Agreed, and more than anything a testament to Christopher Doyle's talent as DP.

I stayed in Chungking Mansions, a couple weeks, in the early 80s, when I was kicking around Asia on the cheap. In what was otherwise an expensive city, you could rent a tiny tiny room, like 4 foot by 7 foot, in a "Guest House", (basically just a one-bedroom apartment that had been subdivided into like 7 or 8 mini-rooms like mine) for a few dollars a day. Three floors up, another tiny apartment had been converted into an Indian restaurant, surprisingly good and again, affordable. The "mansion" occupies a city block, and is pierced vertically by dark, dank, drippy air shafts which provide the only ventilation. All very atmospheric. Yes, there definitely was some illegal activity going down. Now I want to see the movie.

Awesome movie.