The Chinese Tourist (In The Eyes of The Taiwanese)

What is it with the Mainland Chinese that they get easily noticed when they travel abroad? Ask a Taiwanese.

Gaby Dela Merced: Cool Driven, And Empowered

Check out the April-June 2009 issue of Metro Post for my interview with Ms. Gaby Dela Merced, über awesome race car driver.

Racing Time On The Chungking Express

Chungking Express is not the name of train. It actually juxtaposes the names of two locations in the film by Wong Kar-Wai, namely, Chungking Mansions and Midnight Express. But we are getting ahead of the story.

If you a fan of WKW and Tony Leung, this is one of the movies to see.

Chungking Expresses comprises of two totally unrelated stories involving cops and their lovesick romances. But if you look closely, you could actually see the six degrees of separation concept in their stories where they become related by a mere touch or encounter.

In the first story, He Qiwu aka Cop 223 played by Takeshi Kaneshiro of "Turn Left Turn Right" fame (also one of my favorite movies) has become obsessed with his breakup with his former girlfriend May. They broke up on April Fools' Day and is giving himself until May 1 (his birthday and coincidentally his girlfriend's name) for them to get back together. He has this thing with pineapples (because it is May's favorite) and pineapple cans with expiration dates of May 1.

Fate brought him and a girl disguised in a blonde wig together inside a dingy bar. And with all his obsession in finding the next girl to love, he totally dismisses the idea that her getup (blonde wig WITH sunglasses AND trenchcoat) is a coverup--although he mentions this momentarily just in an act of flirtation.

Why would a woman be wearing shades this late? Either she's blind, or she's a poseur, or she doesn't want people to see she's been crying.

Blonde girl (really a drug dealer) played by Brigitte Lin answers, "So which reason applies?"

And the hopelessly lost in love Qiwu replies, "The last one!"

In WKW's film, I especially loved how he played with time and emphasized deadlines in the stories. Towards the transition to the next story, Qiwu bumps into Faye (played by singer-actress Faye Wong) and recounts in freeze frame,

This was the closest we ever got. Just 0.01 of a centimeter between us. I knew nothing about her. But six hours later, she fell in love with another man.

And the second story starring the another man (Cop 663 played by Tony Leung) and Faye starts with Qiwu disappearing in the background.

Faye and Tony have incredible chemistry together. Their moments are both sexy and innocent enough, because WKW tells the story as if you just can not guess what the outcome of their love story is.

Faye is "ditzy" and smart at the same time and has her own obsession with the song "California Dreamin'". The song symbolizes her dream of travelling to California. She plays it really loud while working because it "stops me from thinking." The viewer will adore her character here!

Moving fast forward, it is cute to point out that when Cop 663 invites Faye to go out on a date, he suggests the California Restaurant. Does Faye go or not? I will leave that to the viewer.

There is no definite story in Chungking Express though a theme appears (of cops and their romances). It is all about how real the characters were portrayed. No cinematic plots were involved (except for the chase and kill scene with the blonde lady) and only the quirky behavior of people in love. i.e., Playboy Qiwu and his pineapples; Cop 663 and his emo episodes...talking to himself and inanimate objects...

In one episode, Cop 663 discovers his apartment flooding and in a voiceover, he tells out loud his thoughts,

Did I leave the tap running or is the apartment getting more tearful? I always thought it would cope okay. (His girlfriend also broke up with him.) Didn't expect it to cry so much. When people cry, they can dry their eyes with tissues. But when an apartment cries, it takes a lot to mop it up.

And an endearing moment with his soaked towel-

It was such a relief when I saw it crying. It may look different. But it's still true to itself. It's still an emotionally-charged towel.

His quotes sound a bit crazy; yet in a weird way, I find them poetic.

Among the 4 lead actors and actresses, Brigitte Lin is the only "older" woman. The others are relatively young adults. Perhaps this is to say that Brigitte's character is intended to be different and the only one "mature" or "straight" in thinking with regards to love. Not to mention literal. She said so herself--

I've been racing around all evening. I'm tired. If you want to talk, find someone else.

And another fast quip--

I don't have a boyfriend..I won't like you.

At the end of the first story, blonde girl remembers to greet Qiwu on his birthday (also his love deadline). They do not become a couple, but Qiwu is somehow freed on his love quest.

On May 1, 1994, a woman wishes me a happy birthday. Now I'll remember her all my life. If memories could be canned, would they also have expiry dates? If so, I hope they last for centuries.

What I like about Chungking Express is that it shows bits of Hong Kong life without anything hardcore attached to it. It starts with a sequence and lets the viewers imagine what is to happen next and still able to fashion memorable portraits from it.

Others have likened it as Wong Kar-Wai's politizing of the Hong Kong handover to China with the timing of the making of the film just right. I just see it as WKW imitating real, real life (and not exaggerating movie ploys) in an art that he does best.

PS. And oh by the way, Chungking Mansions is where mainly all the happenings occurred in Qiwu's story. Midnight Express is the snack bar where both Qiwu and Cop 663 frequent.

The Way We Are: Almost Put Me To Sleep But Still A Notable Film

It really was an effort getting a copy of this film.

天水围的日与夜 "Tin Shui Wai Days and Nights"

I am glad it did not disappoint. Well, only a few yawns here and there.