{"id":722,"date":"2023-11-05T17:26:05","date_gmt":"2023-11-05T22:26:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/wrt118st-fa23\/?p=722"},"modified":"2023-11-05T17:26:05","modified_gmt":"2023-11-05T22:26:05","slug":"rise-of-style-chungking-express-love-and-susan-sontag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/wrt118st-fa23\/rise-of-style-chungking-express-love-and-susan-sontag\/","title":{"rendered":"Rise of Style: Chungking Express, Love, and Susan Sontag"},"content":{"rendered":"

Released in 1994, <\/span>Chungking Express <\/span><\/i>is considered a pivotal piece in the repertoire of director Wong Kar-Wai and of \u201890s cinema as a whole. Following the lives of three main characters\u2013 He Qiwu, Faye, and Cop 663\u2013 against the backdrop of bustling Hong Kong, the enigmatic film pieces together the storyline of two similar yet distinct tales of heartbreak and healing. Built with unconventional craftsmanship dotted with hypnotizing aesthetics, symbolism, and a non-linear narrative, <\/span>Chungking Express<\/span><\/i> paved the way for Hong Kong cinema to enter the international spotlight. Ultimately, in films like <\/span>Chungking Express<\/span><\/i>, Sontag\u2019s arguments in \u201cAgainst Interpretation\u201d can be observed where the culmination of the film\u2019s varied forms to express a single concept of love and anti-mimetic qualities suggest that art\u2019s true value lies in its form rather than pure content. This alignment is nuanced though, as the meta-insertion of other artworks in <\/span>Chungking Express<\/span><\/i> concurrently challenges Sontag\u2019s principles and displays the power of symbolism.<\/span><\/p>\n

Firstly, <\/span>Chungking Express\u2019<\/span><\/i> ability to depict three mixed aspects of love with the same overarching subject and storyline proves that content is an inadequate measurement of the work\u2019s value. Instead, the film relies more heavily on its unique forms to leave a lasting impression on its audience and avoid the discontentment of interpretation. Towards the end of her essay, Sontag argues that \u201ccinema, unlike the novel, possesses a vocabulary of forms\u2014the explicit, complex, and discussable technology of camera movements, cutting, and composition of the frame that goes into the making of a film\u201d (8). Undeniably, it is this \u201cvocabulary of forms\u201d that make the unique visuals of <\/span>Chungking Express<\/span><\/i> so captivating. In fact, Wong Kar-Wai tells much of the film\u2019s content through the perspectives of the characters, strategically using tools like first-person narration and time shifts to set up individualized lenses. This idea is best visualized by the differences between the first and second love stories before they converge into healing. While He Qiwu\u2019s breakup is presented through wistful anecdotes of their time together and regretful desires, the audience never gets to see either his memories or the May he continues to dream of. It is only in the flashing memories and given visuals of Cop 663\u2019s ex-lover can the viewers directly experience real love between two individuals. Revisiting Sontag\u2019s essay, the writer similarly states that \u201cin good films, there is always a directness that entirely frees us from the itch to interpret\u201d (8). By providing his audience with the visual imagery of Cop 663\u2019s ex-lover, Wong Kar-Wai allows the audience to \u201cdirect[ly]\u201d feel and understand the fleeting love they sustained rather than giving leeway for us to speculate that He Qiwu\u2019s love was only one-sided in the absence of May\u2019s image. In essence, Wong Kar-Wai draws in his viewers through form-established perspectives, revealing the three-pronged facets hidden beneath the carpet of content: unrequited, fleeting, and rediscovered love. While content alone may divulge the theme of love, it is only with form that these dimensions may be molded and solidified free of interpretation\u2019s hold.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, the stylistic inclusion of the song \u201cCalifornia Dreamin\u2019\u201d throughout the film brings Sontag\u2019s argument against mimesis into agreement. Unlike many other films, Wong Kar-Wai often chooses to play the song not as an after-effect-added soundtrack but as a piece of audio filmed within the actual scenes, providing a layer of corporeality in regards to its characters. For example, Cop 663 points out how loud the music is and asks how it doesn\u2019t bother Faye at all while she works at the snack stand, displaying the tangibility and realness of the song to the characters. In response, Faye just dances along as she always seems to do each time the song makes an appearance in her scenes: \u201csee[ing], hear[ing], and feel[ing]\u201d the music despite the stark contrast to her reality (Sontag 10). That is, while the lyrics are in a different language and the end destination of California is one far away from her current Hong Kong, Faye\u2019s unlikely ability to identify with the song proves that art\u2019s value is not in mimesis: the reflection of reality. Instead, \u201cCalifornia Dreamin\u2019\u201d and <\/span>Chungking Express<\/span><\/i>\u2019 merits are found in their direct forms that move their audiences and leave lasting impacts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Contrastingly, not all of Sontag\u2019s ideas are fully aligned with <\/span>Chungking Express<\/span><\/i>. Most notably, while Sontag asserts that film is devoid of symbolization, the recurring inclusion of \u201cCalifornia Dreamin\u2019\u201d by the Mamas and Papas demonstrates the potential of symbolism to aid in form\u2019s raw hold on its viewers. After all, from start to finish, the theme song is repeated a total of eight times. Paired with its escapist lyrics and nostalgic yet catchy melody, the audience quickly begins to associate the song with a longing for change. With each commencement, \u201cCalifornia Dreamin\u2019\u201d is then able to generate a visceral reaction within the viewer, establishing itself as a symbol of hopeful beginnings within an otherwise stagnant and melancholic plot. Therefore, while Sontag maintains that\u00a0 \u201cgood films\u2026\u00a0 have [a] liberating antisymbolic quality,\u201d this is evidently not the entire truth (8). Alternatively, the embedding of this secondary artform within <\/span>Chungking Express<\/span><\/i> acts as an extension of the film\u2019s form, allowing form to build up value through symbolic significance rather than \u201cantisymbolic[ism].\u201d\u00a0 Both disproving and approving of Sontag\u2019s belief, the piece within a piece, the lucid appeal to the senses within another, \u201cCalifornia Dreamin\u2019\u201d within <\/span>Chungking Express<\/span><\/i> ultimately becomes a fundamental representation of art and its raw power conveyed through symbolic form.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While Sontag\u2019s generalization of film in \u201cAgainst Interpretation\u201d can not fully apply to the direction of cinema\u2019s development, many of her other assertions published almost thirty years before the release of <\/span>Chungking Express<\/span><\/i> still ring true. With the film\u2019s emphasis on sensory emotions manifested in its striking visuals and other stylistic elements, Wong Kar-Wai skillfully allows his audience to directly feel and experience them without the overbearing fear of intellectuality. At its core, it is this deliberate usage of form that serves as the essence of <\/span>Chungking Express<\/span><\/i>\u2019 captivating effect on its audience and the very source of the film\u2019s enduring success. Now, as the film industry continues to progress into the present day, the lesson of form as cinema\u2019s clearest deliverance of value has only been further solidified. Looking toward <\/span>Chungking Express<\/span><\/i> and the many greats that followed in its footsteps, the rise of style ought to serve as a testament to the profound impact that form and symbolic value hold. After all, art is most potent when its audience can be fully immersed, relishing in the visceral experience it offers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/p>\n

Sontag, Susan. \u201cAgainst Interpretation.\u201d <\/span>Against Interpretation, <\/span><\/i>Picador, 1966, pp. 1-10.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wikipedia. \u201cChungking Express.\u201d <\/span>Wikipedia<\/span><\/i>, https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chungking_Express. Accessed 5 November 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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