai Fong]], near the fast food shop Midnight Express.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hongkonghustle.com/movies/435/wong-kar-wai-faye-wong-chung-king-express-film/ |title="Wong Kar Wai's Midnight Express… now a 7–11?", hongkonghustle.com, August 4, 2008 |publisher=Hongkonghustle.com |date=4 August 2008 |access-date=3 February 2012 |archive-date=23 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323203630/http://www.hongkonghustle.com/movies/435/wong-kar-wai-faye-wong-chung-king-express-film/ |url-status=live}}</ref> "In this area, there are a lot of bars, a lot of foreign executives would hang out there after work", Wong said. The shop is where Tony Leung's and Faye Wong's characters meet. Wong said he was also drawn to "the [[Central–Mid-Levels escalator|escalator from Central to the mid-levels]]. That interests me because no one has made a movie there. When we were scouting for locations we found the light there entirely appropriate."<ref name="erasingclouds" /> Leung's character's apartment was cinematographer [[Christopher Doyle]]'s apartment at the time of filming.<ref>[http://www.berlinale-talentcampus.de/story/96/1596.html "Painting With the Camera" – Christopher Doyle on cinematography] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927133955/http://www.berlinale-talentcampus.de/story/96/1596.html |date=27 September 2011 }}. Berlinale Talent Campus, 13 February 2005</ref> Wong narrates the story in a fragments connected by monologues.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://kns.cnki.net/KCMS/detail/detail.aspx?dbcode=CJFQ&dbname=CJFDLAST2020&filename=KJCB202004095&uid=WEEvREcwSlJHSldRa1FhdXNzY2Z2S3ZRN013WmNzYzhNZnhsN3BKemJzWT0=$9A4hF_YAuvQ5obgVAqNKPCYcEjKensW4IQMovwHtwkF4VYPoHbKxJw!!&v=MDAwNDFyQ1VSN3FmWWVkcUZpSG5VcnpNTGlmSWJMRzRITkhNcTQ5TVlZUjhlWDFMdXhZUzdEaDFUM3FUcldNMUY= |title=郭乃荣. 浅析王家卫电影的叙事策略&#91;J&#93;. 科技传播,2020,12(04):154–155. |access-date=15 June 2020 |archive-date=22 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240922034517/https://kns.cnki.net/KCMS/detail/detail.aspx?dbcode=CJFQ&dbname=CJFDLAST2020&filename=KJCB202004095&uid=WEEvREcwSlJHSldRa1FhdXNzY2Z2S3ZRN013WmNzYzhNZnhsN3BKemJzWT0=$9A4hF_YAuvQ5obgVAqNKPCYcEjKensW4IQMovwHtwkF4VYPoHbKxJw!!&v=MDAwNDFyQ1VSN3FmWWVkcUZpSG5VcnpNTGlmSWJMRzRITkhNcTQ5TVlZUjhlWDFMdXhZUzdEaDFUM3FUcldNMUY= |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Marketing==
The film's marketing posters were designed by artist [[Stanley Wong]], under his pseudonym "Another Mountain Man".<ref>{{Cite web|title = 頭條日報 頭條網 – 黃炳培 一半一半 還是百分之五|url = http://hd.stheadline.com/culture/culture_content.asp?contid=20340&srctype=g|website = [[Headline Daily]]|access-date = 2015-10-11|archive-date = 30 March 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170330181034/http://hd.stheadline.com/culture/culture_content.asp?contid=20340&srctype=g|url-status = live}}</ref>

==Soundtrack==
The main recurring music for the first story is [[Dennis Brown]]'s "Things in Life".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1p3wXe0MCw |title=Things In Life by Dennis Brown – Topic on YouTube |website=[[YouTube]] |date=29 March 2018 |access-date=20 October 2019 |archive-date=4 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704080856/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1p3wXe0MCw |url-status=live}}</ref> The song "Baroque", by [[Michael Galasso]], is heard twice during the first story: during the opening and when Brigitte Lin's character takes the gun in the closer. This track does not appear on the soundtrack album, but three others are similar to it: "Fornication in Space" (track 3), "Heartbreak" (track 8), and "Sweet Farewell" (track 9), played respectively on synth, guitar and piano.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chungking Express - Original Soundtrack |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/chungking-express-mw0000458937 |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=20 October 2019 |archive-date=22 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240922040245/https://www.allmusic.com/album/chungking-express-mw0000458937 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The song "[[California Dreamin']]" by [[The Mamas & the Papas]] plays in key scenes in the second story, which also features [[Faye Wong]]'s [[Cantonese]] cover of "[[Dreams (The Cranberries song)|Dreams]]" by [[The Cranberries]], which is also played over the end credits (titled "Mung Tsung Yan", it is included in her 1994 album ''[[Random Thoughts (Faye Wong album)|Random Thoughts]]'', while her next album, ''[[Sky (Faye Wong album)|Sky]]'', includes a [[Standard Chinese|Mandarin]] cover).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chow |first=Vivienne |date=2018-01-16 |title=What Hong Kong's Cantopop scene owes to the Cranberries |url=https://qz.com/quartzy/1180240/how-the-cranberries-and-dolores-oriordan-left-a-mark-on-faye-wong-and-hong-kongs-cantopop-scene |website=[[Quartz (publication)|Quartz]] |access-date=20 October 2019 |archive-date=22 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322232108/https://qz.com/quartzy/1180240/how-the-cranberries-and-dolores-oriordan-left-a-mark-on-faye-wong-and-hong-kongs-cantopop-scene/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

"California Dreamin'" is played numerous times by Faye Wong's character, indicating "the simultaneity of her aversion to and desire for change".<ref>{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XGcfBQAAQBAJ|title = The Sensuous Cinema of Wong Kar-wai: Film Poetics and the Aesthetic of Disturbance|isbn = 9789888139293|last1 = Bettinson|first1 = Gary|date = November 2014|publisher = Hong Kong University Press|access-date = 22 August 2020|archive-date = 22 September 2024|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240922034515/https://books.google.com/books?id=XGcfBQAAQBAJ|url-status = live}}</ref> "[[What a Diff'rence a Day Made]]", performed by [[Dinah Washington]], is played during a scene between Leung's and Valerie Chow's characters, as well as during an encounter between Leung's and Faye Wong's characters.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hyden |first=Steven |date=2009-10-05 |title=Song And Vision No. 5: "California Dreamin'" and Chungking Express |url=https://www.avclub.com/song-and-vision-no-5-california-dreamin-and-chungki-1798217949 |website=[[AV Club]] |access-date=9 May 2024 |archive-date=17 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231117102153/https://www.avclub.com/song-and-vision-no-5-california-dreamin-and-chungki-1798217949 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Baines |first=Josh |date=2018-06-22 |title=The 'Chungking Express' Soundtrack Makes Repetition Beautiful |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/chungking-express-soundtrack-repetition-beautiful-essay/ |website=[[Vice (magazine)|VICE]] |access-date=9 May 2024 |archive-date=6 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240306143340/https://www.vice.com/en/article/3k4wxj/chungking-express-soundtrack-repetition-beautiful-essay |url-status=live}}</ref>

The film's soundtrack is widely credited with introducing [[dream pop]] to the Hong-Kongese market. Bands featured in the soundtrack, including The Cranberries and [[Cocteau Twins]], saw significant commercial success in Hong Kong after ''Chungking Express'' came out, and contemporary Canto-pop stars such as [[Candy Lo]] began adopting a more dream-pop sound, such as in Lo's 1998 EP ''Don't Have to be... Too Perfect'' and subsequent album ''[[Miao...]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://lwlies.com/articles/chungking-express-soundtrack-faye-wong-the-cranberries-cocteau-twins/|title=How Chungking Express brought dream pop to Hong Kong|last=Balmont|first=James|date=13 February 2021|work=Little White Lies|accessdate=22 December 2021|archive-date=22 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221222045301/https://lwlies.com/articles/chungking-express-soundtrack-faye-wong-the-cranberries-cocteau-twins/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Release==
In August 1994, the film was selected to compete for the [[Golden Leopard]] at the 47th [[Locarno Film Festival]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Locarno Film Festival · All the films of the Locarno Film Festival... |url=https://www.locarnofestival.ch/festival/program-archive/film-list.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250407044935/https://www.locarnofestival.ch/festival/program-archive/film-list.html |archive-date=7 April 2025 |access-date=26 August 2025 |website=Locarno Film Festival}}</ref>

On 8 March 1996, the film began a limited theatrical run in North America through [[Quentin Tarantino]]'s [[Rolling Thunder Pictures|Rolling Thunder]] distribution company under [[Miramax]]. The [[DVD region code#1|Region 1]] DVD was distributed by Rolling Thunder as Tarantino is an admirer of Wong Kar-wai.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/1319024 |title=TCM.com |access-date=20 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.avclub.com/chungking-express-1798197359 |title=AV Club |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |access-date=20 October 2019 |archive-date=20 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020014518/https://film.avclub.com/chungking-express-1798197359 |url-status=live}}</ref>

''Chungking Express'' was released by [[The Criterion Collection]] on DVD and [[Blu-ray Disc]] (its first release in that format) in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.criterion.com/shop/browse?popular=out-of-print|title=Out of Print – Criterion Collection|access-date=July 4, 2022|archive-date=5 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705191703/https://www.criterion.com/shop/browse?popular=out-of-print|url-status=live}}</ref> Criterion has since reclaimed the rights and the film is available on its streaming platform, the Criterion Channel (as of 2022).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chungking Express (1994) |url=https://www.criterion.com/films/226-chungking-express |website=[[The Criterion Collection]] |access-date=20 October 2019 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305071414/https://www.criterion.com/films/226-chungking-express |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2021, it was remastered and rereleased by Criterion as part of its Blu-ray box set ''The World of Wong Kar Wai''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/4117-world-of-wong-kar-wai|title=World of Wong Kar Wai|access-date=13 December 2020|archive-date=12 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212191450/https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/4117-world-of-wong-kar-wai|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/World-of-Wong-Kar-Wai-Blu-ray/261077/|title=World of Wong Kar Wai Blu-ray Release Date March 23, 2021|access-date=9 April 2021|archive-date=22 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422062441/https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/World-of-Wong-Kar-Wai-Blu-ray/261077/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Reception==

===Box office===
''Chungking Express'' earned HK$7,678,549 during its Hong Kong run.<ref name="HKFA"/> In the United States, opening on four screens, it grossed $32,779 ($8,194 per screen) in its opening weekend. Playing at 20 theatres at its widest point, it went on to gross $600,200 total.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=chungkingexpress.htm |title=Box Office Mojo |access-date=20 October 2019 |archive-date=5 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190205044452/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=chungkingexpress.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Critical response and legacy===
During its release in North America, ''Chungking Express'' drew generally positive, sometimes ecstatic reviews from critics. On [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds an approval rating of 89% based on 70 reviews, and an average rating of 7.90/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Even if all it had to offer were writer-director Wong Kar-wai's thrillingly distinctive visuals, ''Chungking Express'' would be well worth watching; happily, its thoughtfully drawn characters and naturalistic performances also pack a potent dramatic wallop."<ref>{{cite web |title=Chungking Express (1996) |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chungking_express |access-date=April 22, 2025 |work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |archive-date=22 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240922035355/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chungking_express |url-status=live}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 based on 18 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/chungking-express |title=Chungking Express Reviews |publisher=[[Metacritic]] |access-date=22 September 2020 |archive-date=22 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240922035800/https://www.metacritic.com/movie/chungking-express/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Film critic [[Roger Ebert]] was measured in his praise (giving the film three out of four stars):<ref>{{cite news |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19960315/REVIEWS/603150301/1023 |title=Review by Roger Ebert |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date=15 March 1996 |access-date=3 February 2012 |archive-date=20 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130320101759/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19960315%2FREVIEWS%2F603150301%2F1023 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

<blockquote>This is the kind of movie you'll relate to if you love film itself, rather than its surface aspects such as story and stars. It's not a movie for casual audiences, and it may not reveal all its secrets the first time through . . .

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&nbsp;... When [[Jean-Luc Godard|Godard]] was hot, in the 1960s and early 1970s, there was an audience for this style, but in those days, there were still film societies and repertory theaters to build and nourish such audiences. 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. It needs to be said, in any event, that a film like this is largely a cerebral experience: You enjoy it because of what you know about film, not because of what it knows about life.</blockquote>

''[[Rolling Stone]]''{{'}}s [[Peter Travers]] praised the film as both "exasperating and exhilarating":<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/chungking-express-94332/ |title=Chungking Express |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=8 March 1996 |access-date=21 February 2019 |archive-date=15 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215074122/https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/chungking-express-94332/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

<blockquote>There is no mistaking Wong's talent. His hypnotic images of love and loss finally wear down your resistance as seemingly discordant sights and sounds coalesce into a radiant, crazy quilt that can make you laugh in awe at its technical wizardry in one scene and pierce your heart in the next.</blockquote>

[[Janet Maslin]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' criticized the film's MTV-like "aggressive energy":<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/26/movies/film-review-mocking-mtv-style-and-paying-homage-to-it.html |title=FILM REVIEW; Mocking MTV Style And Paying Homage to It |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=26 September 1994 |access-date=21 February 2019 |last1=Maslin |first1=Janet |archive-date=15 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215074144/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/26/movies/film-review-mocking-mtv-style-and-paying-homage-to-it.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

<blockquote>Mr. Wong has legitimate visual flair, but his characters spend an awful lot of time playing impish tricks. A film in which a man talks to his dishtowel has an overdeveloped sense of fun.</blockquote>

In a 2002 poll published by ''[[Sight and Sound]]'' (the monthly magazine of the [[British Film Institute]]) asking fifty leading UK film critics to choose the ten best films from the previous 25 years, ''Chungking Express'' was placed at number eight.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/feature/63 |title=Modern Times |work=Sight and Sound |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |date=25 January 2012 |access-date=3 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013200533/http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/feature/63 |archive-date=13 October 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In the magazine's 2012 poll to find the most acclaimed films of all time, ''Chungking Express'' ranked 144.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Greatest Films Poll – Chungking Express |url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/sightandsoundpolls/2012/film/4ce2b7dda7007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120820045949/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/sightandsoundpolls/2012/film/4ce2b7dda7007 |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 August 2012 |work=Sight and Sound |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |access-date=12 March 2014}}</ref> The film was included in ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''{{'}}s [[Time magazine's "All-TIME" 100 best movies|All-Time 100 best movies]] list in 2005.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=''Chungking Express''|url=https://entertainment.time.com/2005/02/12/all-time-100-movies/slide/chungking-express-1994/|magazine=Time|date=13 January 2010|last1=Corliss|first1=Richard|access-date=27 May 2021|archive-date=31 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731100056/https://entertainment.time.com/2005/02/12/all-time-100-movies/slide/chungking-express-1994/|url-status=live}}</ref> The film ranked 56th in BBC's 2018 list of The 100 greatest foreign language films voted by 209 film critics from 43 countries around the world.<ref>{{cite web|title=The 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films|url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20181029-the-100-greatest-foreign-language-films|website=bbc|date=29 October 2018|access-date=10 January 2021|archive-date=25 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225005824/https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20181029-the-100-greatest-foreign-language-films|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Academy Award]]-winning director [[Barry Jenkins]] (''[[Moonlight (2016 film)|Moonlight]]'') is said to be influenced by this film.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-11-29 |title=What Wong Kar Wai Taught Barry Jenkins About Longing |url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/4328-what-wong-kar-wai-taught-barry-jenkins-about-longing |website=[[Criterion Collection]] |access-date=20 October 2019 |archive-date=24 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210324075239/https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/4328-what-wong-kar-wai-taught-barry-jenkins-about-longing |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bauer |first=Alex |date=2017-03-01 |title=The Influential Powers of 'Chungking Express' |url=https://medium.com/cinenation-show/the-influential-powers-of-chungking-express-d97aaac51cc6 |publisher=CineNation |website=Medium |access-date=20 October 2019 |archive-date=22 September 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240922035436/https://medium.com/cinenation-show/the-influential-powers-of-chungking-express-d97aaac51cc6 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Falt |first=Chris |date=2017-05-31 |title=Barry Jenkins' 'Moonlight': See the Seven Foreign Films That Inspired the Oscar Winner |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2017/05/barry-jenkins-film-style-wong-kar-wai-claire-denis-lynne-ramsay-1201834261/ |website=[[IndieWire]] |access-date=20 October 2019 |archive-date=26 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026210702/https://www.indiewire.com/2017/05/barry-jenkins-film-style-wong-kar-wai-claire-denis-lynne-ramsay-1201834261/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Accolades===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" ;
|- style="background:#ccc; text-align:center;"
! colspan="5" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | Awards and nominations
|- style="background:#ccc; text-align:center;"
! style="background:#ccc| Ceremony
! style="background:#ccc| Year
! style="background:#ccc| Category
! style="background:#ccc| Recipient
! style="background:#ccc| Outcome
|-
| [[Chicago Film Critics Association|Chicago Film Critics Association Awards]]
| 1997
| [[Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]]
| {{N/A}}
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| [[Chicago International Film Festival]]
| 1994
| Best Feature 
| [[Wong Kar-wai]]
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| rowspan="8" | [[Golden Horse Awards]]
| rowspan="8" | [[31st Golden Horse Awards|1994]]
| [[Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actor|Best Leading Actor]]
| [[Tony Leung Chiu-wai|Tony Leung Chiu-Wai]]
| {{Won}}
|-
| Best Feature Film
| ''Chungking Express''
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| [[Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actress|Best Leading Actress]]
| [[Faye Wong]]
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| [[Golden Horse Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| Wong Kar-Wai
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| [[Golden Horse Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]]
| [[Christopher Doyle]], [[Wai Keung Lau]]
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| [[Golden Horse Award for Best Art Direction|Best Art Direction]]
| [[William Chang]]
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| [[Golden Horse Award for Best Film Editing|Best Film Editing]]
| William Chang, Kit-Wai Kai, Chi-Leung Kwong
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| [[Golden Horse Award for Best Original Film Score|Best Original Film Score]]
| Frankie Chan
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| rowspan="10 | [[Hong Kong Film Awards]]
| rowspan=10" | 1995
| Best Picture
| ''Chungking Express''
| {{Won}}
|-
| Best Director
| Wong Kar-wai 
| {{Won}}
|-
| Best Actor
| Tony Leung Chiu-Wai
| {{Won}}
|-
| Best Editing 
| William Cheung Suk-Ping, Kwong Chi-Leung, Hai Kit-Wai
| {{Won}}
|-
| Best Actress 
| Faye Wong
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| Best Supporting Actress 
| Valerie Chow Kar-Ling
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| Best Screenplay 
| Wong Kar-wai
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| Best Cinematography 
| Christopher Doyle, Andrew Lau Wai-Keung
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| Best Art Direction 
| William Cheung Suk-Ping
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| Best Original Film Score
| Frankie Chan Fan-Kei, Roel A. Garcia
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| [[Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award|Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards]]
| 1995
| Film of Merit
| ''Chungking Express''
| {{Won}}
|-
| [[Locarno Film Festival]]
| 1994
| Golden Leopard
| Wong Kar-Wai
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| [[National Society of Film Critics|National Society of Film Critics Awards]]
| 1995
| [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]]
| ''Chungking Express''
| {{Nominated}}
|-
| rowspan="3" | [[Stockholm International Film Festival]]
| rowspan="3" | 1994 
| Best Actress
| Faye Wong
| {{Won}}
|-
| [[International Federation of Film Critics|FIPRESCI Prize]]
| Wong Kar-Wai
| {{Won}}
|-
| Bronze Horse: Best Film
| Wong Kar-Wai
| {{Nominated}}
|-
|}


==See also==
* ''[[Chinese Odyssey 2002]]'', another film starring Tony Leung and Faye Wong, produced by Wong Kar-wai
* [[Cinema of Hong Kong]]
* [[Hong Kong in films]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes}}
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/766-chungking-express-electric-youth ''Chungking Express: Electric Youth''] – an essay by [[Amy Taubin]] at [[The Criterion Collection]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100708081723/http://asianlanguages.rutgers.edu/courses/summer2006/165-262-H6/ChungkingExpressByTsungYiHuang.pdf "''Chungking Express'': Walking with a Map of Desire in the Mirage of the Global City"], Tsung-Yi Huang

{{Wong Kar-wai}}
{{Best Film HKFA}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chungking Express}}
[[Category:1990s Cantonese-language films]]
[[Category:1990s crime comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1990s Hindi-language films]]
[[Category:1990s Hong Kong films]]
[[Category:1990s Japanese-language films]]
[[Category:1990s Mandarin-language films]]
[[Category:1994 crime drama films]]
[[Category:1994 films]]
[[Category:1994 independent films]]
[[Category:1994 romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Best Film Hong Kong Film Award winners]]
[[Category:Fiction with unreliable narrators]]
[[Category:Films about flight attendants]]
[[Category:Films directed by Wong Kar-wai]]
[[Category:Films set in 1994]]
[[Category:Films set in Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Films shot in Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Hong Kong crime comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Hong Kong independent films]]
[[Category:Hong Kong New Wave films]]
[[Category:Hong Kong romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Police films]]
[[Category:Postmodern films]]
[[Category:Romantic crime films]]