Chungking Express
Or so I feel. When Shii or Prog or anybody else I care for has seen a film, the motivation for me to watch it as well multiplies by about OVER 9000. While watching this film, I was actually talking to Shii on IM, so this post is going to be a collection of comments I had on this while watching it:
– The very beginning was quite annoying. Flashy colours, horrible looking characters and especially these quick movements with the camera that supposedly makes everything ‘realistic’ and dynamic. Brrrr. (Upon saying that, I was called a heretic by the catholic rural austrian.)
– The colours (no matter how real they actually were during the shot) look unrealistic to me and destroy the atmosphere for me. I just don’t like that. I even find an art installation with shit more aesthetically pleasing than this (because that doesn’t give me headaches and eye cancer).
– Compared to that, the dialogue as totally un-pretentious and thus give me a feeling of simpleness and honesty somehow. It’s true that his stories are not breathtakingly original, but it doesn’t matter, the characters feel believable and sometimes very cute. (Especially when they talk to themselves, hehe.)
– I love the tagline of this film. Overcoming a broken heart, talking to yourself into your sorrow in your tiny, chaotic apartment, these pseudo-philosophical about expiration dates and the bittersweet way all of these emotions are acted out – these are the aspects that made this film special and actually quite great for me.
– California Dreaming! Seriously, this poor song appeared so often in that damn film that I feel like I can never stand to hear it again. Leitmotifs are great, but not in such an excessive way. I was so shocked when the song was played the first time though – and after the tenth time hearing it, I don’t feel all that much anymore. Actually, the song is related to a guy (no.1) I had a crush on. Perfectly fitting the spirit of the film, this guy is relevant because of my, say, ‘memory’ (or the lack of it). In fact, when I think back at people I fell in love with as a young girl, I tend to forget some of them completely. And then, when that song played, a short rush of emotions came back and I was like “Oh, there also was this guy!” Even more, if my memory is correct, there was about a month between the time I met him and the time I realized I was in love with another guy (no.2). Moreover, I actually nearly completely forgot what happened at that time, but I remember that I read The Lord of the Rings and Shakespeare’s comedies at that time, the first because of no.1 and the latter because of no.2. And one of the main reasons why I tend to forget no.1 is that I was sure I was in love with a certain no.3 at that time. After all, around the same time, I started talking and getting close to no.2 because of no.3. it’s all horribly confusing to think back at it. What a refreshingly simple I have right now!
– Now, I also have to say something about this Faye girl from the second part of the film. I’m too lazy to elaborate, but I have found her to be a thoroughly bad person, who is extremely selfish, meddles with other people’s lives and blatantly lies. I especially disliked how she deleted the message on his answering machine. I mean… violation of personal rights and stuff? Perhaps I should try not to judge her too much, but honestly this behaviour have kept me up from liking her and rooting for her and this guy’s relationship, although she was an interesting and original character.
– Tony Leung has a smile like Jake Gyllenhaal. It’s not the same style of course, but both of them have the same feeling. It’s a juvenile, extremely charming, sweet and honest smile that makes me feel like melting when I see it. The only “real life” person I have met whose smile was similar to that is the aforementioned no.2, but I can’t even recall his face anymore, hahaha. My memories are really bad ^^;;;
Anyways, Andy Lau > Tony Leung. However, if I really had to choose between them – today, I would prefer the third solution *hrrrrrr*
The main reason why I dislike the flashy style is that I grew up with films that tried to show China in some chaotic, dirty, flashy style. I don’t remember any of them except for this stupid “I love Beijing” film that I watched years ago. I think that one is a good example – flashiness just feels so unrealistic and out of place for me, and I admit that it’s most likely a personal thing that this very exact way of portraying chinese cities pushes me off a lot.
Finally, I enjoyed this film enough to become genuinely interested in Wong Kar-Wai now. However, I doubt that I will ever really like his way of making films, and I especially dislike his visual, aesthetic style. He’s an author like Jim Jarmusch, only that I adore Jim Jarmusch’s style to bits and Wong Kar-Wai’s makes my head hurt.
PS. I saw the California Dreamin’ is no. 89 in this list. What is mentionable with the top 30 is that I actually only know 6 of them, which are
– Imagine (because way too many commercials use this song)
– Smells like teen spirit
– Yesterday (because we had to sing this in music class at school)
– Blowin’ in the wind (because of Forrest Gump)
– I want to hold your hand (because of an anime), and
– Layla (because of the Nana manga)
And now, ladies and gentlemen, please start to laugh.
Your story with the “California dreaming” seems to be quite confusing indeed. XD
And: You don’t know all those famous Bob Dylan and Beatles songs? It’s not like you would fall in love with them, but: you should, they are classics! XD
No no, I already know that there is no way I would ever like Bob Dylan. The Beatles, maybe. I like “Yesterday” and I like “I wanna hold your hand” a lot after all. However, I totally do not see the point in “Hey Jude”, hahaha.