John Woo

Before I analyze the film Chungking Express, I would like to briefly introduce its director—Wang Kar-Wai, a great master who specialized in describing protagonists’ characteristics by details and the whole environment. Since he grows up in Hong Kong, a former British colony involving Chinese culture and western culture, he has lots of thinking on this metropolis and the people living there. Thus he directs bunch of films such like Chungking Express, telling the love stories happened in Hong Kong via protagonists’ characteristics and background music. In this movie, there are two independent and interconnected love stories as well as four protagonists: cop 233, A-Fei, cop 663, and female killer. Wang Kar-Wai tells us that urban people are lonely since their life is so simple: work and rest; however, they are full of warmth and tender deep inside their hearts. They are always seeking for pure love in this city—they are all parts of Chungking Express, the emotional signature of Hong Kong. To illustrate, I will analyze this movie from three scenes to reveal that urban people desire love and care deep inside their hearts even though they are living in such a busy and cold city. The first scene, whose protagonists the female killer and cop 233, He-Zhiwu are in the film impressed me a lot. In the beginning, the killer (Actor: Lin Qingxia) hired several Indians to transport the drug out of Hong Kong. However, those Indians disappeared with the drug. If she cannot find them until May…

In the quote from Writing Without Teachers, Peter Elbow talks about his ideas on the process of writing. He says, “think of writing as an organic, developmental process in which you start writing at the very beginning – before you know your meaning at all – and encourage your words gradually to change and evolve” (Elbow). Elbow believes that you can’t know what you are going to discuss or to comment on until you are done writing and all of your thoughts finally come together to make sense. He…

The discussion of mental toughness has to be the number one discussed topic in sport psychology. It seems that everyone is on the same sheet of music agreeing that it’s vital to success, but it’s very debatable to "what is mental toughness?” All of the definitions of mental toughness in this article sound really tasty and easy to bite off on. However, I’m one who leaves nothing to chance and I think there is more to the definition than "sociable, outgoing, calm, relaxed, competitive,…

Thus, the Fist of Fury is a great example of the nationalism depicted in films and also the anti-Japanese sentiments. It is very common to know that in the past and even today, there is still this negative and superior feeling toward the Japanese. There are various reasons why there are these negative sentiments towards the Japanese (and vice versa) but some can be that it may lie in the struggle for power and influence in Asia between China and Japan. Another reason may be because there are…

cave to capture her soul. Even though she did not get banished from her town, Abigail seeks revenge just as Ursula did. Mary Warren comes to the courthouse to testify that she has not seen spirits and, “none of [Abigail and her friends] have seen these things either” (515). After hearing that she might lose her power, Abigail seeks vengeance on Mary. Just as Ursula tries to take King Triton’s daughter, Abigail tries to take Mary Warren’s freedom by accusing her of coinciding with the devil. …

Infatuation, though short-lived, can make one come to rash and hasty decisions. In the stories “A&P” by John Updike and “Araby” by James Joyce, we see this displayed between the protagonists, Sammy in “A&P” and the unnamed narrator of “Araby.” While each had similar interests and unexpected results with the female characters, Sammy and the unnamed narrator were set in different eras; therefore, had different perceptions of infatuation. The story “A&P” was set in modern time with the character,…

demonstrated early innovations and lyrical expansion. George Harrison wrote this piece beginning in 1968, although was not finished until the following year. Harrison wrote “Something” on the piano during a recording of the White Album when the band had some downtime to finish some personal matters. The song’s first line comes from an opening lyric in “Something In The Way She Moves” by James Taylor; throughout the piece Harrison referenced various sources as his inspiration. After Harrison…

In 1633, John Donne published a metaphysical poem titled The Flea. This poem consists of an erotic theme where a flea is used as a metaphor in order to demonstrate the affair between the speaker and their lover. In the same year, The Altar was published by George Herbert. This poem illustrates the religious notion of how one must sacrifice themselves to God through the use of an altar. In the following, The Flea and The Altar will be compared and contrasted in terms of the physical shape of the…

Theme in “A & P”: Transition From Adolescence To Maturity and Sexual Difference An independent life has always been essential in our society where we want to control our lives and stand up for ourselves, especially during our adolescence. In “A & P,” John Updike focuses on the narrator, Sammy, who is left to face the consequences after his chivalrous yet immature act goes unnoticed by Queenie and her friends. Updike utilizes character development to emphasize that Sammy’s immaturity results…

father of Hester’s child. After he gives a speech to Hester demanding her to reveal the name of the father of her child, it is said that “so powerful seemed the minister’s appeal that the people could not believe but that Hester Prynne would speak out the guilty name; or else that the guilty one himself…would be drawn forth by an inward and inevitable necessity, and compelled to ascend the scaffold”(Hawthorne 63-64). The people woo over Dimmesdale and believe and feel whatever his words lead…