Double Agents, Cameos, and the Poor Man's Orchestra: Music and Place in Chungking Express

Abstract

Flaunting virtuoso camera work, proneness to endless punning, and unabashed exploitation of their leads’ star power, Wong Kar-wai's films are deeply indebted to the values and the practices that have gelled in and around the most representative genres of the Hong Kong film industry. Chungking Express (1994) warrants a separate, sustained treatment for the complexity of its sonic, as well as visual, imagery, and the significance of the relationship it posits between music and place. Faye Wong's musical persona looms especially large in Chungking Express. Faye the character, as distinct from the singer, has been “inducted” as a major player in the story. The cameo remains in place, nonetheless, as an operative principle as the punning between the recognizable star from the world of showbiz and humble, sentimental character she plays in Chungking Express is exploited to the fullest extent.