Ashlyn: Good morning everyone, welcome to our podcast on architecture and film, we are your host today, I am Ashlyn and I am Nerissa. Today we are going to talk about Chungking express and its relation to architecture.
Ashlyn: Directed by Wong Kar Wai and released in 1994, Chungking Express is a movie divided into two halves. The first half revolves around the aftermath of cop 223’s recent breakup. His story begins in Chungking mansion as he made his way through the crowd during his police chase in which he bumped into a woman in a blonde wig as she recruits helpers to join her drug smuggling business. This broken-hearted cop later falls in love with this enigmatic woman when they meet in a bar coincidentally. The second half features another grieving cop, cop 663, who was dumped by his flight attendant girlfriend as she leaves his apartment keys to a restaurant. Cop 663 later runs into an eccentric, ditzy waitress, Faye, who works in the same restaurant frequented by him. Before cop 663 develops feelings for Faye, she has already fallen hard for him. Eventually, a strange romance sparks between them.
Nerissa: At first glance, it may be confusing to see two unrelated plots being thrown together in one single movie. The thing that ties the two plots and characters together is the theme of solitude and longing for love that is depicted throughout the film. This is evident by the cyan tone overlaying the scenes shot in Chungking mansion which is probably the first thing we can take note of as the movie starts playing. We can see here, the teal tint sets a cold tone at the very start of the film, conveying a sense of loneliness, isolation in a metropolis like Hong Kong.
Ashlyn: In the movie, Chungking mansion’s dark alleys and busy crowds give viewers an impression of chaos and lack of order. When Chungking Mansion is first shown in the movie, it is filmed in a whip pan shot with a disorienting motion blur effect as the camera follows the enigmatic blonde woman passing through the busy crowd. As viewers, we are being introduced to this visually puzzling and distorted experience at the very beginning of the movie. The shaky movements by the hand-held camera work exaggerates the level of chaos and disorientation which makes it hard for viewers to focus on the scenes. Subsequently, the movie is followed by a chase scene of cop223, we can notice that the chungking mansion is swarmed with people, however we would find it almost impossible to pinpoint a single person in the bustling crowd, as the blurred effect from step-printing made the background particularly obscure. Chungking mansion is also depicted as dangerous and mysterious. This is seen in some hostile and unfriendly looking faces shown in the movie.
Nerissa: However, during our visit, contrary to the messy and sinister environment shown in the movie, the place looks cleaner, more organised and tidy than how it is depicted in the movie. In real life, the place is nowhere close to being overcrowded and the level of traffic varies in different parts of Chungking. Some parts of it are more crowded than the rest. some of the alleyways were empty and the most crowded area would be the entrance and the areas near the lift. In the movie, the product placements were spread all over the shop in a disorganised way. However, during our visit, most shops were structured in a tidy way. Also, the place felt more welcoming in contrast to the cold and hostile environment depicted in the film. There was even a Filipino woman asking us if we wanted to join her dancing to pop music. People were generally friendly when we asked if it is fine for us to take pictures of their store.
Nerissa: Ashlyn, would you explain the purpose of showing a bustling crowd in Chungking mansion in the movie?
Ashlyn: The way Chungking mansion is presented is to showcase the theme of solitude in the movie. The blurriness and smudge effects from step-printing conceals the faces of the people in Chungking mansion, giving a sense of anonymity to the people as if none of them were important. Also, the hand-held camera work allows us to view the movie as one of the bystanders in the crowd, showing that we are just as irrelevant as any of the people in the crowd. Despite the overpopulation of this place, it feels like we are alone after all in this crowd. This scene highlights how lonely one often feels in a fast-paced metropolis like Hong Kong, further amplifying the sense of alienation when we see how distant the people are in spite of its close distance to one another.
Ashlyn: Moving on, Nerissa, would you explain how this film transforms this commuting space into a place in which dramatic events take place?
Nerissa: As the blonde woman was tracking down her escaped helpers, she started from a crowded space, and ended up smoking alone in an empty alley. The emptiness of the spaces emphasised her helplessness. Subsequently, she faced an attack from strangers, she instead shot them and escaped. The complicated structure of the building allows the stranger to make use of the hidden allies to secretly follow the blonde woman. She tried to makes use of the architectural structure, moving back and forth on the stairs to escape from them. During our trip, we also observed that the stairs shown in the movie still exist. The stairs connect the lower and upper floors of Chungking Mansion. The complexity of architectural structure allows the chase and escape scenes to be even more exciting. Clearly, the dodgy and sinister environment that Chungking Mansion creates acts as a good space for suspicious and secret activities, like drug smuggling and murder to flourish.
Ashlyn: If we take a close look at the people in the crowd from the movie, we can also notice a racially diverse group of people in the movie. Chungking mansion is a place where people from different countries gather which creates an element of unpredictability and uncontrollable fate in this busy urban life. We may bump into or pass by someone and never cross paths with them ever again or we may one day change from strangers to lovers overnight just like in the movie where cop 223 bumps into the woman in the blonde wig by sheer chance and fell in love with her in less than 48 hours after. Likewise, this depiction is accurate in real life during our visit, the cultural diversity persisted in such multicultural stores and crowds. We can see faces of Pakistan, African, Indian, Filipino, Chinese people or even stores that sell multicultural products. There were also a lot of currency exchange stores in Chungking mansion, indicating its internationality.
Nerissa: As we can see during our trip, Chungking mansion is now a commercial building consisting of different industries with shops run by minorities. In the drug smuggling scenes, the camera tracks the smugglers executing their plan going through different parts of the building, such as the hotel, tailor shop, shoes shop etc. Except the blonde, her helpers are not realizing the risk that they are taking on engaging in the drug smuggling activity. As minorities, they may not often have a chance to purchase these materials and would not even get in touch with them. They are therefore interested in exploring the shops and play around with different products. To them, these products and the process of drug smuggling is more like an interesting journey. In contrast, to the blonde, these products are not abnormal to see. She treats these products and helpers as tools to hide drugs in order to achieve this risky business. These scenes are therefore shown at a fast pace to emphasise how quickly everything is going on. The use of montage on the baby crying and the blonde’s frowning face and her punishment towards her helpers creates a sense of anxiety and implies the risk that they have to face. The complicated relationship between the smugglers, drug products and the dim stores in Chungking mansion is shown under the chaotic and intense vibe of the urban environment.
Ashlyn: In short, Chungking mansion is a place that allows us to explore the infinite possibilities that persist, reflective of Hong Kong as an international city where different cultures co-exist. The busy crowds that exist within this complex architectural space resembles the face-paced lifestyle of Hong Kong. The movie made good use of the stark contrast between the bustling crowd and the emptiness that we all feel highlighting the theme of solitude and longing for connection. It also expressed the intensity and frustration that we all have been through in a hectic, overpopulated metropolis like Hong Kong.
Ashlyn: This is the end of our podcast. Thanks for listening. Bye.
Full name: Cheng Sze Yuet UID: 3036109175
Full name: Wong Kwan Ting UID: 3036074071
The comparison between the film setting and your field trip strengthens your analysis. However, a more film-based discussion is worth unfolding. For example, What filmic techniques are used to stylize/romanticize the space? How are settings in Chungking Express deconstructed and reconstructed by filmmakers? Why Chungking Mansions is selected as the setting to promote such a messy/romantic/abstract story? Furthermore, I would suggest a more dialogue-liked podcast mode, which would greatly enhance the appeal of your work.