That part of the film feels like a hazy dream, as we jump abruptly through scenes of often-disconnected action. It even feels like a stretch to call these different scenes, given how identical they are to each other.Ĭontrast this with the first half of the film when time is linear, and events move lightning fast. He chooses to depict it as cyclic in this segment, with so many elements repeating from scene to scene to scene.
This is one way Wong explores a key theme: time. Really the only way to track the progression of time in this segment is by paying attention to Faye's dress, and the slightly different conversation points each time. Cop 663 continues ordering food, Faye continues doing chores, "California Dreamin'" plays the enwholeire time. We get the sense that the same scene keeps playing over and over and over again. Wong Kar-wai keeps us in the Midnight Express for almost the entirety of this segment, only showing us the outside world via a few shots of the streets from the doorway of the business, and a very short fashback sequence when Cop 663 was seducing the stewardess. Whereas our first story, about Cop 223 and the woman with the blonde wig, is action-packed and comical from the get go, the beginning of this part of the film could best be described as a slow burn. The second half of this film begins in a markedly different way than the first half. Faye glances at the tack on the board holding up the letter. A different officer walks in the next day and says that Officer 663 is on leave since he got hurt by a pin.
He refuses to, but he doesn't know that he's also forsaken a set of keys to his home. Time slows down as Cop 663 drinks his coffee.Īs he's about to leave, he puts money on the counter and Faye reminds him to take his letter. Faye hands him the letter, but he refuses to take it. Not only is it their first time alone, but their first moment in quiet. Faye starts to tell the cop about the woman who came for him last night, but he makes her turn the stereo down. Now, Faye and Cop 663 have their first moment alone, with "California Dreamin'" again blaring on the stereo.
After the manager and all of the kitchen workers step out, Cop 663 soon walks in. Faye reads it herself, and then shakes a set of keys out of the envelope. He shakes his head at the letter and seems to be passing it around to his kitchen staff. The manager, nosier than we might have expected, uses steam from a kettle to loosen the adhesive and inspect what's inside. The stewardess comes in and leaves an envelope for Cop 663. "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" plays until we're back in the Midnight Express, where "California Dreamin'" takes over again. We're given a sequence of them fooling around in his apartment as they play with a plastic toy plane. She was a stewardess and he was a passenger. In voiceover, we learn that Cop 663 seduced his most recent ex, the one who just left him, on a flight. Both Faye and Cop 663 have a moment in the shop, lonely but framed in the same shot. It's a new day, and when the manager asks Cop 663 what he plans on getting for his girlfriend, the cop admits that she left him. The chores continue, but Faye has changed outfits. She's visibly distraught, and we get fantastic shots of Faye scrubbing a window, imbuing a simple chore with expressive pathos. The next time Cop 663 comes back, Faye overhears her cousin talking to the cop about the girlfriend he orders food for. Faye hides in the kitchen but peers out at the cop during the entire interaction. The manager suggests he buy two items and bring them both to her, and the cop agrees to it. The manager asks him why he's ordering the same thing, and he says it's for his girlfriend. It's not entirely clear that this is a different moment until Cop 663 walks in again, and orders a chef's salad from the manager of Midnight Express, Faye's cousin. We're given a little montage of Faye dancing around with various items from the kitchen while "California Dreamin'" blares. He seems to win her heart in a second by beckoning her and whispering that he likes chef's salad. "California Dreamin'" by The Mamas and the Papas is blasting and he asks why she's playing music so loud. The girl working there, Faye, is too preoccupied doing chores to look at him while he orders. But when he enters the restaurant, he orders a chef salad. Whereas our former officer of the law wore an ill-fitting suit and a beleaguered expression, Cop 663 sports a crisp, blue patrol uniform and close to no expression at all.
He's a strikingly different kind of officer than Cop 223. Cop 663 finishes writing out a note to himself and then stoically ambles up to the Midnight Express.