Today, I going to analyze the director, Wong Kar Wai's film style in Chungking Express and discuss how his style portrays the aesthetics of Asian Cinema.
Summary of films:
Chungking Express is a 1994 Hong Kong drama film. The film comprises of two stories told in sequence, each about a lovesick Hong Kong policeman considering her relationship with a woman. The first story is about Cop 223 buys a can of pineapple with an expiration date of May 1 to signify the day he will get over his lost love, May. He love at first sight on a mysterious woman in a blond wig, he unaware of the fact she is a drug dealer. The second story follow with Cop 663 is upset with heartbreak over a breakup but when his loss girlfriend drops a spare set of his keys at a local cafe, a waitress lets herself into his apartment and brighter up his life.
Wong Kar Wai's film style in Chungking Express:
Chungking Express explores the themes of loneliness, transience and identity within the environment of the city. Wong Kar Wai uses fast-forward and pause in the film; we observe the speeded-up passing of clouds and Cop 633’s accelerated running. The use of voice-over obliges the audience to identify with the narrator. This identification is further emphasized by the frequent use of long takes which leave the protagonists either frozen in time, whilst other characters move hurriedly past in a jumble of vibrant activity, or else they are filmed (usually with a handheld camera) in such rapid motion that other characters and locations smear into a blur of colours. The overall result is a quite negative view of single love- all enhance by the energetic editing and shooting styles. Aesthetics of Asian Cinema that Wong Kar Wai used pace to allow the audience time to think, to consider the meaning of the story discovery on the screen.
Analysis:
The theme of identity is strongly alluded to through the cinematography of Christopher Doyle- particularly through his use of shots with a focus on reflection and refraction. These shots reflect the sense of confusion within their identities felt by all the characters, and are a unifying motif within the film. The speed and chaos of the city are also reflected in the cinematography, particularly in the opening and montage scenes- there is heavy use of motion blur, which compounded with the handheld, cinema verité shooting style thoroughly and accurately depict life in the city. Loneliness and transience are highlighted as the characters on screen are alone, despite being surrounded by hundreds of rushing, blurred people. This is also explored through the use of time-lapse: in a particular shot of cop 663, waiting in a bar, his actions are slowed down, while the rest of the scene is sped up and people are, again, a transient blur; this plays to the theme of time. Time and dates are given huge importance in the film; perhaps alluding to the Handover, which shook Hong Kong in the late nineties. This heavy focus on time and numbers is illustrated through the names of the police characters, intimate distances between people, and sell by dates. The notion of expiration is universal, especially in portraying the notion of transient love.
Framing is also used to generate meaning in the film. Doyle uses the camera to isolate characters within the frame – cutting them off and framing them narrowly within shadowed frames and doorways. This framing technique is almost metonymic of the world it aims to portray; alluding to the small living spaces and cramped conditions which mention much of Hong Kong’s city lifestyle. This helps the audience to remember the loneliness looked by some characters in the film, in some cases headed to conversing with clothes and stuffed toys. For example, Cop 663 describe his sad and loneliness feeling with his toy and clothes, he comfort them to cover his loneliness.
Another way that Doyle creates meaning in Chungking Express is through a lack of focus- several of the scenes aim to focus on how light and colour interact within the room, instead of creating a clear-cut image of the protagonists – for example; the scene with Brigitte Lin’s character sitting in the bar. The lack of focus could also be considered, to an extent, as a symbol of a lack of focus, or even confusion/disorientation for the characters themselves.
The editing in the film gives the film much of its punchiness through style, and skillfully knits together the two narrative structures, which echo each other in the way that they share the themes of love, and isolation in the city environment. They are told in succession and in loose chronological order. The looseness of the narratives is attributed to the dreams and desires that characters in both tales share. Instead of following narrative conventions, Wong Kar Wai seems to focus on cycles and routines, exploring his themes more abstractly, and contrasting the plights of each character. This unconventional narrative structure gives the film an esoteric quality, but greatly helps to explore the themes- alluding to the sense of routine confusion which haunts each character’s life.
There is also extensive use of slow motion and pauses. This style of editing also alludes to the prominent theme of time in the film. It even is unsure whether the two stories in the film are happening concurrently or not. Otherwise, the film’s editing could be described as MTV style- the cutting is very quick and punchy, and cut to the beat of the repetitive, electronic music. The film has subsequently been described as having “high octane visuals and action”, due to its editing style. Many of the scenes are highly saturated, and some are equally desaturated- creating noise in a scene with heavy focus on visuals, or embodying a more sombre sense.
Conclusion:
Throughout the film, the cinematography and editing contribute greatly to the success of the film, and how its meaning is put across. The themes of identity, transience, unrequited love and loneliness are all referenced constantly through film language, as well as the narrative of the film which makes these themes its basis. Recommended for those who have like to consider and analysis films, Wong Kar Wai’s film is a good choice to start with.
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