How Chungking Express Reflects the Urban City. Media Essay

How Chungking Express Reflects the Urban City
Student Name
Course
Institution
Date of Submission
Introduction
According to England and Simon (2010), the city can evoke numerous images like crime and pollution to skyscrapers to crowds. The images determine how individuals interact with each other and the geographies in the city. These images can both be positive or negative and affect how individuals view the city. The era of globalization has led to the growth of urban cities. The growth of urban cities is not by accident. Globalization and the advancement of new technologies have attracted individuals to big cities by increasing the returns to urban proximity (Dibazar et al., 2013). It would be easier for computer wizards to cluster in a city rather than disperse. Globalization and technological change have increased the returns for urban dwellers. The information flow that results from the proximity allows individuals to build strong relationships that are essential in attaining one's goals and objectives. Since knowledge moves more quickly at closer quarters, more individuals have moved to the cities to take advantage of the opportunities presented. An examination of an urban city is essential to determine the opportunities present and the challenges the urban dwellers go through. This essay will examine the Chunking Express film as a case study to demonstrate how it reflects the urban city. Chunking Express (1994) is a film directed by Kar Wai Wong. The director collaborates with Australian Cinematographer Christopher Doyle to bring a powerful take on the city. The film was chosen as a case study because it reflects the urban life of the Hong Kong city. The essay will investigate how the characters and scenes display life in the city.
The plot
Chungking Express is inspired by the city of Hong Kong, an especially two district locations; Chungking Mansion in Tsim Sha Tsui and Central. Both locations intrigue Wong mainly because he grew up there. As such, the plot of the film reflects the reality of the modern life of Hong Kong city. The film consists of two different stories which highlight the romances of two police officers. Although the stories do not interconnect, the main characters in the in the second story appear in the second story for brief moments. The first story revolves around Cop 223 who is struggling with a devastating heartbreak, where his girlfriend dumped him on April Fool’s Day. Cop 223 decides to wait one month before moving on with his life. He purchases a can of pineapple which has an expiry date of May 1st each day with the hope that they will reconcile or their love will have expired. In the process, a woman runs for her life when a drug operation fails to succeed. Cop 223 spots the woman and invites her to his hotel room, where she falls asleep and leaves him watching a movie alone. The woman leaves in the morning and manages to kill the drug ringleader who set her up. The women then page Cop 223 and wish him a happy birthday which strengthens him to continue with his life (Wong, 1994).
The second story entails Cop 663 who is also grappling with a break-up from a flight stewardess. Cop 663 frequently visits a snack bar where he meets Faye and falls in love with her. Faye begi...