(Wong Kar Wai, 1994, Hong Kong, 102 minutes) 

Credited as the film that gave Wong Kar Wai his international break, 1994’s Chungking Express was made in about three months while Wong and the gang were on a recess from the lengthy production of Ashes of Time. Shot “CNN-style” (meaning: with no permits) by Andrew Lau (later the director of the Infernal Affairs trilogy) and Christopher Doyle, Chungking Express is broken into two parts. The first is set in and around the Chungking Mansions in Tsimshatsui and follows Japanese/Taiwanese heartthrob Takeshi Kaneshiro’s lovelorn Cop 223 and Brigitte Lin’s icy, blonde-wigged drug runner. The second story is set in Central, in and around Lan Kwai Fong and the Mid-levels, and follows Tony Leung’s lovelorn Cop 663 and new employee May (Cantopop superstar Faye Wong, who also contributes to the soundtrack) at his favorite haunt, the Midnight Express. You’ll never look at canned pineapple or hear “California Dreamin’” the same way again. 

In Cantonese with English subtitles.