Chungking Express

I have so many problems with this movie as a writer and a person who grew up on American television and films.

This movie has no structure. This movie has no plot. This movie barely has fully realized characters. It’s one of the few nails I’ve ever seen that refuses to be hammered down. 

And yet, it’s glorious. 

A flick that starts with a crime story but is never all that interested in the crime story. It sketches out a romance and then just decides we have had enough of those two characters and follows a different couple to the end. 

Also, the story and characters are not much more than sketches, fragments or dreams of night life in a city. A close up view of a few people but no macguffin, no real drama and no need for any of that. 

I don’t think I have ever seen a movie just fundamentally reject the very concept of being a movie before but this one does. 

And yet, it’s a wonderul hang out. I instantly fell in love with Faye Wong who just takes over the proceedings and steals every moment. 

Like I said, there was a crime movie that could have existed here. And then there was a romantic comedy. Near the end, it veers deep into romcom territory but that’s a little like saying you got 9 friends together and announced you were a baseball team. 

But if a team never takes the field is it really a team? Is it a movie if it rejects nearly every storytelling requirement you think you know? 

If I’m standing in a storm and refuse a raincoat will I come out dry? 

Writer/director Kar-Wai Wong dances in between the rain drops until we get to the credits.