"Chungking Express" is split into two distinct parts – both set in contemporary Hong Kong and focusing on lonely policemen (Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung Chiu-wai) who each fall for a woman (Brigitte Lin and Faye Wong). Wong was keen to experiment with "two crisscrossing stories in one movie" and worked spontaneously, filming at night what he had written that day. Peter Brunette notes that "Chungking" is considerably more fun and lighthearted than the director's previous efforts, but deals with the same themes. At the 1995 Hong Kong Film Awards it was named Best Picture, and Wong received Best Director. Miramax acquired the film for American distribution, which according to Brunette "catapulted Wong to international attention". Stephen Schneider includes it in his book "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" with the summary: "While other films by Wong may pack more emotional resonance, "Chungking Express" gets off on sheer innocence, exuberance, and cinematic freedom, a striking triumph of style over substance".