1994


chunking-express-poster

When Wong Kar-wai was working on his wuxia epic Ashes of Time, he decided that he needed a break. His plan was to create something fresh, quick, and easy. That “break” turned out to be 1994’s Chungking Express, a charming romantic comedy teeming with energy and style. Wong decided to go with three stories, but only two made the motion picture. The third story, a tale of a lovesick hitman, is actually told in his Fallen Angels.

Chungking Express is not structured like the typical Hollywood movies many of us are used to. To fully appreciate it, it pays to have some background in film or some familiarity with foreign cinema. Wong Kar-wai is constructing a measured, stylishly-driven story of romance and getting over romance. It has a lot in common with the hot Godard movies of French New Wave, where the rules were that there were no rules and the conventions of cinema were ripe for experimentation. Some may find the structure, that of two stories with virtually no connection to one another, to be perplexing.

But, as is the case with most things that are ultimately worthwhile, a little patience and understanding can go a long way. Beyond Wong’s style and structure, Chungking Express is a lovely little movie. When understanding it and its impact, bear in mind that it is essentially a romantic comedy at its core. When Quentin Tarantino presented this film at a UCLA screening, he stated that he had cried while watching it on video. He cried not out of sadness for character or plot, but rather that he was able to love a movie this much.

Whether or not you’ll cry for loving a movie this much remains to be seen, of course, but Chungking Express has an awful lot of charm. Told in two stories, we are introduced to characters in various stages of love. They are in it, out of it, getting over it, and trying to get in it. Love is examined, weighed, proposed, explored, even mocked.

The first story involves  Taiwan-born cop He Qiwu (Takeshi Kaneshiro). He and his girlfriend May broke up on April Fool’s Day. With his birthday a month later, Qiwu elects to wait for a month before moving on. He begins buying tins of pineapple with May 1st expiry dates in hopes of somehow regaining his lost love. A woman with a blonde wig (Brigitte Lin) is trying to survive in the Hong Kong underworld after a drug deal gone awry. Qiwu and the woman eventually meet by chance in a bar and he experiences the spark of potential new love.

The second story features an unnamed cop, dubbed Cop 663 (Tony Leung) for all intents and purposes. 663 is also getting over a recent breakup, this time with a flight attendant (Valerie Chow). He meets a young woman (Faye Wong), a new employee at a snack bar he frequents. She falls in love with him secretly and begins to break into his apartment with great frequency, redecorating the place. So oblivious is 663 because of the anguish of the breakup that he doesn’t recognize the various renovations. Eventually he realizes that the young woman has a crush on him and the pair attempts to pursue a future together.

These two stories represent, in many ways, the sort of disconnection of a crowded place like Hong Kong. Wong Kar-wai shoots things quickly, partially because of the intention of the movie and partially because there’s no better way to see Hong Kong than in a big hurry. Yet while there is this great rushed disconnect, there are also quiet moments of intimacy. The snack bar becomes a small refuge for 663, as does his ongoing routine of “running into” the young woman who works there. While it may seem as though he is going through life in the motions, there is richness in the smaller moments.

Chungking Express is a masterful tale that serves to signal the arrival of one of today’s most gifted filmmakers. Wong Kar-wai is intriguing; his insistence on telling crisscrossing narratives is intoxicating and pure. There is something about the straightforwardness of these two stories that belies a greater purpose and perhaps indelibly serves notice that the Hong Kong film landscape is not all John Woo and Jackie Chan.

9.1/10

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Bullets Over Broadway

Bullets Over Broadway is classic comedy at its best, a riotous trip through the backstage happenings of the play from an up-and-coming Broadway playwright. This 1994 Woody Allen film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, and a slew of Best Supporting Actor/Actress awards. Dianne Wiest won the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in the film, a rollicking turn as the alcoholic leading lady, Helen Sinclair. Bullets Over Broadway is Allen at his resourceful best and is a film packed to the brim with wit and top-tier comedy from start to finish.

The film takes place in 1928 as idealistic young playwright David Shane (John Cusack) has newly arrived in Broadway. He’s trying to get his play put on and doesn’t want to sacrifice his artistic integrity to do so. Shane has extended ostentatious discussions with his artistic friends about the merits of art and how artists create their own principles. This lends itself immeasurably to the character of Cusack’s Shane and ups the ante on the comedy as the film winds along. Shane is trying to get financing for his play and grudgingly agrees to hire the girlfriend (Jennifer Tilly) of a gangster to be one of the actresses in the play. Naturally, she’s a dreadful actress and can barely read her lines correctly. If Shane wants financing for his play, however, he must make this regrettable compromise. He does and winds up berating himself as a whore and a sellout.

The girlfriend is escorted to rehearsals by a security thug, Cheech (Chazz Palminteri), who winds up having an incredible inclination for writing. He sputters critiques of Shane’s work while watching the play from the back of the theatre, leading the enraged Shane to barely be able to contain himself. After some time, however, Shane begins accepting Cheech’s ideas and the play transforms into something magical. Shane is soon over his head with the whole situation and finds himself cheating on his partner Ellen (Mary-Louise Parker) with the leading lady Helen Sinclair (Wiesst). He also discovers that his leading man, the habitual eater Warner Purcell (Jim Broadbent), is beginning an affair with the gangster’s girlfriend.

The beauty of Woody Allen’s work, by and large, is that he brings a comedic touch to serious, philosophical elements and it is terrifically effective. Allen is the type of filmmaker that actively worries within the construct of his films, a director that wonders aloud as to some of the philosophical and logical questions of our time. Bullets Over Broadway is no different from the typical Allen themes. Allen’s protagonist in Bullets Over Broadway is a largely Nietzschean artist, one who desires the creative process and has the “will to power,” accepting no conciliation along the way. The film explores the morality of such a character and follows the inexorable logic behind his actions, using comedy to shed light on the predestined path that such a character would take.

The idea here is that the character of Shane succumbs to darn well every single temptation that crosses his path and his partner does too. Shane makes a pact with a mobster to finance his play, he has an affair, and he allows his work to be tampered with. In every way, Shane goes back on his character because of his will to power. He crosses every moral bridge a few times too many and, thus, is left with the inevitable spoils of his war against himself. Shane, as a result, discovers that the artistic talent he believed he once had is astonishingly non-existent and his motivations were certainly indeterminate. Instead, the character of Cheech is the true artist here and Shane is left on the outside looking in towards a shell of his work. Shane’s value, thus, must come from somewhere else, despite the fact that he has chased truth away in his quest for glory. As Cheech takes the reigns of the play, he constructs a take-no-prisoners attitude towards his own glory and stops at nothing to see his project through to success. Shane, in final moments of lucidity, decides that this stop-at-nothing approach exhibited by Cheech does not match his own desires and flees the scene back to Pittsburgh with his partner back in tow. It is a recovery from the will that Shane thought he had and it comes not a moment too soon.

Woody Allen is one of my favourite directors and he remains practical in a moribund Hollywood because he is a master of his own genre. He has given us variations of comedy throughout his career, from the peculiar comic stylings of Zelig to the bitter sweet comedy of Annie Hall. With Bullets Over Broadway, Allen gives us a witty and clever version of the comic masterpiece we have come to expect. The film is not hilarious or outrageous, but it has no intentions to be. Instead, Bullets Over Broadway intends to be smart and provoking, shining a light on the inner workings of the artist and the person who thinks he’s an artist. It’s a film about the imprudent notions of character that many of us have within and about self-denial in the most extraordinary of situations. It’s a film about the will to power and the will that many people have within to construct their own morality as they go along. In short, it is a masterpiece.

The cinematography here is amazing, too. The camera often sits perched as an observer of a disorganized scene, with each performer acting out different motivations. It is an observer and a colourful reminder of our existence in the world, all at once. Allen directs the film with careful balance. Nothing is out of place and the scenes unfold with memorable perfection. Flowers, colourful palettes and other factors all influence the overall stroke of Allen’s piece.

The performances are all tremendous. Each one resonates with pragmatism and unimpeachable comic timing, especially the prevailing performance of Dianne Wiest. The “don’t speak, don’t speak” gag that runs throughout the film is an immensely hilarious send-up of has-been actresses that still believe in their fiery sensuality. Cusack is good here too, as the Woody Allen archetype. Allen would have appeared in the film himself, as he mostly does, but he elected to provide the character of Shane with a younger edge. It works, as does everything else in this enormously entertaining and provoking comedy. Bullets Over Broadway is a tour de force and one of the best films of 1994.

10/10

The Shawshank Redemption

1994 was a pretty good year for films, what with Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump, and Four Weddings and a Funeral all being nominated for Best Picture from that year. Another one of the greats from ‘94 was, without a doubt, The Shawshank Redemption. This film is ranked at #2 on the IMDB’s Top #250 Films as rated by the users and is ranked at 97% among users over at Rotten Tomatoes. It is certainly a popular film and seems to bring out the best in people that watch it.

The Shawshank Redemption comes to us based on a novella from Stephen King. The screenplay was written by Frank Darabont, who also directed the film. Darabont would continue the prison theme in 1999 and take on another Stephen King work as well with The Green Mile, which I realized I have not seen. The Shawshank Redemption actually didn’t do so well at the box office, but through showings on cable television and through DVD sales and rentals, the film picked up steam and eventually ended up making many people’s favourite films lists.

The Shawshank Redemption stars Morgan Freeman in arguably the best role of his career. He stars as Red, the narrator of this story and well-respected inmate at the Shawshank Prison in the State of Maine. The story spans from 1946 to 1967 and centers around Andy Dufrense, played by Tim Robbins. Dufrense was sent to Shawshank after being accused of killing his wife and her lover. He claims innocence, as does everyone at Shawshank except for Red, and is swiftly introduced to the harsh realities of the cruel prison. Dufrense, through the years, becomes good friends with Red and deals with the many cold realities of the prison. Dufrense also profits and seizes opportunity using his past as an accountant, helping various prison guards and officials with their taxes.

Robbins is great as Dufrense and plays him as a man that simply hit a bump in the road that wound up realigning his entire life. Prison served to reeducate Dufrense and gave him new purpose, sending him off to Mexico when it was all over and giving him a drive that he likely didn’t have before. Robbins doesn’t overact anything and we truly feel the different senses of freedom and imprisonment as brought through his tremendous acting abilities.

Freeman is the real highlight in the film, however. As Red, Freeman delivers a “wise sage” performance of such natural grace and poise that all actors should take lessons from this veteran. Freeman had just come out of another stellar role in Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven and had also recently picked up gobs of accolades for his excellent role in Driving Miss Daisy, so his stock was high and he utilized his opportunity to knock it out of the park. With his body of work, especially his work within The Shawshank Redemption, Morgan Freeman asserts himself as one of the truly great American actors of our time.

One of the most interesting thematic elements explored is that of Andy Dufrense’s overall integrity. In a sea of shady characters, Dufrense (and Red, actually) represent some sort of standard of integrity that appears to be lacking in other areas of the prison. It seems that everyone at Shawshank Prison is corrupt, down to the lowest of the low, and the establishment seems hellbent on crumbling from within. Dufrense’s integrity, his willingness to play ball so as to set up a library for the prisoners and his willingness to teach those that need instruction, really belies a quality of character that becomes the focal point of the film and adds the most humanizing element. It is this integrity and this quality of character, I think, that has helped The Shawshank Redemption rise to mean so much to so many people.

With strong characters and powerful themes, The Shawshank Redemption is truly a remarkably film filled with passion and all of the components of a truly classic character story. It doesn’t push a morality, rather it engages the characters in situations in which they must choose how to act and, further to that, allows the characters to grow within their own paces. The warden and prison guards, more often than not, choose to act with evil intentions whereas the prisoners, all of them “innocent” in some way, choose to act with a sort of moral code and protect one another from the evils within the walls of the prison. Guided by extremely good acting and a powerful script, The Shawshank Redemption is a marvelous film.

9/10