2046 – 5/5
2046 - 5/5
At first glance, there isn’t much noteworthy about 2046. If you’re just watching to watch, you’ll notice the fantastic, artsy cinematography, the excellent soundtrack, and the flat storyline. Hmm… asian film, pretty visuals, empty storyline… pretty much describes every anime film ever made. I was ready to dismiss it after the first 40 minutes as art house eye candy.
However, when I reflected on what I had just watched, I realized at least some of the multiple levels that this movie was operating on. 2046 is also a story of love (not a love story, that is here too), an exploration of the human imperative to be with someone in a world of loneliness, a story of loss, memory and the past, and also an inner existentialist dialogue.
2046 is all of these things, but it is also a eulogy for Hong Kong.
Let me back up a step. 2046 is the sequel, sort of, to In the Mood for Love (summary: a man and a woman living in the same building realize that their spouses are having an affair. They spend much time together and have much in common, but are determined to not be as lowly as their spouses). There is plenty of crossover, from the opening monologue to the name of Chow’s Great Loves (Su Li Zhen, played in the original by Maggie Cheung, played in 2046 by Li Gong). It’s more of an echo than a sequel. Think of it as a derivative of ItMfL, but not a continuation of the storyline.
In 2046, Chow has become a womanizing, hard-drinking, cynic. He leaves Singapore in 1966 and returns to Hong Kong (the setting for In the Mood for Love), where he writes for a newspaper. He womanizes, he loves, he loses, he gains… and he’s also writing a novel set in the present but told as coming back from the future year of 2046. The tense of the narrative changes from present day (ca. 1966-67) to future looking backward (2046 to now) a few times. See, in 2046, there are trains connecting the whole world and many people are trying to get on them. To get to 2046, a place where nothing changes and no memories (and thus, no loves) are lost. No one ever returns. No one, that is, except Chow. Or the literary character that Chow is writing, at any rate. The voice of Chow-1967 and Chow-2046 are intermingled in a pleasing, and quite intentional, way.
There’s plenty in this movie for numerologists to love. There is a shot of Hotel 20×25 (Chow’s newspaper bits are 20 characters by 25 lines), there’s something to do with 10s, 200s, eight, and of course 2046. 2046 is the hotel room number that Chow wanted to stay in and the room he and Su share in In the Mood for Love.
2046 is also the year that the People’s Republic of China’s “status quo ante” guarantee to Hong Kong expires. Technically, it’s January 1, 2047, but 2047 is Chow’s room in 2046, so take your pick. Same difference.
In this way, 2046 is quite similar to Graham Greene’s The Quiet American, with a world-weary, heavy-drinking, cynical writer looking ruefully toward an inevitable future of loss and wistfully toward a past of loss beauty, standing in for Fowler’s world-weary, heavy-drinking, cynical writer looking ruefully toward an inevitable future of loss and wistfully toward a lost beautiful past. Chow’s loss is self-directed and under his control, Fowler’s is the opposite, a loss of captive love against his will.
It’s possible, though I highly doubt it, that Bai Ling (Zhang Ziyi) is a stand-in for the Chinese flirtation and dismissal of the British (she leaves for Singapore). I can see it, but… it’s a big stretch. Oh, and if someone wants to explain what the symbolism of Chow’s Japanese character (the one coming back from 2046) biting so forcefully into the apple, I’m all ears. Note: I am not sure any of this symbolism was intentional. Wong is a great director of moods, not so much one of meaning and all of this could be just subtext unknown but present. Or I could be reading too much into a pretty movie where the image is the message, man.
There are tons of of great, artsy type things that are not necessarily symbolic, but are demonstrative of a Work of Art as opposed to get-it-out dross. Things like the noir aspects to the Singapore line (cinematography, dialogue, and stilted acting), to the sepia toned cab rides that mirror Chow’s character’s development (in the second shot, Chow is alone, but in the same posture as earlier when he wasn’t, making the absence of the Other that much more poignant and memorable; both of these echo a cab scene with the One Love from Chow’s past). There are many bits like this throughout, showing the level of care and attention to detail that went into this movie. Bully on ya, Wong Kar Wai!
Stepping away from the symbolism, I also greatly enjoyed Chow’s character. A man filled with self hatred and still longing for the One Love that is no longer present, that he refuses to allow himself any real fealing or to allow himself to get close to anyone, particularly women. He is a user, grossly cruel and distant, a playboy, and yet… kind and loving at the same time, so long as no permanent relationship is required. Chow’s goodness and warmth shine through even when he’s being a cad. It is but a shallow warmth, though – he loves helping women do Big Events (such as paying for a plane ticket), but heartless, cruel, and most of all clueless in the same instance (paying for dinner with his and Bai’s blood/love money. For the record, I think he was clueless as to the money; he had an inkling it should mean something, but couldn’t place it, so he used it anyway, thus breaking Bai’s heart (again) and echoing their very first encounter when he ruined the moment by becoming a john). Chow’s existence is warped by his constant comparison of every woman in his life with his perfected image of his One Love, Su Li Zhen. This distorts him, distorts his viewpoint, destroys his capacity for relationships, and leads him to write 2046, the novel in the movie of the same name. He’s a great character and one that I feel I understand deeply. Make of that what you will.
And so on. For whatever reason, this movie really got my neurons all fired up.
The visuals throughout the movie are amazing. Lots of heavily saturated reds and greens, and you can tell that each shot was meticulously thought out for color and balance. For example, there is a shot of Zhang Ziyi on her bed; her robe is purple, her comforter is green, one pillow is blue, one is white, and the lighting is pinkish. All the colors are complementary (shades of pastel, actually) and gorgeous… and that shot was maybe 6 seconds long. Now stretch that for 128 minutes and you’ve got an idea of the visual opulence. The Hong Kong/Bai Ling sets are all greens, reds, and yellows. The Singapore/Su Li Zhen sets are all noirish black and white with heavy use of shadows. The soundtrack is superb as well with lots of classical and latin pieces.
Acting is good, this is Zhang’s best performance by far of anything I’ve ever seen her in. Leung Chiu Wai is steady and believable, I think without Leung, Chow would have lost that important warmth. Cast notables include: Tony Leung Chiu Wai (Hero, Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love), Zhang Ziyi (everything, lately), Li Gong (every Zhang Yimou or Chen Kaige movie, ever), Faye Wong (famous C-pop singer too, Chungking Express), and a brief brief appearance by Maggie Cheung (Irma Vep, Bride with White Hair, Dragon Inn, Hero, a bazillion others).
Side notes: it would be a close contest between Zhang Ziyi and Reese Witherspoon for tiniest mighty mite on the silver screen. Both are lucky to hit 5’1″, I’m thinking. And Leung’s lucky to be 5’3 or 5’4 (don’t believe IMDB – it’s like NBA guidebooks where the heights are never accurate. Everyone in IMDB is actually 4 inches shorter than their listing). Li Gong is a normal sized, like 5’6-5’8 or so (watch the scenes between her and Leung, she’s taller for sure). Normal sized for people, pretty large by asian standards, and huge v. the Zhang/Witherspoon bifecta of powah!
Where was I? Oh yes, great movie. Purty, too.