MovieChat Forums > Do lok tin si (1998) Discussion > better than chungking, imo

better than chungking, imo

posted 11 years ago by polysicsarebest
1 reply | jump to latest

CHUNGKING EXPRESS is one of my all time favorite films, with its inventive camera work, charming characters, and wonderful atmosphere. However, its overuse of a song (You know which song) kinda brings the whole thing down, and I find the film doesn't owe itself to endless rewatches.

...Unlike this film which has all the best things about Chungking but adds in the mix eyepopping colors and great action sequences and bizarre, insane, awesome editing.

I love both films but I NEVER hear anyone mention this film being better than Chunging which surprises me a bit.

-
Shuji Terayama forever.

[–] willard86 11 years ago

I wouldn't say FA is better than Chungking. Each has something the other lacks. (And the use of the song in CK didn't bother me.) CK has a more vulnerable feel, a sincerity that FA does not. FA has, in my opinion, the best editing of any Hong Kong film (and hundreds of other films of its decade.) The story, scene to scene, has not one extra image or line of dialog. The narrative, including the subplot with the silent guy and his dad, progresses perfectly. CK doesn't have that, but it has a heartfelt openness throughout the entire movie. It lets the viewer get much closer to the main characters. It has more humor. I love them both and don't think either is better, but I admire FA more for its polished result. The one really open, heartfelt scene (the video of the dad that his son had filmed, shown after the dad dies), becomes all the more powerful because it is the only scene that shows that much vulnerability.

They're both great -- in different ways.