Chungking Express
January 2009 Reviewed by: Rad Bennett Format: Blu-ray	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

It is ironic that this movie, produced to free Wong Kar-Wai’s mind of more weighty film work, has become the director’s most-loved movie, and perhaps his best. In it, he presents two modern love stories that have a lot in common. Both of the guys are policemen, both have been left by current lovers, and both find new love, or at least fascination, in an unexpected way. At the beginning, Cop 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro) has been left by his girlfriend and finds a woman wearing an obvious blond wig (Brigitte Olin Ching-hsia) fascinating. She, unknown to 223, is a drug dealer who has been given a date to close a deal or else. Meeting in a bar, they end up going home together, but she sleeps and he watches late-night TV, cleans her shoes, and then leaves. She one ups the "or else" and extracts revenge.

In the second story, we meet Cop 663 (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) who is dumped by his stewardess girlfriend. He frequents the Midnight Express, a fast-food joint that ties both stories together, impressing Faye (Faye Wong), the new girl who has just started work. The ex-girlfriend had earlier delivered a letter and apartment key to the Midnight Express to be held for 663. Faye cops the key, gets 663’s address and starts visiting his apartment when he is not home. She redecorates and changes little things here and there, which he never seems to notice until one day the inevitable happens and they meet face to face.

Kar-Wai doesn’t acknowledge the influence, but his work often reminds one of that of Jean-Luc Godard's. What Godard did for youth in Paris, Kar-Wai does for young people in Hong Kong. Quick jump cuts abound, but I had no trouble following the action, no doubt in part due to Criterion’s clean-as-a-whistle, easy-to-read subtitles. The first story plays as mystery, the second like a screwball comedy. They have many things in common. One is the use of expiration dates. These appear on cans of food and also apply to many other things, including the expiration of relationships. Both cops eat endless amounts of chef’s salad, and music ties each story together, in the second a juxtaposition of the Mamas and Papas’ "California Dreaming" and "What a Difference a Day Makes." And characters from the second story make appearances in the first one, though you might not notice until you watch the movie a second time.

The style is energetic and the look very cinematic. There is no doubt that Kar-Wai is a master of the medium and loves it, almost to excess. What really makes this movie sparkle are the characters, who are vividly and affectionately drawn. An audience can like them all, even the drug-dealing woman in the wig, as they are all exceptionally appealing, especially 663 and Faye in the second story. Wong brings an Audrey Hepburn-like wonder to the latter, so much that we think it perfectly natural that she has taken a stranger’s apartment over as it if it were her own. There’s an innocence to that action as well as everything the actress does that is refreshing and enjoyable.

Criterion’s video transfer seems just right. It’s done at 1:66:1, which will either fill your HD screen or produce very small letterbox borders depending on how your overscan is adjusted. The focus is a bit soft at times, but that’s the film, not the transfer. Colors are varied and range from muted to bright, depending on the scene. The audio is a bit unique. The dialogue is always up front and center, clean and clear. The surrounds are not always used where you might think they would be and seem reserved for crowd scenes and rain. In these instances they are very effective. The music sounds amazingly good; I can’t remember the Mamas and Papas signature song ever sounding better than it does here.

There are few extras, especially for Criterion, really just a short production featurette and an informed and interesting commentary by film historian Tony Ryans. There’s also a ponderous essay in the booklet accompanying the disc by film critic Amy Taubin. This is all very lightweight for Criterion, and the company’s usually clean and crisp menus also have a hitch. Say you want to select subtitles; you’re taken to a screen that has On and Off displayed, with On highlighted. You’d normally think to click On to confirm, but it’s a toggle. If you do that, you are actually turning subtitles off! It’s a small point, but an irritation, and this is one of the first Blu-ray Criterion releases, so one expects perfection.

Other than the menu glitch and the lightweight extras, that is exactly what one gets -- a delightful film displayed in state-of-the-art video with audio to match.

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