On July 14, 1994, "Chungking Express" was released in Hong Kong, exactly 30 years ago. Today let’s talk about the behind-the-scenes story of this movie.
In 1993, after filming "", Wong Kar-wai returned to Hong Kong. After more than a year of filming a costume film, it was long and hard. At that time, he hoped to start shooting a fashion film to change his mood, so he started filming a film about urban men and women that takes place in Hong Kong.
On the launch day, the director attended with actors Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung , Faye Wong , and Liu Qingyun. The new film is titled "The Man in the Burning House in Mong Kok" and tells the story of four men and women. A man has several women at the same time, and a woman has several women at the same time. Several men, four people are related to each other.
Unfortunately, "The Man in the Burning Mansion" eventually became one of Wong Kar-Wai's many films that ended without success. The male actors all ran away, and Faye Wong and Brigitte Lin who remained were cast in "Chungking Express" instead, with Tony Leung , Takeshi Kaneshiro cooperation.
The opening day of "The Man in the Burning Mansion"
At the beginning of preparations for the filming of "Chungking Express", in order to attract investment, Wong Kar-wai introduced the film to investors and said that this film has Brigitte Lin and Takeshi Kaneshiro, it is a police film, and it also has action. Lenses, because at that time Hong Kong films were sold to overseas markets and it was impossible to do without action. This is why Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro are both policemen in the movie.
"Chungking Express" is set in Chungking Mansions, Hong Kong. Wong Kar-wai grew up in this area (Tsim Sha Tsui) since he was a child. In the 1950s, Chungking Mansions used to be very good apartments. Many celebrities lived there, and the best nightclub in Hong Kong was in its basement.
But later it gradually became a place for tourists and Indians to rent. There were many gambling stalls and prostitutes. Wong Kar-wai’s father prohibited him from entering and leaving this place. For a child, Chungking Mansions became a mysterious forbidden place, waiting for him. exploration.
Before deciding to shoot "Chungking Express", no movie had been shot in this building. Because it was improperly wired in an illegal hotel, there would be a large number of casualties in the event of a fire, so few people were allowed to shoot there. license.
Wong Kar-wai’s chosen shooting method is candid photography.
A month before the shooting started, he sent an assistant to pretend to be a tourist and drew the internal structure, routes and exit locations of Chungking Mansions for use during the shooting.
Most of the scenes of action in the building were completed by Brigitte Lin. When the day of filming actually started, the crew entered a state of preparation. Brigitte Lin would quickly rush in after the director gave the order, followed by the photographer and accompanying protection personnel. Lightning Generally complete one shot.
After too many times, the building management, tired of playing cat and mouse, chose to call the police. The crew got in the car and left. After the police retreated, they continued to come back and secretly film.
During the filming of the battle of wits between the building security guard and the crew, photographer Du Kefeng also suffered a lot of bruises on his body.
As for the later filming of " Fallen Angel " here, Chungking Mansions had already become famous because of "Chungking Express", and the Wong Kar-wai crew at that time also experienced VIP treatment that was completely different from this time. But that’s all for another day.
Brigitte Lin had already experienced Wong Kar-wai's casual style in her previous movie "Ashes of Time". She tried to ask Wong Kar-wai to get the script, In the end he finally gave it to him, but explained: "I won't do this. Filmed."
Many years later, Brigitte Lin also admitted: "Ashes of Time" still knew what it was about, but "Chungking Express" really didn't know what Wong Kar-Wai was filming.
Another story of the movie is Tony Leung and Faye Wong.
In the previous story of Brigitte Lin and Takeshi Kaneshiro, Du Kefeng, who was beaten and injured by security guards for filming, once again made a major contribution.
At that time, Du Kefeng's home was just next to the escalator in Central. This made the little clever Wong Kar-wai very happy. He said to Du Kefeng very naturally and straightforwardly: "Your apartment is the best place to shoot this story! 》 So Du Kefeng’s home was expropriated.
Not only that, he also flooded his house with water to express the artistic conception of "the house is crying".
Du Kefeng was stunned when he saw that his house was flooded, but he quickly accepted the tragic fact and completed the work dutifully at his home.
In this house, Tony Leung will stage a series of "neurotic" dramas in which he talks to objects, and Faye Wong will also wear dishwashing gloves to do housework. This also makes Du Kefeng's home become a A place of pilgrimage for movie fans.
Compared with the many collaborations with Tony Leung, Faye Wong met Wong Kar-wai for the first time.
At the beginning of filming, Faye Wong was very nervous, especially when shooting night scenes in Central. In addition to the crew, there would be dozens or even hundreds of passers-by watching. This was a challenge for Faye Wong, who did not have much acting experience.
In order to help Faye Wong relax, Wong Kar Wai chose to play the song directly in the fast food restaurant and let Faye Wong perform naturally according to the rhythm of the music. Normally for movies, the BGM is added in post-production, but when Faye Wong was filming, the music was always played and never stopped.
Facts have proved that Wong Kar-Wai is Faye Wong’s best talent in the film career. He has unleashed the special and elfin side of Faye Wong’s nature. He even feels that Faye Wong has influenced the acting style of his opponent Tony Leung Chiu-wai: " I think "Chongqing" After "The Jungle", Tony Leung's acting was completely different from before.
The two stories of "Chungking Express" were filmed, which also set a record for Wong Kar-wai's shortest time to complete a movie, taking only six weeks. There was originally a third story, but due to the length of time, it was not included in "Chungking Express" and became the later "Fallen Angels".
For Wong Kar-wai, "Chungking Express" is not a simple story of lovelorn. The work shot in this film where he grew up represents the day and night of Hong Kong in his heart. This movie is about Hong Kong. This is my love letter to Hong Kong.
