The first of chungking express twin stories involves a countdown. A narrative of the lords wonderful dealings with john marrant a black 1 a new england nun 1 a pale view of hills 4 a passage to india 12 a philosophical enquiry into the origin of our ideas of the sublime and beautiful 3 a prayer for owen meany 7 a psalm of life 1 a queer mother for the nation 1 a raisin in the sun 30. The first section provides an overview of narrative analysis and its use in social research. Narrative is a pervasive form of communication in the social world.
Pdf wkw the cinema of wong kar wai download full pdf. Chungking express utilizes the widespread images of crime, love and routine to comment upon the deeper purpose of existence and fear of running out of time. Chungking express 1994 was on its release an intoxicating experience with its moody visuals, fastpaced editing, cheerful pop songs, and charming if sometimes a little too ingratiating voiceover, but i could never quite rid myself of the feeling that underneath it all there was something a little hollow about it, and about the followup. But more broadly, the films narrative treats time in an impressionistic, slippery. Research cinema history pdf gunning, theory and history. This is also a process through which researchers understand the complexities of. Watch the above excerpt for an introduction to wong.
As nations and governments construct preferred narratives about history, so do social. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of chungking express by wong karwai. In her liner notes for the criterion collection dvd and bluray release of the film, amy taubin calls chungking express a turning point in wongs career, pointing to this moment as a shift in direction thats actually signaled within the film, when the desultory underworldrevenge narrative fades away and is replaced by a love story. Brief analysis of the story structure in chungking express. He cried not because the movie was sad, he said, but because im just so happy to love a movie this much. Narrative analysis in the human sciences refers to a family of approaches to diverse kinds of texts, which have in common a storied form. Directors influenced by wong include quentin tarantino, sofia coppola, tsui hark and barry jenkins. The cinema of wong kar wai is important 20th century cinema in 90s hong kong society, which was in a postindustrial and postcolonial situation. How wong karwai turned 22 seconds into an eternity the. The two central male characters are policemen who have recently split up with their longterm girlfriends, and now find themselves alone in.
Despite the similarities between the films two narratives, chungking. Wong kar wai originally planned to have three stories, but wisely expanded the second and more compelling story of chungking express. Narrative researchers point out that much attention has been given to the various issues of. It is a loose sequel to wongs films days of being wild 1990 and in the mood for love 2000. Stories provide an accessible way to understand the social context of conflict resolution and peacemaking processes. In doing so, we explore how narrative analysis enables us to explore the socially constructed nature of the research process and the role stories play in the construction of identity. The most romantic relationship between hong konger and their.
Following benjamins analysis of baudelaire, i argue that in his chungking express, wong karwai exemplifies an archetypal a vctctorfla. The most romantic relationship between hong konger and. The male protagonist in each is a police officer in hong kong, while the two female protagonists are very different from each other. In chungking express, the narrative comprises two separate stories, told in sequence, about policemen working the beat in the vicinity of the chungking mansions, a famously seedy hong kong locale and gathering place for night people of all ethnicities. Narrative analysis may focus, for example, on text, media text, picture, film, music and an environment, which. Usen, 20 are actually the main focal point in his visual narrative structure. The movie was a crucial influence during hollywoods 19671974 golden age. It got a chapter in planet hong kong and an analysis in film art. The feeling of uncertainty, mixedup genres and disorder narratives belong to wongs postmodernist strategy of reconstructing his narratives.
Narrative neither assumes nor demands objectivity instead, it privileges subjectivity and agency. This works in both a personal sense the roving jungle of urban existence, swamped by the shifting identities of global commerce and fashions. Narrative approaches in qualitative research margarete sandelowski there is a new attention across disciplines to narrative know ingthe impulse to story life events into order and meaning. I dont mean to detract in any way from maggie cheungs overall. Huang 2002 have analyzed wongs manipulation of time, space, and chance in chungking express via narrative and. Narrative symmetry in chungking express the current the. The city as a space of multiple, infinite, relational possibilities in chungking express. This study of wongs filmmaking techniques uses a poetics approach to examine how form, music, narration, characterization, genre, and other artistic elements work together to produce certain effects on audiences. I didnt have to take out my handkerchief a single time during the film, and i didnt love it nearly as much as he did, but i. Narrative analysis handout narrative analysis is a key competency of the par researcher, and a starting tool for collaboration and building empathy. Nightly reading notes, citizen kane response piece, shotbyshot analysis 810 pages 4. The movie is split into two parts with the main focus of each being a male and female protagonist. Chungking express features wong karwais unique visual style.
Wong karwais in the mood for love is a radiant homage to the neglected posterior. Sympathy for inanimate objects in chungking express. Being wild 1990, chungking express 1994, fallen angels 1995, in the mood for love. Chungking express, directed by wong karwai in 1994, is a tale of the pains, troubles, and benefits of love. The movies buoyant mood, created with the help of charismatic performances from a cast. The analysis of happy together in chapter two focuses on argentina, a space that wong. Notably, wongs editing style gives the film a vast looping feeling, similar to a series of recurring dreams or a song. The research method of narrative analysis would be analyzed along with a narrative from an engineering graduate student to better demonstrate its validity and show its practicality as a research method in the engineering field. The cinema of wong karwai a writing game senses of.
Narrative symmetry in chungking express the current. As nations and governments construct preferred narratives about history, so do social movements, organisations, scientists, other professionals, ethnicracial groups. Purposive sample of 14 midwives drawn from a large national delphi panel on exemplary midwifery practice. At ucla last summer, quentin tarantino introduced a screening of chungking express and confessed that while watching it on video, i just started crying. Huang 2002 have analyzed wongs manipulation of time, space, and chance in chungking express via narrative and visual analysis.
The canonical narrative phase uses a sequence of eilpr. Narrative analysis may focus, for example, on text, media text, picture, film, music and an environment, which act as a story or have a storylike structure. Cult hong kong filmmaker wong kar wais chungking express is a stylish combination of romance, deadpan comedy and film noir set in and around hong kongs notorious chunking mansions, a complex of shabby hostels, bars and clubs teaming with illegal immigrants. It follows the aftermath of chow mowans unconsummated affair with su lizhen in 1960s hong kong but also includes some science fiction elements and makes frequent references to the date of december 24 or christmas. Story elements under scrutiny include setting, dialogue, character relationships, character identities, thematic motifs, musical references, numerology, and genre manipulation. Explore the narrative function of his editing, camera movement, and other visual factors. The cinema of wong kar wai is important 20th century cinema in 90s hong kong. Chungking express study guide contains a biography of wong karwai, literature. The parsons institute 68 f avenue 212 229 6825 for. This is a survey course designed to introduce you to the broad range of theoretical, formal, and historiographic issues specific to cinema. Wong grasped this apprehension and wove it into his films dual narrative. Chungking express, he worked within a very wide range of styles and genre.
Theorizing narrative data analysis and interpretation. Grammatical patterns another way to hypoth esize about constituents is to look at the sequencing patterns that are left by your analysis of narrative categories. An art film is typically a serious, independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. Cop 223s girlfriend has dumped him, but he isnt yet ready to accept that shes gone, so he contrives a monthlong waitingmourning period that gives their alreadydead relationship an expiration date. The story centres on a small takeaway stall, the midnight express, which is. An excerpt from an episode of observations on film art, now streaming on the criterion channel on filmstruck. Film education resources film library chungking express. Download chilean filmmaker raoul ruiz is the author of some 100 featurelength films, along with numerous plays and multimedia installations.
It is intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal, made primarily for aesthetic reasons rather than commercial profit, and contains unconventional or highly symbolic content. It was with trepidation that i watched chungking express for the first time, having heard of it in passing, together with the name wong kar wai in connection with chinese language cinema. What chungking express lacks in narrative action, it makes up for with a dazzling, psychologicallyrich visual style. The opening sequence employs an unusual stutterstep effect, most. The ambivalent identity of wong karwais cinema papyrus. Through these approaches, social researchers explore how people story their lives. It also marked a turning point in his work, a shift in direction that is actually signaled within the film, when the desultory underworld revenge narrative fades away and is replaced by a love story as simple as it is delirious. Scene analysis of chungking express nicholas lance. O ne of the most beloved films of the nineties, wong karwais chungking express captures the whiplash rhythms and tenuous connections of urban life through two divergent storylines, each centered on a heartsick cop and a mysterious woman with whom he becomes romantically entangled. Chungking express established wongs reputation as a major auteur, the most glamorous and enigmatic since godard. Music and the future in wong karwais chungking express 1994.
The movies buoyant mood, created with the help of charismatic performances from a cast of hong kong. Narrative analysis is an analytical method that accommodates a variety of approaches. The widely acclaimed films of wong karwai are characterized by their sumptuous yet complex visual and sonic style. Chungking express is a great film to probe these ideas. Applying the theory of visual narrative grammar 5 b.
Snapshots from happy together and chungking express pag. Sample syllabus this syllabus is provided as a sample. Oct 15, 2014 chungking express analysis of cinematography posted. In this paper, narrative is presented as a framework for understanding the subject and interview data in qualitative research.
The two central male characters are policemen who have recently split up with their longterm girlfriends, and now find themselves alone in hong kong. Therefore, analysis of wongs cinema for me is more like finding a better understanding of myself, and that was the reason his films attracted me. In poetics of cinema, ruiz takes a fresh approach to the major themes haunting our audiovisual civilization. Narrative analysis aims to identify the kinds of stories told about the researched phenomenon and the kinds of story representing the phenomenon in culture and society. Oct 14, 20 in her liner notes for the criterion collection dvd and bluray release of the film, amy taubin calls chungking express a turning point in wongs career, pointing to this moment as a shift in direction thats actually signaled within the film, when the desultory underworldrevenge narrative fades away and is replaced by a love story.
Wong karwai born 1956 is an awardwinning hong kong filmmaker and producer. For comments on an earlier version of the chapter, i thank elliot mishler, paul rosenblatt, jay gubrium and jim holstein. Two heartsick hong kong cops takeshi kaneshiro and tony leung, both jilted by exlovers, cross paths at the midnight express takeout restaurant stand, where the ethereal pixie waitress faye. Capitalism, violence, and sexuality american psycho by.
There is a direct line through breathless to bonnie and clyde, badlands and the youth upheaval of the late 1960s. There i try to show how its narrative construction welds together bits that might. Midwifery practices in hospital, birth center, and home settings. You cannot even begin to count the characters played by pacino, beatty, nicholson, penn, who are directly descended from jeanpaul belmondos insouciant killer michel. Chungking express essays are academic essays for citation. Early days of cinema and historiography bordwell pp. As tears go by 1989, days of being wild 1990, ashes of time 1994, chungking express 1994, fallen angels 1995, happy together 1997, in the mood for love 2000 backside. Chungking express analysis of cinematography posted. The films second story ultimately pivots on a handdrawn boarding. Chungking express cert 12, 100 mins chungking express is a film divided into two separate stories, each one dealing with loneliness and isolation in the big city. Chungking express is a definitive example of how the presence of an actors song brings fan gossip and popular knowledge into the narrative. In chungking express, wong ignores the usual representational approaches that underpin classical narrative cinema. The 1994 film was the first foray onto the big screen for faye wong, already established as a pop goddess, and won her the best actress award at the stockholm film festival and a nomination at the. Analysis of personal narratives catherine kohler riessman.
Stripped to its barest plot synopsis, chungking express tells the story of. From the very beginning of chungking express, wong and his cinematographersandrew lau and christopher doyle, the latter of whom has collaborated with wong many times, and here, primarily worked on the films second storyfind ways to visually represent temporal distortion. Chungking express is nearly twentyfive years old, and it remains as jittery and sparkling as it was in 1994. Next, we will turn our attention to the process of developing and writing our own original screenplays and prepare them for submission to the heinztelmann writing. Mar 26, 2018 in the latest episode of observations on film art, now streaming on the criterion channel on filmstruck, scholar david bordwell isolates the recurring motifs in chungking express, illustrating how the director uses small details to unite two sections that never intersect on a narrative level. Notable films include days of being wild, chungking express, in the mood for. Wkw warps and expands the ultratransience of modern hk, where the issue of identity is never clear cut.
David bordwell on the narrative symmetry of chungking express. Atom egoyans exotica 1994, wong karwais chungking express 1994, paul thomas andersons magnolia 1999. Narrative discourse pdf hansen, early cinema, late cinema pdf february 9 a trip to the moon, melies, 1898. Christopher doyle transformed hong kong into a woozy array of sublime neons and.
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