CHUNGKING EXPRESS 4K Review: Loneliness, Yearning, Loss, Romance, Joy, Bliss

Why does this film make me burst into tears, every single time I watch it?

Chungking Express
The film can be pre-ordered in a 4K UHD + Blu-ray Combo Edition, as well as a separate Blu-ray edition, via The Criterion Collection.

In the late 1990s, I was recovering from an emotionally tumultuous time. Every weekend night, I'd rent four or five movies from my local Blockbuster Video, come home to my tiny apartment, and lose myself as I watched the movies on my video cassette player on my tiny television, often falling asleep. I watched hundreds of movies that year.

When I ran out of American movies to rent, I started in on the Foreign Language section. One of the first I rented was because Quentin Tarantino's name was on the package, and I'd loved Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. That was all I knew about Chungking Express. And then I hit "play" and I was mesmerized. I'd never seen anything like it.

Later, I bought the movie on DVD, and watched it a couple more times. Later, I moved to Los Angeles for a few years, and saw it on a double bill at the New Beverly Theatre (before QT bought it), only that time it was the International Cut, which is a little bit different than the version I'd already seen multiple times before. And so I came home and watched it again on DVD two or three times.

And every time I watched it, I burst into tears, overcome by a cascade of emotions that I've only experienced with a few other movies; John Ford's The Searchers, to name one, which I watched not too long ago in its gorgeous new 4K version, and which again brought me to tears in its concluding scenes.

Somehow, though, I thought: it can't happen again. I've long moved past the emotionally tumultuous time when I first saw Chungking Express. Surely, I will never cry like that again.

And then, dang, at the 40 minute mark, when Faye Wong is dipping her gloved hands into a bucket of sudsy water to wash the windows at the Midnight Express snack bar, and "California Dreaming" by the Mamas and the Papas begins playing (very loudly) on the soundtrack, I was sucker punched again, and reduced to a teary mess. And again. And again.

(Apologies for burying the lede.)

The new 4K UHD version from The Criterion Collection looks incredibly good. To quote from the packaging, it is a "4K digital restoration, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, both supervised and approved by director Wong Kar Wai."

It brings out the softly recorded yet vividly colored clothing and props, with the wonderful deep dark abyss of shadows and vibrant nightlife in Hong Kong and the jittery photography that is captured in such wonderfully madcap fashion by cinematographers Christopher Doyle and Andrew Lau Wai Keung. (Lau soon became a very talented filmmaker on his own, distinctly different merits.) The daytime scenes are warm and lovely, drifting and precise, yet always enthralling.

The 4K version, in which the blacks are absolutely without color and provide a strikingly good backdrop for the action that is taking place -- and something is always happening in this film, and you can never catch it all on a single viewing -- sits alone on the 4K disc.

The included Blu-ray disc contains a Blu-ray version of the film, as well as the extras, including "Christopher Doyle," an interview with the boisterous cinematographer, recorded in 2002 as he walks some of the locations, including his own apartment, speaking in fluent Cantonese. As much as Doyle is known for its exuberant personality, he also provides keen insight into how the locations played such a crucial role in the film. It's a great watch. (10 min)

In "Moving Pictures," excerpts from an episode of a British television show, recorded in 1996, feature interviews with Wong and Doyle, in which they talk about the their experience making the low-budget film and employing innovative techniques out of necessity. Again, it's a great watch. (12 min.)

"Deleted scenes" feature footage that I've never seen before from three different sequences. For each, Wong talks with an interviewer explaining a bit about the footage.

For me, the most revelatory was "The Star," set up by Wong, which gives an entirely different spin on the story that is told in the first 40 minutes of the film, with a completely different backstory for Brigitte Lin's character. Frankly, it blew my mind; I had no idea. (6 min.)

In "California Dreaming," Wong talks about Faye Wong and her effortless ability to meld into her character without using any conventional acting techniques. This prompted Tony Leung to abandon all his conventional acting techniques, which Wong feels made Leung a better actor, and inspired the actor to go with Faye Wong's acting "style" ever after. We see a number of snippets cut from the film, in which the divine Ms. Wong moons around the Midnight Express snack bar. (6 min.)

Wong talks "Baroque" for a short time, just three minutes and 20 seconds, but it's packed, as he explains how hearing Michael Galasdo's music inspired him to write the first part of the script, and we are also treated to yet another angle on his filmmaking.

The package also includes an absolutely wonderful fold-out printed Amy Taubin essay, first published as part of Criterion's 2008 edition, that dives deep into the film and its timely cultural relevance. It brings everything around again, and made me want to watch the film once more.

Summing up: Endlessly replayable, Chungking Express is an absolute gem. It's one of my favorite films of all time, and this 4K edition absolutely rocks.

Also see: Michele "Izzy" Galagna's fantastic, very detailed review of Criterion's World of Wong Kar Wai box set. To order this particular puppy by itself in 4K, head here: Criterion Collection: Chungking Express.