I recently read Kiran Desai’s “The Loneliness of Sunny and Sonia” and that book keeps coming back to me. How much art and cinema is based on the emotion of loneliness and how much it’s part of all our lives! However full our lives are, a part of us remains lonely, I think.

I wasn’t feeling too well this weekend. I needed some good food, whatever is permitted for an unwell person and maybe a nice film to lift me up. I hate being sick and in bed. I get nightmares about it. I always want to be well, all day, everyday, and as I grow up, I realize what an unrealistic expectation that is, considering I’ve spent half of last year being unwell.

With a little help and several instructions from me, my husband managed to make khichadi for this patient. He asked me how it was and I gave him a tight hug and said that I love him. He understood, I guess. But full marks for efforts!

I was swapping through MUBI when I came across Chungking Express. I have watched Wong Kar Wai’s “In The Mood for Love” and read somewhere that Chungking Express was his accidental masterpiece. I am not the kind to read up trivia about the Director, his films, the style or whatever it is that cinephiles like reading up about. I like to watch films as they are. Rarely will I watch the trailer or reviews of films that I genuinely want to watch. I like going in without having an idea of the film.

Chungking Express is an anthology with two stories of two police men living in HongKong. They live a life of everyday routine, have both gone through break ups and life is lonely out there in this big city. It’s a matter of chance that they both meet women on one such ordinary night, while working their shifts. One of them falls for a mysterious woman who he happens to meet at a bar. Their brief encounter leads nowhere really and he never finds out about what she’s upto. He never meets her after his short encounter, but the few hours he spends with the woman, ignite hope in him. Abruptly enough, but on a sweet note, the story ends with the protagonist saying something really beautiful about preserving memories in fruit cans with expiry date that lasts for centuries.

The second policeman visits a restaurant every night for his meal and befriends a server at the restaurant. Having recently broken up with his ex girlfriend, he is not really looking for anything but during their meets every night, the server slowly starts to fall in love with the policeman. It’s not so much as love in the beginning as much as its curiosity. She’s curious to know about this policeman, where he lives, what his ex girlfriend was like. By the time the policeman realises that he is equally interested in his server friend, it’s time for her to live her life on her own terms. Somehow, timings don’t match only until they meet each other once again a few months after. The film ends with hope of them being together.

Both stories, although very original, are ordinary. There is nothing fantastical, intense about it. What makes the film special though is the way it’s been shot. Mr. Kar Wai has a vibe. It’s a beautifully aesthetic film. I haven’t visited Hong Kong ever but this films makes me want to do that. Beyond the beautiful skyline of the city, lies this busy, bustling, grounded reality of the city. Both stories really bring out Hongkong as a main character. I love films that show a place so aesthetically, you’d want to visit it. There’s some technical content available online on how this film was shot which I read after watching the film. Big chunks of the film are shot with handheld camera. It feels as though you are moving along with the characters, almost like a voyeur. There are several scenes shot to create this fast forwarded slow motion feeling, I don’t know how best to explain it. You’d have to see it to feel it. It makes you feel the pace of the city and the sad loneliness of its residents, all in one frame.

While looking through reviews and other videos about this film, I came across one YouTube video where Quentin Tarantino goes on to explain why he loves this film. He says that he won’t be able to see California Dreamin’ (The Mamas and the Papas) again without seeing Faye Wong do her little dance on the song at the restaurant while at work. That he doesn’t know anyone who has seen this film and hasn’t had a crush on her and I couldn’t agree more. If you haven’t already heard the many versions of this song, if not the film, watch Faye Wong dance on it once. It’ll play on your mind all week, I guarantee!

-Aishwarya Bedekar