Homecoming, escape and the possibility of love回家、遠行與愛的可能

Wong Kar Wai's Chungking Express (1994) follows two intertwined stories of heartbroken cops in Hong Kong.

In the first half of the film, recently dumped Cop 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro) explains how "every day I buy a can of pineapple with a sell-by date of 1st May...If May [his ex-girlfriend] hasn't changed her mind by the time I've bought thirty cans, then our love will also expire". Come 1st May, Cop 223 eats all 30 cans of pineapple in a glut of self-pity. To help the pineapple go down he uses soy sauce. To drown my sorrows, I'd like to add Hendo's into the mix.

The second of these stories follows Cop 663 (Tony Leung) and his relationship with Faye (Faye Wong) who works in the takeaway that serves as his late-night haunt. Throughout the second half, The Mama and Papas' California Dreamin' permeates as diegetic sound, blasted from Faye's stereo. Wong Kar Wai references flight and escapism throughout and toward the end of the film Faye leaves Hong Kong to fly off to California and becomes an air stewardess. The Arctic Monkeys' song Fake Tales of San Francisco can be seen as a rebuke laden with Sheffield humour: “He talks of San Francisco, he's from Hunter's Bar…You're not from New York City, you're from Rotherham”.

Ultimately, the film ends with a homecoming back to Hong Kong and our two main characters admitting their love for each other. Walking past the station I spotted two people meeting up as the graffitied expression of “I Love You WILL U MARRY ME” hung over them from Park Hill Estate. As the city's main transit hub, Sheffield Station is made into a site for homecoming, escape with the potential for love. It's the same magic Wong Kar Wai captures in Hong Kong.