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Directed by: Wong Kar Wai Starring: Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, Faye Wong The first encounter I had with Wong Kar Wai and his films happened during my freshmen year at college. On my first day on campus, after moving into my room and setting up all of my internet and email stuff, I decided to relax before going to bed by watching a little TV. I tuned to the campus cable channel, and stumbled across In the Mood for Love, which was already a half hour or so in. I was immediately pulled in, and once it ended, I spent the rest of the night trying to figure out what it was that I just saw. I didn’t have any luck figuring it out at that time, but it was always in the back of my mind from then on. Later that semester, in my Intro to the Art of Film course, we watched the entire film and had a discussion on it and Kar Wai as a filmmaker for our unit on film style. I soon tracked down the DVD and started looking for Kar Wai’s other films, eager to learn as much as I could about this master. Not to long after that, discussion started making the rounds of the film community about Kar Wai’s next project, which was rumored to be some sort of sci-fi sequel to In the Mood for Love. There really wasn’t all that much information available up until it premiered at Cannes, and it spent a long, long time in production and post-production (as Kar Wai is apt to do), so from the time it was announced to the time it first graced the screen, it was pretty much shrouded in mystery. The reception at Cannes was surprisingly lukewarm, especially considering that Kar Wai was considered the favorite after his past success at the festival and Taratino’s (a long time fan) presence as the head of the jury. Then there were problems with the Edinburgh festival, and the film when back to re-shoots and re-editing. It finally got an official theatrical release date in Asia, and is soon to make its way to Europe, and hopefully America (with Fox Searchlight, not Mirimax, as distributor apparently). Like the rumors predicted, 2046 is supposed to be kind of sequel to In the Mood for Love, with Tony Leung reprising his character from that film, though in a somewhat different role. The two films share a lot of the same themes, a similarly nostalgic setting and equally breathtaking visuals, but they are actually quite different films in most respects. 2046 is actually more of a series of vignettes than a cohesive narrative, each one entailing a different love affair of Leung’s character with a different woman. The tone of the film is far less emotionally intense, and is almost un-involving at times. The sci-fi elements of the film were vastly overplayed by the rumors, but they still provide an interesting way of furthering the narrative and the characters’ relationships. The structure of the film (splitting between the stories of Leung’s different relationships) unfortunately causes a lot of the film’s problems, mainly in how uneven it is as a whole. Some of the stories are more interesting than others, but in the end, they all feel pretty unsatisfying. Perhaps (and even likely) that was intentional, but it’s still very difficult to enjoy the film without being put-off by how it often fails to deliver on the expectations it creates. The only real strength of this structure is that each episode is made by a different cinematographer, each adding their own sense of style to the film. It isn’t dramatic as the differences between each chapter of say, Hero, but it provides a stimulating visual experience. The same sort of neon and retro color scheme from In the Mood for Love is used here. The use of music also echoes the sense of nostalgia that In The Mood for Love had. It’s hard to say anything bad about the cast. Tony Leung really can do no wrong when he’s working with Kar Wai, and produces far more interesting performances then what comes out of his action-movie roles. As the only real constant in the film, he acts as the anchor for the audience, and manages to keep things grounded together. Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi and Faye Wong play his three love-interests, each providing a compelling performance. Faye Wong is by far the strongest of the three, and her episode is probably the best of the film as well. Gong Li is unfortunately not given the opportunity to show her brilliance, and her chapter is the least engaging of the three. Zhang Ziyi is still kind of stuck in her “petulant youth” mode, but she’s showing more and more range with each new role she takes on. If nothing else, this film is worth seeing because of all of the beautiful women in it. In the end, it seems like 2046 has more in common with Alain Resnais’s film Hiroshima Mon Amour than it does with Kar Wai’s other films. It uses the same theme of “forgetting to remember” and dwelling on impossible love of the past. Another review I read called it a film about “non-relationships” which I think is very appropriate. You could probably say the same for In the Mood for Love, but it feels much more pronounced, and far more melancholy here. It has a very dream-like quality to it, as if the audience was literally stepping into the memories of the characters, and the use of the sci-fi writings as a way of Leung “completing” his relationships is a really nice touch. There’s a scene where one of the other characters actually does some ghost-writing for him, which while a very simple thing, is an incredibly touching moment in the film. His character from In the Mood for Love wrote kung-fu serials with Maggie Cheung’s character, and in many ways, this film is about her character’s absence through the use of that same action. The film does feel a little too tragic at times, and it has a really depressing philosophy about one’s prospects in love, but it is still a work of art. I can’t help but feel a little disappointed by 2046, but I really don’t know if anything could have lived up to Kar Wai’s last film. This was still an interesting experience, and it was a nice balance between some of the elements of In the Mood for Love and something completely new. You can get 2046 on DVD (http://www.koreandvds.com/dvddetail.html?id=24409), but you need a region free player to view it. I don’t know when it will get a theatrical release in the US, but it seems like it should happen either late this year or in early 2005. edit - I would recommend waiting for a better DVD version of this, unless you absolutly have to see it this very second. The video quality is only so-so, and there's a really annoying watermark that pops up all the time. RATING: 4.0 PROS: great cast, beautiful visuals, nostalgia CONS: uneven structure, depressing ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212712/ vertov fucked around with this message at 02:47 on Oct 27, 2004 |
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Oct 26, 2004 18:10
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The latest movie from the director who did Chungking Express, and also stars some of the same people from Chungking Express. Without giving anything away, 2046 is a movie about romance and how the main character, Chow, interacts with the people around him. He also happens to be an author, and much of real life is mirrored in the stuff he writes... kind of. Throw in robots, futuristic trains that take you nowhere and lots of artsy-fartsy slow scenes where everything actually going has nothing to do with what's happening on screen, and you get the movie 2046. 2046 is a great movie if you have the patience to deal with a confusing, but highly rewarding story. Visually, it's very pretty to watch, and the actors do a great job. The music is a highlight too, in my opinion. If you've got the time to devote to something that will make you stop and think about it for days to come, and the patience for a foreign art-house flick, watch 2046. If you liked Chungking Express, watch 2046. 4.5/5.0 because it was a very slow movie, and it's sometimes hard to follow, even though it's a great movie in the end.
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Dec 12, 2004 13:42
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My opinion of this film has improved a lot with additional viewings. The elegance of the narrative (which uses the same kind of repitition as ITMFL) really emerges the second or third time you watch it, and a lot of the performances grow on you as well. I guess my initial reaction was to view it to closely in comparion to ITMFL, which I think was a mistake, since it really isn't supposed to be a direct sequel, but rather some sort of compainion piece. I think that as my knowledge of Hong Kong's history (and possible future) had grown, I've been able to understand more of the political subtext as well. I'm bumping my review up to a 5 out of 5. Highly recommended.
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Dec 12, 2004 17:17
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Everything about this film works, except the structure of the film. This is the big flaw of this film - there is no drive. It does move slowly - which is not a problem for me - but the slow pace coupled with the poor structure makes for a quite unsatisfying view. On the other side, this film also has a lot going for it. The visuals in this film is absolutely stunning. The overall mood and style is evident from frame to frame, so for the sake of drooling over beautiful cinematography, this film does deserve a viewing. Other vital film stuff like acting and all that jazz is also performed flawlessly. This film is not for the casual viewer, and although I ended up pretty unsatisfied, I do not regret watching this flick. 2/5
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Apr 3, 2012 23:43
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