Wong Kar-wai's 2046

One is reluctant to use "sequel" to characterize Wong Kar-wai's follow-up to In the Mood for Love because of the term's negative connotations, yet 2046 is about what happens to Mo-wan (Tony Leung), after he and Su-lizhen (Maggie Cheung) decide not to further their relationship at the conclusion of In the Mood for Love. We learn that Mo-wan moved to Singapore, where he is struggling as a newspaper columnist. It's late 1964 and he is ready to return to Hong Kong. He's been involved with an unidentified woman (Gong Li) and wants her to go with him. The black-clad woman retorts: "You don't know anything about my past, do you?

And so WKW starts to develop his major theme of the past obtruding on the present, of unresolved memories as an impediment to present happiness. We soon realize that the opening scene of a CGI-rendered futuristic city and the number of the title do not refer to an actual destination in the future. They are mere visualizations of a serial Mo-wan writes once established in Hong Kong. A serial about people looking for love who board a mysterious train headed to a place where they can recapture lost memories and wrestle with them. Nobody's returned from this place "where nothing ever changes" except the serial's protagonist, a Japanese Mo-wan will identify as his alter-ego. He explains in voice-over: "All 2046 meant to me was the number of a hotel room" as we watch a quick cut to an image of Maggie Cheung walking into the hotel room from In the Mood for Love. Voice-over continues: "I made up the whole thing but some of my experiences made their way into it".

Viewers familiar with WKW are cognizant of the self-referential quality of his art. Tropes and characters from earlier films are easily identifiable here. Characters such as Mimi (Carina Lau) from the recently re-released Days of Being Wild, a cabaret singer Mo-wan befriended in Singapore. Mimi pretends not to remember Mo-wan because he reminds her of Yuddy, her fiancee on the 1991 film, who suffers a tragic early death. She is intensely affected by memories she struggles in vain to repress. Maggie Cheung herself appears in some very brief scenes that are either Mo-wan's memories or her appearance as a character in the serial he writes throughout 2046.

Two other major characters with whom Mo-wan establishes relationships are Jing-wen and Bai-ling. Jing-wen (Faye Wong) is the oldest daughter of Mo-wan's landlord, a woman in a long-term relationship with a man her father abhors simply because of his being Japanese_which inspires Mo-wan to make the serial's protagonist of Japanese background. Bai-ling is a call girl who moves next door to Mo-wan. She is played by Zhang Ziyi in a performance you will not forget. Zhang is outstanding here in a role that requires her to display a wide range of emotions.

Wong Kar-wai, Chris Doyle and their collaborators have crafted a voluptuous, diverse set of images in which the colors red, black and green predominate. The filmmakers have worked together for very long and the experience shows on every frame. A viewing with the subtitles turned off would be a very rewarding experience. These chronologically-scrambled images are married to an array of musical pieces which include Bellini arias sung by Maria Callas, Connie Francis' cover of Xavier Cugat's "Perfidia", Dean Martin's "Sway" and a recurring "The Christmas Song", by Nat King Cole of course. A perfect synergy between sound and image is achieved.

Many critics from around the world were dismayed by the fact that the Q. Tarantino-led jury failed to recognize 2046 at Cannes 2004. As of January 2005, this masterpiece has not secured U.S. distribution. Even mainstream critics like Time's Richard Corliss called 2046 "the festival's finest film". 2046 has been released on dvd in Asia in a format playable in all North American dvd players. Fans of Wong Kar-wai on these shores should avail themselves of the opportunity.

Great post! I haven't seen the film yet but I'm looking forward to it. I've been told to wait for it on the big-screen so perhaps that is why I haven't yet bought the import DVD, copies of it are practically available for free on Ebay now.

The fact that the film's screening was delayed at Cannes certainly caused a few grumblings. I've also read that some critics including a few jury members weren't thrilled with its more abstract narrative, probably requiring more time to digest or even a second viewing.

This is not official yet, but Fox reportedly has a deal with WKW's company to release his next few films in the U.S. His next film stars Nicole Kidman.

Here's a thread with some info on the official DVD of 2046:

http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/show...?threadid=1132

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. I'd like to add a little bit regarding the significance of the year 2046 for those unfamiliar with H.K. politics. WKW chose this number for the hotel room where Mo-wan and Su-lizhen had their rendezvous (In the Mood for Love) in order to deal, albeit obliquely, with his anxiety regarding the future of Hong Kong. According to the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which took effect on 1/1/97, its basic policies will remain unchanged for 50 years. Basic policies, which can be summarized with the phrase "One country, two systems", will remain in effect until the end of 2046, of course assuming the Chinese government abides by them.

By the way, the quality of the dvd I purchased is very good. I am referring to the dvd 9 released by Mei Ah Entertainment (anamorphic widescreen, dolby surround, easy to read removable English subs, and cheap).

There are some nice philosophical lines in 2046.
There is some good chemistry between Tony and Zhang Ziyi.
I like the robotic segment too ... (if only the whole movie is that ... ha ha ha)

But as a whole, it is too similar to WKW's previous work ...

That is why I have posed the following question after I watched Eros:
see ... http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/show...&threadid=1269

It seems like a lot of people (and maybe many of you) like a particular style from the same director ...

However, I was wondering if they should prove their versatility by adopting a different style ... because after a while, it gets kind of "predictable" in style (and imageries), only some unpredictability in plot ...

any comments?

I couldn't quite figure out the android stuff. But most of the film seems set up to be re-watched. I wasn't overly impressed with In the Mood For Love, so I didn't really link the two films. It took a long while to get things sorted out as well. Still admired a lot of it, particularly the cinematography, and I'll watch anything with Zhang Ziyi.

This film certainly does fit into his canon however. Even towards the end the same whirling shots first scene in Chungking came back. So visually it is very similar. Perhaps it is time for him to "change it up". Although he kept the music more towards show tunes than classic rock this time.