2046

There's something quietly maddening about Wong Kar-Wai's new film 2046. The film is mesmerizing, with its graceful yet stacatto cinematography, peculiar and disorienting visual flourishes and densely-layered, alinear narrative. And yet it's probably the director's coldest and least involving work to date, a thoughtful movie more likely to be appreciated than adored.

This makes sense, in a way, considering that much of the film serves as a consideration of the endless, dark void that lies behind the material world of money, occupations and relationships. After all, if each character struggles fruitlessly against emptiness, and this emptiness creeps around every corner waiting to ensnare them, then naturally a film about those characters will flirt with monotony. Particularly during its interminable final half-hour, 2046 wears out its welcome, which is a shame because, overall, it is a film of considerable significance, daring, wit and depth.



The film is in some ways a follow-up to Kar-Wai's deservedly praised 2001 feature In the Mood for Love. After the end of the love affair at the center of that film, in 1966, freelance writer Chow (Tony Leung) returns to his hometown of Hong Kong and moves into a small hotel. He requests Room 2046, as it was once occupied by an old flame of his who has since been murdered, but winds up settling for Room 2047.

While staying at the hotel, Chow is inspired to write a science-fiction story fittingly titled "2046," and inspired by the women he romances during his stay at the hotel.

From this set-up, the movie could easily be an effervescent romantic comedy. A writer/casanova woos a variety of beautiful and idiosyncratic women, and then adapts their affairs into a strange futuristic novel. But for Wong Kar-Wai, the premise is an excuse to deconstruct Chow's attitudes towards women and relationships, and what these attitudes reflect about his own inner life.

In Chow's story, 2046 is a strange and static futureworld, a place where nothing ever changes, where people from the present can go to revisit old memories. It is possible to reach 2046 by train, but no one ever returns, as the trip is arduous, lonely and possibly fatal.

Clearly, the train ride back from 2046 is his life - a movement from a static and unchanging past to an unknown, hazardous future. This reflects Chow's reality, in which he bounces from woman to woman, always searching for some abstract notion of romantic love without ever appreciating the small pleasures happening right in front of him. His life is a train ride from one destination to another, but he's so focused on where he has been and where he is going next, he doesn't even consider the possibility of finding something worthwhile where he is already.

And though it sounds heady and bleak, the majority of 2046 is engaging and humane. The many actresses Kar-Wai has cast as the women who move through Chow's life are all wonderful, particularly the gorgeous Zhang Ziyi as the fiery Bai Ling, who lives for a short time in the room next to Chow. Her scenes with Leung, in which Chow aggressively courts Bai only to reject her once she has been won over, are among the best in the film.

Both 2046 and 1966 are wonderfully realized by cinematographers Christopher Doyle (who also shot the equally lovely In the Mood for Love), Pung Leung-Kwan and Yiu-Fai Lai, and the production and costume design by William Chang are absolutely spectacular. I have no idea if women in Hong Kong during the 60's really walked around in these sorts of elegant gowns all the time, but it certainly gives the movie a dazzling color palatte and a unique look.

So, I guess what I'm saying is, so what if the last half hour drags on for an eternity? Go see the movie anyway.

I think the major problem is that Kar-Wai starts to wrap things up before he's done telling the story. There is a long segment of the film set on the train returning from 2046, where the events of Chow's life are translated into an absurd drama starring a Japanese man (Takuya Kimura) and a series of androids. It's a brilliant sequence, haunting and other-worldly, and it provides just about a perfect ending point for the film.

But once we returned from 2046 to the 1960's, and I realized there are two entire romantic episodes still to come in the "present day" of the film, I'll confess to losing patience with the film. These final two sequences, particularly a long segment told in flashback in which Chow meets a professional gambler (Li Gong), repeat many of the ideas already introduced earlier in the film, and don't really add enough significance to warrant their late placement. At 2 hours and 10 minutes, the movie feels far too long, draining and, as I said before, frustrating.

Perhaps on a second viewing, having a better idea of the overall pace of the film, I'd be less bothered by these final segments. I recall watching Eyes Wide Shut in a movie theater and enjoying it a great deal, but still feeling it was a touch overlong and precious. It was only on repeat viewings on DVD that I realized the true greatness of the film, and saw my petty criticisms for what they were. I will grant this could happen with 2046, but only time will tell.

For the moment, I will say that this is probably my least favorite of all the Wong Kar-Wai films I have seen. But even the worst Wong Kar-Wai is better than almost any movie you're likely to see for at least a while.