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Wong: To me the film is like a chain of music. When we started to make this film, I had the music in my mind, and the music is waltz music that has been repeated in the film all the time.
So we decided to use that music and I play that music to my cameraman and said, okay, that will be the tempo of the film. The rhythm should be like this. And the rest of the music, because we wanted to recreate that period, so it's not only the look of the dress but also the sound. And in 1962 because Hong Kong is a British colony with a lot of Chinese living there, we have Western music, we have Japanese music, we have Cantonese music, Mandarin operas and pop songs. So to me it's like a radio program, and they are the radio days of Hong Kong. At one point we invited all these radio people, there were 70 something, back the studio to record all these radio programs, weather, news, and so it's fun. We created the radio programs again. Q: Do you have this as a technique where you use the same songs over and over again in your films, which works really politically. For example in "Chungking Express," did you scheme the movie visually based on California Dreaming? Wong: Because we want to create the routine for these two persons, and most of our stories are about people who try to break away from the routine or a certain orbit in their life, because we always have our habits and we always follow our habits, and some days we feel something's wrong and we are not happy with our lives and we want to do something. But we need something to push us out of these things, and mostly in my films it is because of love or because of being out of love. And we want to see the changes through the unchanged, because we keep seeing these two persons walking the same corridors, working in the same space, and we have the music always repeating itself. But actually we can see the changes because we can see during the films that these two persons are actually changing. Q: Why did you choose Nat King Cole? Wong: Nat King Cole is extremely popular in Hong Kong. And we have the Spanish song because in those days the musicians in Hong Kong are mostly from the Philippines, so the Spanish influence is very strong. And also Nat King Cole is my mother's favorite. Q: I think also the elements play a big part as well. I mean, there is just so much rain in this movie. I was just wondering if that was some sort of emotion or some sort of mood that you wanted to project as well, particularly because most of the time when it's raining it's like they are not aware of that. They get a little wet, but that it. Was there some purpose of that as well? Wong: You have to understand Hong Kong is a tropical city, it rains all the time. Hong Kong is a small city, and it's not like Los Angeles, if it's raining you will die, you have to find a way to hide. But actually I like rain. It is like smoke. Sometimes it just create the mood, and it is an extension of something. Q: I read somewhere that you and Christopher Doyle had some sort of falling out during the middle of the production. Was that at all true? Wong: No, I don't think so. The reason Chris had to leave production was because at first we thought that the film should be done in a few months but actually it takes 15 months, and he has committed to make a film in the States, and the agency is so tough, so he has to go. So we have to work with another cameraman. Actually at the beginning of the shooting of this film, we decided the film should be more classical in a way, so he could not dance with his camera, so in fact it is very hard for him to keep quiet behind the camera. But he is doing a very good job in the film.
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