Women have been continuously portrayed as emotional, passive creatures, yearning for a man’s validation, and are often outcasted for their lack of power. These stereotypes are not only embedded in our consciousness but also present in international cinema. What would it look like if these gender roles were swapped, and even highly saturated? Wong Kar Wai’s 1994 Chungking Express is an exceptional film featuring paralleled stories of two hopeless romantic cops in Hong Kong, who invested in finding love. Stifled by their ex-lovers, they develop a desperate yearning for a new love interest. The film unfolds with the story of Cop 223, who is unaware he falls in love with a murderer, a drug-smuggler woman. She shows little to no interest in him, only heightening his desire for her. In parallel, the second story features Cop 663, who once again fantasizes over his ex- flight-attendant lover, and comes across a waitress, Faye, at a take-out food stand, who later reveals her bizarre psychology. Faye and the drug-smuggler woman, among the female characters in this film, unorthodox calls break stereotypical feminine norms of innocence and fragility. They show psychopathic behavior, aggression, stalking, and manipulation throughout their relationship with these cops, provoking masculine energy, despite being in a heavily patriarchal society. This juxtaposition with the cops, who are unexpectedly naive, emotional, and desperate creates an entertaining layer to these traditional character roles.
Wong Kar Wai’s manipulation of gender characteristics serves as a peculiar yet important element in challenging stereotypes. Through this notion, he reveals how dominance and independence are noble qualities in attracting others, reflected through the female’s behaviors. He also channels how desperation- when trying to find love- leads one to find themselves in deceiving and toxic circumstances.
The first storyline shows several scenes of the drug smuggler woman involved with criminal activity- shouting orders at Indian smugglers, dealing drugs, and even murdering people. It is important to note she is not discriminated against for being a woman, instead, she is feared and receives obedience from her male counterparts. Her highly masculine, aggressive, and ruthless demeanor serves as a strong contrast to her feminine external appearance. The extravagant hairdo with her makeup, red lips and sunglasses create an ultra-feminine mask, to the point where one cannot even make out her actual appearance. Her facade serves a double purpose of maximizing her sex appeal to men and concealing her identity. On the contrary, Cop 223 who sees her at the bar is in awe of her mysteriousness. He tells himself, “I promise myself I’ll fall in love with the first woman who walks in here” (27:19-27:22). Indeed he kept his promise as he sat beside her, asking her the same question over again in different languages, ignorant to the fact that she was blatantly ignoring him, showing his naivety. Facing away, she begins smoking a cigarette and does not make eye contact with him. He leans close to her, trailing on meaningless and emotional-love tangents, oblivious of her lack of interest. This scene serves as the epitome of their relationships- the drug-smuggler woman magnetizes obedience and submission around her male counterparts, even those romantically invested in her. Furthermore, for Cop 663, his desperation overcasts his professional sensitivity. Because he is so fixated on finding a new woman, he cannot grasp the fact that the drug-smuggler woman is uninterested. One cannot be emotionally unstable and attract level-headed, decent individuals, clearly reflected in the drug-smuggler's ruthless behavior.
This notion of female dominance and independence is further reflected when Faye is first introduced at the beginning of the second storyline. The audience sees her as heavily occupied with her work tasks in the restaurant while blasting “California Dreamin'’” over and over again. The song's loudness and repetition reflects her lack of regard to talking to customers and her contentment of being alone. When Cop 663 enters the restaurant, allured by her mysteriousness, trying to start a conversation with her, she does not turn the music down. Instead, she uses it as an excuse to not talk to him. “The louder the better,” She says, “Stops me from thinking” (42:25-42:28). This only makes the cop more curious about her. Faye’s initial cool, collected, demeanor was the most successful in attracting Cop 663. She is highly invested in herself and her work, exhibiting a more aloof-masculine approach than the drug-smuggler woman's aggressive-masculine approach. It is when she turns down the music, where she “puts her guard down”, so to speak, and allows herself to be open to others. However, later in the film, she has an intense character switch. She develops a psychopathic obsession with the cop, stalking him, and raiding his apartment, making small changes in his life that he doesn’t notice. At this point, he does not seem to have much regard for her, highlighting how desperation is unsuccessful in attracting others. This notion is reversed at the end of the film when Cop 223 takes her position at the restaurant after she quit. Mirroring her, he blasts “California Dreamin’”, and refuses to turn it off when Faye tries to talk to him, demonstrating his contentment and independence without her. This scene holds profound symbolism on the serenity of being alone and independent, without the need for others’ attention.
While the audience observes the unsetting and abnormal nature of the female characters in Chungking Express, there is certainly more than meets the eye. Wong Kar Wai’s intentional manipulation of the feminine vs masculine nature not only brings a new light into gender energy but explores how this impacts the works of attraction. Through this, we learn that independence and contentment not only attract potential love interests over those desperately seeking; but these qualities also go beyond in all aspects of our lives. Sometimes, we must sit back and focus on ourselves to yield positive energy our way. This certainly cannot be attained with unsolicitedly bringing a bag of goldfish to your lovers’ apartment– but rather, blasting “California Dreamin’” over them talking may do the trick.
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