The music becomes Faye’s shield, both from her own mind as well as from the hectic world around her. The blaring music inhibits communication, and both Cop 663 and Faye have to shout over “California Dreamin’” to hear each other. She bobs her head left and right, eyes dazed, comfortably numb from life, passively moving about. The song experts a hypnotic, controlling effect over Faye. In one notable instance, when Cop 663 (played by Tony Leung) arrives at his regular snack stand to order a chef salad, Faye (played by singer Faye Wong) turns the volume up. California Dreamin’ĭuring the second half of Chungking Express, The Mamas & the Papas’ “California Dreamin’” occurs eight times. After all, in 1994 many Hong Kongers saw an expiration date for their homeland: 1997.įurthermore, the lyrics of “Things in Life” reinforce the impermanence of life, stating that “it’s not every day we’re going to be the same way.” It’s a theme that then gets echoed through other dimensions of Chungking Express, like how Brigitte Lin’s female protagonist always wears sunglasses and raincoats together because weather, like life, is unpredictable. Every time the song repeats in the film is another assertion of Hong Kong’s frustration and fear over this future. Here, the crescendo and fade of “Things in Life” comments on the inevitable expiration of all things. The physical date printed on the can renders time as tangible, reflecting Hong Kong’s desire and desperation to contain the future, to control its uncontrollability. For a moment, the scene descends into chaos, before settling onto a can’s expiration date: May 1, 1994.

Then, when the drug boss squats down to play with kittens, our female protagonist (played by Brigitte Lin) fires several shots at his back. The volume continues to increase, and “Things in Life” starts straddling the boundary between diegetic and non-diegetic sound.

While he exits, the song rises in volume, indicating that, this time, its occurrence is not from his perspective. During the last of these four instances, the camera follows a white drug boss as he leaves a bar. Dennis Brown’s “Things in Life” appears four times in Chungking Express‘ first 40 minutes.

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