Chungking Express (1994) - Cinematography

Chungking Express also known by the original title Chung Hing sam lam, is a 98 minute long Hong Kong film written and directed by Kar Wai Wong in 1994. The genre(s) this film fits into is Drama, Mystery and Romance. During this films narrative, it consists of two separate stories told one after another both which involves two policemen involved in a romance.

The first half of the films involves with Cop 223. He has broken up with his girlfriend who he has been with for 5 years and has constantly been buying tins of pineapples with an expiration date of 1^st May, every day for a whole month. The second half of the films follows Cop 663 and how he copes with the breakup with him and his flight attendant girlfriend. He finally manages to meet a new girl at a local lunch counter. The two cops in the film do not have names, but we hear the name ‘May’ being used within the film. This suggests that they are not that important within the film as much as “May” is.

The director has used bright (neon)/blurred colours as well as dark lighting in most scenes. Ranges of different camera shots have also been used to create different effects such as; close ups, long shots, shaky handheld camera scenes and slow paced editing in postproduction.