Hong Kong Film breeds frustration

Before watching Chungking Express I was told that the “plot lines seem isolated at first but often converge to reveal unexpected casual connections.” It would have been an amazing and unique film if this was the case. However, at the end of the film, I was left with a great deal of unfinished pieces to an unfinished puzzle. The only thing that closely resembled a bridge between the two plots was the diner “Midnight Express” and its owner (I’ll get into talking about him in another entry). At the end of the film I was left with only isolated plots and no convergence. For one thing, the first plot had no conclusion. Do we ever find out what happened to the Indian family with drug-stuffed condoms as children? Do we ever understand why the woman in the blonde wig shoots that man in the bar? Do we ever find out who that man was? Do we ever find out who the girl was that he was kissing or why she was wearing a blonde wig? The director uses the wig as a slight motif, but he never brings it back so do we ever find the meaning behind it? All these questions go unanswered and if that was the purpose of the director then he did an outstanding job. However, I am distraught that the director doesn’t even have the courtesy to lead us in a direction that would help us find the answers. Like I have said before, I appreciate a film that makes me wonder, ponder, and even question. I like a film that asks me questions. But I do not like a film that asks questions and does not give one care to guiding the audience towards an answer or part of one.