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In the popular film, Chungking Express, Faye the antagonist of the film draws a picture of a boarding pass to signify that her crush, a police officer, should visit her in a year. For days, I could not understand why she would have him wait so long, especially if she was so obsessed with being ensconced within his house and personal items. After watching the film again, the form revealed my answer: she did not want to be a simple rebound from his last girlfriend. She wanted a real relationship without it initially crumbling down to pieces. The edits within the penultimate scene especially elucidated my answer for me.
Moreover, the mise-en-scene allows the design elements such as setting, props, costume, lighting, and makeup within the individual shots to shed light on the film’s significance. For example, the setting reveals the internal essence of the character through implicit meaning. The home of the mournful cop conveys not only his disorganized nature but also his emotional isolation. The design is mainly a disarray of furniture separated by random sections within each room without any sense of structure. In the final scene, as opposed to a massive set with eye-popping spectacles, the set director hones in on purpose and intent for the characters, rather than superfluously flashy props.
Moreover, with costume, the audience can see that Faye did not merely leave because she wanted to run away from her problems; instead, she chose a job that acted as a catalyst for her “breaking-up” decision. She returned to the policeman with a business-professional, white flight attendant outfit. Already in the commencement of this scene, we can see the director’s intentions of juxtaposing the police officer’s ex-girlfriend without the characters even needing to say anything. Thus, we can see how betrayal is transformed into a newfound, innocent love.
On another note, this narrative structure shines meaning on the crux of Faye’s decision-making. In addition, by using this narrative structure, the 102 minutes of screen time involving multiple characters and conflicts allows this multifaceted story to maintain relative coherency. On the other hand, by having a three-act (by this I mean each half of the movie) structure, it is apparent that there must be some sort of resolution by the end. This would especially help directors manipulate the audience’s cinematic journey by selectively conforming to the viewer’s expectation of storytelling. While the audience may still be stimulated by unanswered questions by the end, the denouement must give just enough closure for the preceding scenes to make sense. When putting this idea into perspective, I realized that Faye wanted that closure for herself, similar to how the director wanted closure for his movie. The story’s complicated issue, at last, unfolded through the purposeful close-ups of Faye’s surprised but delighted reaction after seeing that the police officer had kept the boarding pass. In these moments, it was evident that she loved him and could now trust him to join her.
While there may be opposition to this version of the ending, it makes sense due to the specificities within the film’s form. Through narrative structure, style of shots, and mise-en-scene (with setting, props, and costume), we can see how the aspects of work behind the camera contribute to the meaning of Chungking Express; missed connections, mad love, soured romances, and pairings with little chance of working out is demonstrated by this film’s melancholy beauty. Shot quickly and loosely to convey the celerity of the protagonist’s life events, Chungking Express ultimately feels more sweet than bitter. This film is defined by a tone of long-shot hopefulness and a sense that maybe it might all work out for this heartbroken young man.
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