FILM JOURNAL 04: Chungking Express (1994) - Narrative, Narrator, Narration

Character Analysis 

Protagonists, Antagonists, Conflicts, Resolution, Flat vs Round Character

The protagonists in Chungking Express are Cop 223 (He Qiwu), Woman in the blonde wig, Cop 663, and Faye. All of the four prime characters are protagonists because they all insisted to pursue their goals throughout the cinematic duration of their stories.

Cop 223 decided to wait for his girlfriend to return the call until May 1, which is his birthday. He will move on if May did not call him back by May 1. His obstacle and conflict is being too attached to May and cannot face the truth that she has already broken up with him. So, the antagonist for him is himself. And during this emotional hard time, he met a woman, the Woman in the blonde wig, and found himself fond of this woman the first time they met. To resolve his conflicts, he allows himself repeatedly buy the pineapple cans everyday, which has the same expiration date of May 1 and then he will start a new life by that time. He is a flat character because he repeatedly do the same thing such as make phone calls at the same time at the same place and can eat the same food for one month.

The woman in the blonde wig wants to find the man, the antagonist, who destroy her undercover drug plans and kill him. Her conflicts was whether to continue the dangerous work or establish a stable family life as those Indian families. To resolve this conflicts, she finally found the man and killed him, and on the other hand, she found Cop 223 was a good guy and sent him a birthday message on his birthday to end the first story. She is a round character because even she accepts a tough work and can kill someone calmly, she is kind to a girl and the Indian families who worked for her, and also able to send a warm birthday message to a Cop 223.

Cop 663 in the second story is also a protagonist because his goal was to forget his ex-girlfriend and move on. The antagonist for him is also himself because he cannot stop thinking about his ex-girlfriend. To resolve his conflicts, he pretended that the towels are crying but not him, and keep talking to the things in the house to make himself feel better. This helped him feel released a bit because when he comforting the things in the house, he is comforting himself. He is a round character because he accepts Faye and when the managers suggest him to eat something else, he accepted it.

Faye is also one of the protagonists because she has a goal and doing it repeatedly throughout the story, that is to love, stay close to Cop 663, and treat him well. She repeatedly went to his house secretly to clean the house and stuff for him and even replace his things so that he can forget the passed relationship eventually. Her conflict will be having low self-esteem by comparing herself with Cop 663's ex-girlfriend who is a flight attendant. So, her antagonist is also herself as other protagonists. In order to resolve the conflict and obstacles, she left for one year and worked as a flight attendant. So, she is a round character.

Analysis of Cinematic Time

Story duration, Plot duration, Real time duration

In the first story with Cop 223 and the woman in the blonde wig, the story duration was one month from fool's day on April 1 to Cop 223's birthday on May 1. The plot duration included the following scenes and sequences. For example, how they first met with a slow-motion shot so that viewers can better memorize the scene. The repeated scene showing Cop 223 calling May and talking to the manager of Midnight Express. How the woman in the blonde wig working. Things happened in the last two days before May 1 especially putting longer time on the scene when they met at a bar and afterwards. These scenes and sequences belong to plot duration.

In the second story, the story duration is over a year, starting from the first time Cop 663 met Faye and ending on the day Faye returned to Midnight Express after one year. The plot duration in the second story was focus on the first few weeks' interaction between Cop 663 and Faye, and the afternoon workday at Cop 663's home. When Cop 663 first time asked Faye for a date, the plot duration for this period ends and the plot follows is the date after a year and they met again at the same place.

Point of view and voice-over narration

First-Person vs Third-Person Narration, Restricted vs Omniscient Narration

Both of Cop 223 and Cop 663 are using the restricted first person voice-over narration. For example, when Cop 223 seemed very sad looking at the pineapple can on his hand, his mouth was closed that we did not see him talking, but his voice was heard on the screen that he is telling us what he was thinking when he was looking at the can on his hand. When Cop 663 watching the old towel hanging with water droplets running down, he was watching at the towel without saying anything, but his voice was heard from the screen that he said the towel was sad and crying. Both characters are first person voice-over narrator because it was their own voice telling us what was in their minds at that time. Both are restricted narration because the narrators did not tell everything clearly so that the viewers have to base on the characters' perspective and point of view and anticipate what does it mean "the towel is sad and crying". Omniscient narration knows clearly what the characters think and tells the viewers. So, it should be restricted narration for both cops.

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