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Location:
Melbourne
Registered:
June 2004
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ShiRi's Asian Movie Review: 2046 [CH]
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Fri, 12 August 2005 02:58
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It has been a long time since I have done an Asian Movie Review, But I'm feeling like doing one.
I can't be sure how many of you have even heard of this film, but 2046 is an epic story that spans more than just the movie. Directed by Wong Kar-Wai and staring Tony Leung, Zhang ZiYi and Faye Wong, 2046 is a stylish and nostalgic work that continues the thematic continuity of it's twin epic from a few years ago In the mood for love which most believe single handily resurrected Wong's life. It's soft yet harsh story rejoins one of Wong's unforgettable characters from In the mood for love. Chow, who is now a heartbroken, cold, charming playboy, a news writer hack and pulp writer living in 1960's Hong Kong. He lives in a run down, derelict apartment across from Room 2046, where he once, spent the night of his life with the love of it. The film picks up with that room being constantly visited by beautiful women. Chow, seduces each one in turn, and more often than not there being dramatic emotional consequences on both sides.
These affairs and drama inturn produce to serve Chow as the fuel for his latest noir novel. It being a highly symbolic sci-fi story of ardent rebel's and android women which are incapable of human emotion, most importantly that of love. It is set largely on board a bullet train speeding across elevated tracks through the worldwide building canyons of the year 2046 (The title, which by no co-incidence is also the year of China's promise of rule for Hong Kong expires, it's a message that crops up more than once)
While it is not the focus of the film, Wong offers brief snippets of this future in scenes which are stylized, in an effect which is meant to be slightly unreal in CGI Imagery. These stylized scenes, which feature most of the cast in enigmatic secondary roles, blend stark, streamlined 1960's futurism. But the director keeps the bulk of the film focused in the 1960's and Chow's exploitations. It is no mistake that his trademarked yet simple luxurious and iconic visions of hip-hugging silk dresses, cuff links, 70's beehive hairdo's, right down to the coiling cigarette smoke from Chow and his women's cigarettes. Once again we see Wong get the most dramatic effect's in his film by simply using shadowy corners of the frame, or hiding his characters behind doorways to force the audience to see the soul of the players. Somehow, you get a tingle up your back with just a shot of nothing more than a woman's hips, or a pair of high heels.
The cast also is outstanding, using Body Language to convey more than words ever could. Zhang ZiYi(Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) is superb who is more stunning than ever all dressed up in snug 60's attire. Playing a irritable but vulnerable prostitute that always seems as likely to slap Chow as she is to kiss him, the actress's ability to envelop the viewer in this woman's psyche with little more than a glance is mesmerizing.
Time is hard to follow in 2046, lingering in eternity in some scenes, speeding through others in montage style. The film does not clearly follow a single direction or towards a traditional film conclusion. The film also has only a flimsy sense of the outside world or it's characters' live outside the moments of intensity when they are on screen. Wong's structural choices may be confusing, but take the film as you would a fine wine, leaving it to breathe, savouring it slowly on your analytical appetite and its intricate flavour becomes both richer and more logical as its bouquet fills every impressive inch of the screen.
I rate it 4 out of 5
2046 Can be seen at Rivoli Cinema's in Carlton, Melbourne, The DVD is avaliable on www.yesasia.com.
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