2046

[roddy]

If there is a novel I'm amazed the bookstores aren't full of it. . . .

Roddy

[Jack MacKelly]

I saw 2046 in a Shenzhen theater last month, a few weeks after it had opened. Chinese and Japanese subtitles, but not English. I could follow the story with my very limited Chinese, but I really liked the film.

Purchased the DVD with English subtitles in Shenzhen, and now enjoy it even more. Beautiful to watch, beautiful soundtrack, intriguing story (based on the novel).

Can't wait until it opens in the US so I can see it again in the theater.

must be very good so

[Zingaro]

Skylee - Apologies. The movie wasn't based on a novel. A review I read mistakenly made this assertion, and I believed it.

I should know better than to believe what film critics say.

[Ian_Lee]

I just watched the first half of the movie yesterday (Director Wong's movie takes time to digest).

I have to say I like this movie very much (at least the first half). And of course I didn't fall asleep (I watched till 1 a.m.).

Both Zhang Ziyi and Tony Leung acted superb. In fact, Zhang's performance is better than her roles in other Kung Fu movies.

Here is what I think of the movie:

(1) Though the movie title makes you think it is a sci-fi movie, actually it (the first half) is another nostalgic movie of Director Wong. It seems Wong can never get rid of his fixation on the era of '60s in Hong Kong. (But if anybody has lived through that era in HK, actually it was as charming as what Wong portrayed.)

(2) Why did Director Wong pcik the year 2046 and not other years? Moreover, 2047 is also mentioned (Leung stayed in that room). 2046, one year before 2047, like 1997, is kind of politically sensitive for HKer like Wong.

(3) The script between Zhang Ziyi (Mandarin) and Tony Leung (Cantonese) is very well-written. Does anyone feel it odd? But actually that is exactly what happened in that era. A lot of first generation refugees from lower Yangtze flooded to HK at that time and they still haven't been Cantonized. Hmmm.....my dad was speaking Cantonese to his Shanghaiese girlfriend whom used Mandarin that I personally eyewitnessed.

[Ian_Lee]

Though 2046 was narrowly defeated in Cannes and Golden Horse, it won the Best non-European Film Award in "Euro Oscars":

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/12/12/1102786936188.html?oneclick=true

[gato]

In fact, Zhang's performance is better than her roles in other Kung Fu movies.

I thought her acting was kind of exaggerated. I don't like her voice. It's kind of squeaky. That ruined her pretty face for me. I found Faye Wong and Gong Li to be more attractive in the movie. No wonder Tony Leung was in such a funk.

[Ian_Lee]

I thought her acting was kind of exaggerated. I don't like her voice. It's kind of squeaky.

Actually that is exactly the way the niteclub girls acted and talked in HK. Zhang's portrayal in the movie was more real than Nancy Kwan in "Suzie Wong".

[gato]

Actually that is exactly the way the niteclub girls acted and talked in HK.

From personal experience?

[Ian_Lee]

Finally I finished the second half of the movie.

Just wonder how come Maggie Cheung occupied such small portion in the movie -- just a glimpse. Rumor was abound that Director Wong has cut almost all of Maggie's footage in the movie -- that is why Maggie got so mad and teased Wong in the press interview that no actor/actress understood what he intended to produce.

(Director Wong is famous in editing just 1/10 out of what he has filmed.)

In "House of Flying Daggers", it is hard to convince that both handsome guys -- Takeshi and Lau -- would fight for a country girl that Zhang Ziyi performed.

In "2046", it is also hard to convince that Tony Leung could resist the invitation of charming Zhang Ziyi to stay for one more night.

Even though this movie has been made over a 5-year span, it looks like Wong has written off the early footage that was taken. The actors and actresses didn't get older in the movie.

Well, I am surprised that this movie was actually budgeted by a Mainland studio. Just wonder if it would financially support another lavishly spending art house movie filmed by the 5th generation director?

[Quest]

Even though this movie has been made over a 5-year span, it looks like Wong has written off the early footage that was taken. The actors and actresses didn't get older in the movie.

Preparation and editing take a lot of time too.

[bhchao]

Saw the film on Christmas Eve and liked it a lot. Very stylish Chinese version of film noir.

Was impressed with Zhang Ziyi's performance. She gets better each time. Although she had a lot of chemistry with Tony Leung and their dialogue was witty, I found their scenes boring. Strangely, I liked Leung's scenes with Gong Li and Faye Wong much more.

Have to admit that it took me some time to comprehend the message Wong is trying to convey to the audience.

I was surprised that Maggie Cheung did not open her mouth in this movie. I hope she got paid a lot for those short, flashback memory scenes.

[gato]

Although she had a lot of chemistry with Tony Leung and their dialogue was witty, I found their scenes boring. Strangely, I liked Leung's scenes with Gong Li and Faye Wong much more.

Probably because their characters were more appealing, even though one might find Zhang Ziyi more physically attractive.

Wong Karwai's movies are more about expressing a feeling rather than a message, namely that of unrequited love and loneliness. It's what makes them so appealing at a gut level, I think. Message movies are usually too predictable to be interesting.

[bhchao]

Wong Karwai's movies are more about expressing a feeling rather than a message, namely that of unrequited love and loneliness.

I felt kind of sad hearing Tony Leung's narrations throughout the movie, for example, "It's no good meeting the right person too early or too late, for love is about timeliness," because I can identify with this given my own experiences.

Also liked the quote "There is no substitute in love."

[Ian_Lee]

I don't think this movie reflected Director Wong's feeling.

I read a critique that says this movie actually reflects Wong's brain frequency.

Why brain frequency? Just think of it.

Only in our brain do we think in the way this movie proceeds.

Suddenly in the future, then flip back to the past, and in the future, and in the past again,....

Suddenly substitute yourself with so-n-so (or so-n-so replaces yourself), daydreaming kissing somebody that you refrain in daily life,......

[gato]

Brain frequencies and feelings are not necessarily incompatible. I guess you didn't enjoy being disoriented?

[bhchao]

Brain frequencies and feelings are not necessarily incompatible.

Read this:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=571&ncid=571&e=11&u=/nm/20041229/hl_nm/brain_breakups_dc

[blackadder]

The music somehow reminds me the movie schindler's list..

[Gary Soup]

Am I the only one?

I found "2046" ponderous, self-conscious, predictable, cliche-ridden and unrewarding. By the end of the movie, I could utter Tony Leung's lines before he opened his mouth. Even the soundtrack was predictable and formulaic. On the postive side, I thought the acting was great (except for half of Faye Wong's roles) as was the cinematoraphy.

The highlights for me were:

Faye Wong as an android (she seems to have a telent for mugging and mimcry).

Gong Li as "the Black Spider" (but then again, Gong Li can do no wrong).

Zhang Ziyi as a grownup sophisticated slut.

The lowlights were:

Faye Wong as a human (her girl-next-door bit is getting a little worn)

Being teased with just a fleeting glimpse of Maggie Cheung (well, she got a prominent billing, anyway)

Hearing about "telling a secret to a hole in a tree" for (what was it?) three times and then having Tony Leung tell us he knew another Su Lizhen a long time ago. Weren't we supposed to "get" that? How about just a raised eyebrow when he heard Gong Li's real name?

Hearing "One hour later... ten hours later.... 100 hours later

"Areas 1224 and 1225".... Now that was a real gotcha! Even had Mr. Zhou slapping his forehead when the reference sunk in.

I'll also give credit to Tony Leung for carrying the whole mess on his back, despite being given a mostly dead-pan role of a character only slightly more redeemable than Scott Peterson.

One thing I didn't get (or at least I hope I didn't) was the choice of "Bai Ling" as the name for Zhang Ziyi's character.

[Ian_Lee]

Wong Kar Wai was on PBS yesterday chatting with Charlie Rose. Probably it was used to boost the August release of 2046 in US.

(Usually Jackie Chan and Jet Li would appear on David Letterman instead of Charlie Rose.)

During the chat, Wong spoke about how he was inspired to make 2046.

Wong said that the film 2046 is about "promises". He used the name 2046 which is the last year of the "50-year unchanged system of HK" because the "50-year unchange" is the biggest promise he ever experienced when he first started to make the film in late '90s.

Wong also talked about his family. He said his father was a sailor, then changed career as a manager of nightclub. So that is why his movie revolves around female ballroom dancer.

But Wong also clarified to Rose that in the old days, ballroom dancers were not prostitutes.

Wong also said that many of the figures portrayed in 2046 are people in transit. They were (like him) Shanghaiese, formed their own exclusive community in HK and spoke their own language, and regarded HK as a place of transit.

[Hekate]

I saw the movie last year.... and was a bit disappointed.

I must say that I love Days of Being Wild (one of my favourite films), it's true there are many references to his previous films (especially of course Days of Being Wild & In the Mood for Love); but I still prefer his early movies than this one.

Reasons ? I found Gong Li's character too distant and cold and seemed too rigid & somehow uncomfortable, especially if I compare to Carina Lau & Faye Wong who I thought were the best of all the cast. Zhang Ziyi's role annoyed me very much (but I'm not a Zhang Ziyi fan). Overall, I found the movie too sophisticated and suffered from it to the point that the characters seemed like prisoners to its aestitics and its style. To me, it became hermetic, senseless. I felt that the film lost the originality, the capacity to express all kinds of sensory impressions that Wong used to have in his other film to become just a block, or a gallery of famous and beautiful personalities...

....