A critique of everyday life through Chungking Express and a case study on İstanbul

Abstract

Mainly starting with the industrial revolution the world evolved into amodified epoch where everyday life has gone through thorough changesand gained vital importance in social sciences. Especially in our era, whereglobalization standardizing everyday life in all over the world molding itinto sameness, the theory of everyday life has become a key subject thatcould unveil the actuality it conceals under the curtain of the mundane.This study sets out to examine, analyze and criticize the concept of`everyday life? first by theoretically and secondly by applying to three films,which are The Truman Show (Peter Weir, 1998), To Die (or Not) (VenturaPons, 2000) and especially Chungking Express (Wong Kar-Wai, 1994).Finally, a short film, Jigsaw Puzzle, has been produced in order tocomplement the everyday life duality with respect to what Wong Kar-Waiputs in Chungking Express. The rationale behind this study is to raise anawareness towards the obscure concept of everyday life which concealsartifical manipulation under its common facets