Chungking Express Commentary by Tony Rayns

The whiplash, doublepronged Chungking Express is one of the defining works of nineties cinema and the film that made Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Karwai an instant icon. Two heartsick Hong Kong cops (Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung), both jilted by exlovers, cross paths at the Midnight Express takeout restaurant stand, where the ethereal pixie waitress Faye (Faye Wong) works. Anything goes in Wongs gloriously shot and utterly unexpected charmer, which cemented the sex appeal of its gorgeous stars and forever turned canned pineapple and the Mamas and the Papas California Dreamin into tokens of romantic longing.