Viewing notes

• Opening scene...
• Begins in medias res 

  Disjointed feeling, fragmented narrative structure – expressionistic 
• Black and white, canted angle, wide angle lens, harsh lights/shadows, Michelle smoking in foreground on the right-hand side, Wong background on the left-hand side 
• Black and white 


  Unconventional, experimental, establishes theme of alienation and lack of warmth as characters try to find warmth in others
• Canted angle, wide lens (Doyle – cinematographer, previous collaborator)

  Postmodern hyperreality, disjointed effect -alienation, characters feel “close, but far”
• Cigarette prop 


  WKW says he uses the prop of cigarettes because they allow for a natural pause/silence in film and contribute to hazy and transient/ fleeting feel 
• “Are we still partners?” Michelle 

  The Killer and The Partner’s relationship is defined by fragmentation – almost meeting, not quite understanding one another but grasping to  
• First time sat together 

  Sense of alienation/isolating despite being together (emphasised with wide angle lens)
• Performance – Michelle shaking holding cigarette 

  We don’t know why - Wong Kar-Wai makes films to raise questions, not answer them, actors improvise and build from what they think their characters would do
• Smash cut to title – bright colours 

  Disjointed editing and narrative 
• Wong’s leitmotif ‘Karma coma’ - Massive Attack 


  Western influence on HK Second Wave directors, sonically haunting 
• Tracking shot LS Michelle walking around, harsh fluorescent artificial subway lighting 

  Surreal as nobody is there -isolated/lonely, urban nocturnal landscape -urban alienation which relates to the state of living in HK felt at the time 
• Contradictions in visual technique (long take at beginning/ jump cuts) 

  Postmodern feature 
• Elliptical editing, jump cuts, camera moves less than 30 degrees, breaks 150-degree rule 


  French New Wave, temporal distortion – experimental, postmodern 
• Pleonastic amplified diegetic sound of heels and mechanical noises 

  Emphasises lack of soundtrack – isolation, urban alienation 
• Apartment: use of neon lighting, harsh contrast between lights and shadows 


  Neo-noir esque, neon -auteur signature feature, MTV aesthetic and hyperreality, city aesthetic
• Female costuming – provocative dress 


  Feels displaced for a cleaning job -WKW likes to focus his stories on the outcasts, emphasizes her longing and obsession with The Killer – auteur feature of focusing films on the heartbroken
• CU canted angle of Michelle turning clock back in time


  Auteur feature of the appearance of clocks - “Wong’s films are about the tyranny of never being able to forget”
• Scene almost repeated with Wong and his leitmotif 

  Structural parallel draws comparison between the two - The Killer and The Partner’s relationship is defined by fragmentation, two lonely characters trying to find comfort in each other 
• Tracking shot of The Killer completely in silhouette, chiaroscuro inspired lighting - shadows/orange windows glow 

  Neo-noir
• Diegetic ambient sound of police sirens 

  Neo-noir, modern urban life as hell
• City insert shots using canted angle, neon lighting, analogue clock 


  Theme of time/nostalgia, city aesthetic 
• Michelle’s apartment (Chunking Mansions), Ho and his father make appearance 

  Overlapping narratives (triptych narrative -no central protagonist) –-> auteur feature, self-reflexive reference to Chungking express
• First kill...
• Intra-diegetic VO narration from The Hitman “Who is dying, when and where has long been decided”

  Proleptic to his death, narrative constructed around characters, auteur trademark “people are far more likely to talk to themselves”
• Rhythmic diegetic sound of train acts as sound bridge to Wong’s leitmotif ‘Cos I'm cool’ 


  Feeds into MTV aesthetic, train enhances isolating nature of urbanity, self-reflexive as affirms coolness of hitman, western influence on New Wave directors 
• Slo-motion and step printing (editor – Chang, prev collaborator known for attention to detail) as he traverses the Hong Kong city streets 


  Reflects the alienating space and neo noir genre codes, auteur visual feature 
• CU on face 


  Alignment with character 
• Ground level shots showing his footsteps are filmed in a woozy aesthetic coupled with the green and yellowish neon tones (cinematographer - Doyle, previous collaborator) 


  Auteur features, urban city aesthetic – highlights his alienation 
• This scene makes few deliberate political or social points on surface level, but on a deeper level, the mood created can be linked to the status of HK at the time 

  For example the transient, dislocated status of main protagonist reflects the indistinct space of HK as in-between the UK and China after the handover in 1848
• Jump cuts are utilised as he walks through the corridor (editor – Chang) 


  Reminiscent of French new wave editing, postmodern manipulation of time and space, contrasts languid pace of previous shots
• Blood spatters the camera 

  Postmodern, self-reflexive as presence of camera is made known, neo-noir and cult film conventions of violence 
• Stylistic violence creates ‘cool’ MTV aesthetic 
• Low angle MS – 2 guns 


  Clear links to action/gangster codes and conventions - creating a genre hybrid - “I like playing with genres, it’s like a game for us, a joke,” neo-noir, and cult film conventions of violence
• He leaves the venue, gets on a bus, and meets old school friend 

  Bathos created
• Friend gives him business card

  Highlights transactional nature of modern relationships and how characters are alienated as a result 
• Closing scene...
• Wide angle of Michelle, surreal green neon lighting 


  Auteur feature, distort and enhance sense of separation from audience “close but far”
• Paired with intra-diegetic VO narration “this winter seems to be much longer than usual…I am still very cold” 


  FA focuses on the loners, drifters, and outcasts – each character is seeking warmth from another
• Prop – cigarette 


  Solitary activity – highlights loneliness, WKW says he uses the prop of cigarettes because they allow for a natural pause/silence in film and contribute to hazy and transient/ fleeting feel