How far does Chungking Express differ from the other urban stories you have studied for this topic ?

How far does Chungking Express differ from the other urban stories you have studied for this topic ?

Chungking Express (1994) differs from the other films I have studied because the narrative focuses more on the theme of loneliness and being unable to sustain a relationship. This is shown through the scene where cop 663 is giving feelings to inanimate objects, through the mise en scene the audience can see that he is making a soap, polar bear teddy and a dish cloth feelings which he is feeling because his girlfriend left him, he can't not deal with the change. 'I told you not to cry. When will you stop crying? one must be strong and tough.' This is because of how Hong Kong was changing at this time because it was coming towards the end of them being an independent state, this happened in 1997. This is similar to La Haine (1995) in the scene where the three boys Vinz, Hubert and Said are at an art exhibit and they cannot talk to the women there, they resort back to violence and vulgar language. But what is similar with City of God (2002) is being able to start a relationship but it either breaks or there is something in the way this is seen through Shaggy and Bernice. Shaggy is killed by cops when trying to escape. Also Benny and Angelica who want to live together away from the Favelas, Benny is also killed by someone which starts a gang war.

Chungking Express also differs from the other films in the sense that the roles of the characters the the power they have is reversed. The women have more power and are able to move on with their lives. Also in the second story the women has a name 'Faye' where the men have a number which everyone gets wrong. This power reversal is seen in the montage sequence when Faye is in cop 663's apartment and she is slowly changing things to change him. This is effective because what is happening in Hong Kong at the time. This role is played a little in City of God (2002) in Bernice's house where she has more power and through the mise en scene the audience can see that the house is tidy and clean but the power that Bernice once had is soon lost to the world they live in. The women in La Haine (1995) are seen as domestic, motherly figures and they are rarely shown in the film. The women in Princesas (2005) think they have all the power because they say when, where and how much but the women are all willing to change to suit the men's needs to get more money. This is shown through Caye's character who is saving up to get a boob job and she also changes her hair to get more men.