Wong Kar-Wai's light, funny, romantic, and whimsical double bill "Chungking Express" and "Fallen Angels" are two of the best movies I have ever seen. They're tied for 80th place on my all-time list, tied for 2nd place out of my favorite Wong Kar-Wai films, tied for 5th place on my best films from the 90s list, and each first place for the years 1994 and 1995, respectively. The two films are two films, but they were initially conceived as one larger film. Hence, I like to treat them as one film, and I often watch them back-to-back in a single night (or try to). Structurally and stylistically they are very similar. Each tells two stories of love, and each has a very loose, experimental, and fast-paced style that is similar but different to Wong Kar-Wai's other films like "In the Mood for Love," "Days of Being Wild," "2046," and "Happy Together." Those films are equally experimental in style (they all have Wong's signature choppy slow-motion, for example), but they are slower paced and the camera movement is more mechanical than fluid. In "Chungking Express" and "Fallen Angels" Christopher Doyle, one of the greatest cinematographers of all-time, seems to wander the streets of Hong Kong, dancing and twirling through the crowds upon crowds of people until he settles on the core characters.
The characters in "Chungking" are, for the most part, people that work respectable jobs during the day. Both stories in "Chungking" center on two lovesick policemen. The first is played by Takeshi Kaneshiro (who also plays a character in "Angels;" more on that below). Kaneshiro's cop is trying to get over his ex, May, and finds himself falling for a paranoid (she wears glasses and a rain coat, you know, because just in case...) drug-smuggler (Brigitte Lin) instead. The other cop is played by the fantastic Tony Leung. Leung's cop is also trying to get over a relationship with a flight attendant (Valerie Chow) that he seduced ("There's always one you want to seduce"), but finds himself happily distracted by a quirky Midnight Express worker (Faye Wong) instead. The two stories really only intersect when one transitions to the other, but occasionally the diligent viewer can find instances when the second set of characters inhabits the world of the first set (see the picture with Faye Wong and Brigitte Lin, for an instance). The film is interesting in this sense. All characters are intensely lonely individuals even though they are surrounded by a sea of others, constantly crossing paths with all of them. The eye-poppingly lit and lensed cityscape is all that they share with each other.
I must say that I strongly disagree with two well-known critics on the film. Ebert said that "Chungking" was a cerebral experience rather than a film about life. Oh how I disagree. Wong Kar-Wai is one of the most visceral film-makers in my opinion. I am literally physically affected by his images and the aspects of real-life he captures. He's not at all like, say, Godard. The film is emotionally and aesthetically superb, and viewers should feel free to leave their thinking caps at the door. It's an emotionally captivating story of missed chances and love. Though James Berardinelli gave the film a positive review, he called it confusing and claimed it demanded subsequent viewings. I disagree here as well, though I support many, many viewings. Berardinelli has always struck me as the kind of critic that favors very cookie-cutter mainstream kinds of films. For those who are open to something new and ready to absorb, "Chungking" will not be confusing. Wong Kar-Wai provides enough of a plot for those who need it and enough style for those who want it. It is one of those films, I think, that mainstream audiences and film buffs can agree on insofar as they're willing to pay attention.
The characters in "Angels" work at night. Their jobs are not respected by societal norms. The first main character is a hit man played by Leon Lai. He's in love with his exotic "partner" (Michelle Reis) in crime though the two rarely directly interact. When he quits his job he arranges a meeting with her. However, he skips the meeting and instead meets Blondie (Karen Mok), a crazy prostitute, at McDonald's. The other main character is a mute who takes over peoples' businesses after-hours (toward the end of this story he can even be seen taking over the Midnight Express). He's played by Takeshi Kaneshiro. He and his father live in the same apartment building as Michelle Reis's character. He keeps running into a woman named Charlie (Charlie Young) during his "night shifts." Every night he sees her she tells him the same sob story and cries on his shoulder. Her ex-boyfriend Johnny left her for Blondie. Again, the film's central theme is being surrounded by missed opportunities to meet people and yet being alienated and isolated from such people.
"Angels" is perhaps even more cinematographically (and otherwise) experimental than its counterpart. It's constantly bathed in neon lights (not unlike Nicolas Winding Refn films), and the intro to the hit man is particularly memorable as it is scored to bits and pieces of a song that repeats "'Cause I'm Cool." And he is. It's hard not to think so what with all of the interesting low camera angles, wide-angle lenses, and slo-mo that Wong Kar-Wai and Christopher Doyle use to create their impressionistic painting of the seedy underbelly of Hong Kong. Despite the fact that all of the characters are lonely and sad, Wong Kar-Wai's penchant for off-the-wall coincidences and funny little vignettes within vignettes keeps the film at a bittersweet rather than full-blown depressing level. Though his review was overall positive, Roger Ebert seemed to think that the film was not for the average film-goer. And I again, strongly doubt this. I think the reason most people haven't seen it is largely because we in the states are underexposed to foreign films or films that try something new. And again, I must say this is the kind of art house film that respects mainstream and highbrow sensibilities equally. All in all, "Chungking Express" and "Fallen Angels" are, together, one big romance-inducing film that is at once gorgeous and hip, yet never too cute.
At the time of this review, "Fallen Angels" is on Netflix Instant!
The characters in "Angels" work at night. Their jobs are not respected by societal norms. The first main character is a hit man played by Leon Lai. He's in love with his exotic "partner" (Michelle Reis) in crime though the two rarely directly interact. When he quits his job he arranges a meeting with her. However, he skips the meeting and instead meets Blondie (Karen Mok), a crazy prostitute, at McDonald's. The other main character is a mute who takes over peoples' businesses after-hours (toward the end of this story he can even be seen taking over the Midnight Express). He's played by Takeshi Kaneshiro. He and his father live in the same apartment building as Michelle Reis's character. He keeps running into a woman named Charlie (Charlie Young) during his "night shifts." Every night he sees her she tells him the same sob story and cries on his shoulder. Her ex-boyfriend Johnny left her for Blondie. Again, the film's central theme is being surrounded by missed opportunities to meet people and yet being alienated and isolated from such people. 
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