Tony Leung Chiu-wai

In Chungking Express (1994), Tony Leung Chiu-wai's Cop 663 seems worn out by his own loneliness. Takeshi Kaneshiro's Cop 223 is restless and faintly absurd; Leung makes the same condition look like something that has gone on too long. Neither performance asks for solemn sympathy, and Leung's willingness to let us see the embarrassment matters as much as his restraint. We were moved by Cop 663 because his self-pity was funny enough to recognise, and awkward enough to hurt.

The early films make it difficult to file him away as a specialist in wistful romance. A City of Sadness (1989) brought international notice, and the Wong Kar-wai collaboration began with Days of Being Wild (1990). John Woo's Hard Boiled (1992) gave him an action breakthrough alongside Chow Yun-fat. Wong's seven-film partnership with Leung is central to his reputation, but Woo is a useful reminder that this actor has worked beyond introspective romance.

Faye Wong's playful energy is a large part of why the second story in Chungking Express is the more engaging of the two. Leung gives her a tired, self-pitying policeman to play against, and he is willing to let that self-pity look foolish. Some scenes coast on music and colour, a limitation we would not pretend his performance removes. What holds our attention is the difference between the two performers: her energy makes his weariness more noticeable, without turning him into a bore.

In the Mood for Love (2000), in which he plays Chow Mo-wan, made his restrained romantic acting central to his international reputation. He can suggest complicated feelings with little dialogue or expression, leaving us room to decide what to make of the character. The appeal is easy to understand, but we would not overlook the humour that makes Cop 663 such good company. Start with Chungking Express, particularly if all this talk of restraint has made him sound rather forbidding.