Chungking Express
From the very opening shot, Wong Kar-Wai's 1994 Chungking Express perfectly pulls you into its ultra - specific mood, tone and atmosphere. Usage of handheld camera movements alongside colour put us into the lonely, sometimes hectic environments that our characters find themselves consumed by, perfectly matching how the characters feel lost in the urban sprawl of Hong Kong.
The soundtrack underlies most of the film, allowing Wong Kar-Wai to create a dream-like, ethereal feel to the film. The film tells 2 stories, seemingly with very little correlation, by the end of the 1st story, we expect a relationship between Faye and the policeman to blossom, but this story seemingly goes nowhere and instead flips to a different mans story, which concludes in a much more conventionally satisfying way, Wong Kar Wai seems much more interested in the journeys that the characters end up going on rather than the destinations.
This is a film that will ultimately entertain anyone even moderately interested in film style and aesthetic, uses of slow motion, pixelation etc help to create a challenging yet deeply enjoyable experience. I look forward to exploring Wong Kar-Wai's filmography further.