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In the first, Cop 223 (played by Takeshi Kaneshiro) falls for a mysterious older woman in a blonde wig. The irony, revealed only to the audience, is that she's an international drug trafficker who has had a very, very bad night when they first meet. He's recovering from his breakup with a girl who liked pineapple. He makes a solid effort to escape the pain by means of expiration date. His youthful exuberance, inexperience, and naivete lend themselves to what one hopes is a learning experience for him..

In the second, much longer story, Cop 633 (played by Tony Leung) is recovering from a broken heart left by his undeserving ex (we see her nature when we encounter her later on). The most affecting parts of the film for me are when he sadly lectures inanimate objects around his apartment, while really speaking to himself. I don't know if I've ever seen heartbreak more aptly portrayed onscreen. He attracts the attention of a flittery young fast-food worker, and through a series of events, she ends up stalking him, going to his apartment while he's not home and doing things - when they meet, she bolts, and bolts again, and finally comes back, in almost dreamlike fashion. (I don't like to ascribe the term "dream" to a film's major plot points but...)

It's not important that the events are somewhat unrealistic; the stories are meant to be taken from a more transcendental plane of view. The focus is on the characters, their feelings, incidental actions, and what develops between them rather than the constructs in which it these things are felt. And as such, they're pretty and vivid with all the colors of emotion of daily life. However, since I could not help but draw parallels between this and one of my favorite films, Lost in Translation, I have to mention that the lack of realism in the storylines were to its detriment. This is my first WKW film and so far as I know he made this on a whim to clear his head while editing another film.. and it shows a bit in the none-too-well thought out plotlines, which are somewhat Godardian, and quite in contrast to LiT - a film I connected to precisely because it was so real.

The cinematography is...interesting. After hearing so much about Christopher Doyle's shooting in WKW films, I was eagerly looking forward to how he'd frame things and what kind of stocks he used, where it appears his cinematographic approach was more a technical one for effect - the subject remains still while the world rushes by them. Quite the enlightening trip.

Tony Leung is wonderful, and Takeshi Kaneshiro and Faye Wong are adorable.

Overall, wonderful, beautiful, evocative film, suffers ever so slightly from plot problems.

8.3/10