Chow Mo Wan:
Take care. Maybe one day you'll escape your past. If you do, look for me.
Wong Kar-wai is one of the most
accomplished and respected directors working in film today and there is no
doubt in my mind that he deserves all of the reverence heaped upon him. This
film, 2046, which is an odd, round-about sequel to his masterpieces Days
of Being Wild (1990) and In the Mood for Love (2000), is certainly a
testament to the talents of this director. The enthrallingly complex story, the
gorgeous visuals, and the portrayals of the perfectly handpicked cast culminate
in what is certainly a film that warrants multiple viewings and will most
assuredly steal your heart as it has mine.
Weaving adeptly between the past,
present, and a fictional science-fiction future (informed directly by the past)
the story follows author Chow Mo-wan (Tony Chiu Wai Leung) through a variety of
different periods of his life as well as the life of the fictional character
that he writes for his series of "2046" stories. The plot is entirely
too complex and full of beautiful nuance to truly do it justice in such a short
synopsis. The only way that I might perhaps be able to describe the film in an
attempt to advocate for its narrative is to try and convey just how engaging
and successful Wong Kar-wai was in crafting a world (or worlds in this case) in
which you, the viewer, are invited to spend some time. The film is both firmly
rooted in a time period, yet timeless, and it is inhabited by fascinating
characters that are equal parts elegant and human. When I reflect upon my time
spent in the universe of 2046, I am hit equally by an intense empathetic
remembrance of the emotions evoked by the characters throughout the story and
my memory of the sheer elegance and splendor of the visuals of the setting that
Wong Kar-Wai has created for his characters.
These two aspects are brought to
life through the amazing performances of the actors and actresses and the
beautiful cinematography by Christopher Doyle and Pung-Leung Kwan. In addition
to the captivating and commanding performance of Tony Chiu Wai Leung as our
leading man, Li Gong, Faye Wong (who was the enchanting co-lead again with Tony
Chiu Wai Leung in Wong Kar-Wai's fantastic romantic comedy, Chungking
Express (1994)), Takuya Kimura, Ziyi Zhang, Carina Lau and many others
provide skillfully nuanced performances that bring life to the beautiful
scenery. While an amazing lead performance is certainly necessary, it is the
strength of the supporting cast that makes the story of our leading man truly
worth following. This immense story of love and loss, and humanity's often unhealthy
worship of and escape to the past would be nothing without the hypnotic performances
of all of the actors and actresses in this film.
Often when I think about the films
of Wong Kar-wai my mind is immediately drawn to just how magnificently they are
shot and the fact that I can't help but be swept into the plot of a film that inhabits
such a lush, wondrous and striking space. My experience with Kar-Wai’s films
has been rather strange as 2046 was the first of his films that I saw
and it directly and tacitly references two of his more venerated works.
Initially after seeing the trailer for the film and the poster/design campaign
behind the film, I was drawn to the set design, costume design, art direction,
and sheer exquisiteness of every detail of the movie. I then decided that I needed
to watch the film and see what it was all about, it was then that the true
power of the story and multifaceted narrative took me over. After that I
insatiably sought out as much of the director’s work as I could find, beginning
with In the Mood for Love and Chungking Express (and then on to
many others). 
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