If you only get to watch one Wong Kar Wai film make it this one, It's the most accessible and enjoyable film he has made in my opinion. Wong Kar Wai is known for starting a film without a planned script and this film follows suit. This is all about obsessions and mourning over lost love. The narrative is split in two and the link between them is very tenuous (there is the obvious connection of them being two cops and that they eat at the same take out joint) but both stories do share the common theme of what a break up can do to a man and how a minor connection from strangers can overcome and heal ones heartache.The first story introduces us to Cop 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro) who is obsessively buying tins of pineapple with the expiration date May 1st to see if his love will re blossom or expire like the tins of pineapple. His own rational thinking involves the fact his birthday falls on the 1st of May so that will be the time to move on after mourning and pining after her for a whole month. When his birthday arrives he comes across a blonde wig wearing drug dealer on the run and he spots her in the bar. He tries his hardest to chat her up but she just wants to find somewhere safe to rest. Eventually they end up in a hotel together and she falls asleep and he wakes up alone the next morning, unbeknown to him he has helped her more than she could have hoped for.
With the second narrative, the transition occurs at the take out joint where both cops frequent and we are introduced to Faye (Faye Wong) the new waitress who notices the 2nd lovelorn cop, Cop 663 (played by Tony Leung) always coming in buying food and getting relationship advice from the owner. Unfortunately for him his relationship breaks down and he fails to notice the subtle advances made by the new waitress, so she sets out obsessively to try to get his attention and win him over by any means possible.
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| Cop 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro) |
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| Cop 663 (Tony Leung) and Faye (FayeWong) |
The dialogue is very much written the night before each scene and there is a poetic feel to the whole observational comments on love and the situations we can find ourselves in. The performances by both leads are commendable considering there isn't much to the script. Tony Leung is always watchable and there is always an intensity to him even when he has nothing to say, it's all in his eyes. He looks thoughtful and displays such emotion that even when he is just standing still in shot, he still out acts most actors.
People may find that it's a case of style over substance. The story is not the strongest part of this film and like I said before, Wong Kar Wai is known for starting a film without a completed script, but it's all the cinematic techniques which are on display which draws you in. The jump cut editing, the numerous pop cultural references, to the kinetic camera work and the repetitive use of Mama's and Papa's "California Dreaming" (you'll end up loving the song or it'll drive you insane, for me it was the former) all makes up for it's paper thin narrative with it's avant garde visual style. Very much a Hong Kong art house flick akin to the New Wave French films created by film makers like Jean Luc Goddard and Francois Truffaut.
It's a film that will excite many of those who are film-literate (or a moderate knowledge of the film language) but for many modern audiences, I feel, will be a little bit less engaged by the whole thing. For those willing to try something different visually and unconventional in terms of narrative, you can't go wrong with this expressive piece of work with a finale that is ambiguous and lets you paint your own conclusion as to what happens to it's characters.
18/20
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