2046 (2004)

“Love is all a matter of timing. It's no good meeting the right person too soon or too late.” Once again, Wong Kar Wai managed to sweep me off my feet with yet another mesmerizing romantic tale. And that’s coming from someone who rarely cares about romance in the first place.

2046 can be considered a loose sequel to the director’s previous smashing piece “In the Mood for Love” but it can be watched for its own merits as well. Despite its abnormal twisty narrative pattern, the film is simply the tale of broken love, unstable emotions and unbearable suffering in the past, present and the future. The protagonist’s monologue was the main focus of driving the plot forward; it held hypnotic significance to the characters’ sensations.

This film leaves a lingering impact. The time frame metaphors Kar Wai used for this film were too impressive for words. He simply tried to tell the past through the future but instead of giving it out bluntly, he went through all the trouble of making this a memorable artistic piece instead. This is the story of a miserable man with love; he can’t seem to keep the women he meets by his side. Is it his broken emotional state or what? He then starts to pour his personal experience and thoughts into his fictional erotic novels. But that’s not it, the writing and editing styles don’t work in an obvious manner, there are always hidden hints and even some transparent humour. Even the apparent limited space holds extravagant and wide meanings behind it.
My blame would be the slow pace sometimes but it never last too long to bore me.

Such a poetic piece had few of the better Hong Kong actors as its main performers plus a Japanese renewed face Kimura Takuya. Tony Leung reprised his role only with a different characterization. Zhang Ziyi led one of her most memorable performances while Gong Li, Faye Wong and Carina Lau had mesmerizing screen presence aided by the top notch writing of their characters. The female department in this film was everything that Wong Kar Wai pictures in women including his passion and his resentment.

That being said, it doesn’t take a genius to state that the best performer was undeniably Wong Kar Wai, the director, the screenwriter, the artist, the poetic, the ingenious and one of the finest filmmakers the world ever knew. His touch was all over the picture; whether it was his overwhelming emotional take, his challenging narrative pattern, his stunning characterization and especially his philosophic and psychological view of love and lust. Let’s not forget his special camera angles, fast cuts and slow motions that he excels at.
Using a specific range of colours, the film was visually dazzling; the cinematography was a drop of brilliance in each scene. Accompanied by a tremendous musical choice and a remarkable production value, the film was wonderfully done. That’s nothing less from Kar Wai, who always manages to impress through his unconventional pictures.

Watch this if:
-You like Wong Kar Wai films.
-You like poetically artistic love stories.

Do not watch if:
-You’re looking for a traditional love story.

2046 is a challenging emotional take about love. It extends from the past through the present and until the future. Such a complicated tale takes a masterful brilliant director like Wong Kar Wai to pull it though successfully.

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I really like this kind of movies but I don’t give them first preference because of their overall vibe. But finally I watched this movie and I’m glad I watched it.

It’s directed by Kar Wai Wong (Director of ‘In the Mood for Love’). 2046 looks like sequel of ‘In the Mood for Love’ which also features Tony Leung. Well, it’s sequel but 2046 is not totally dependent on ‘In the Mood for Love’.
2046 is a beautiful movie about romance and regret. It is an art film so it’s very poetic, slow paced and also sensual and unlike ‘IMFL’ it’s very complicated. Sometimes it’s really hard to understand the events happening. Time jumps are very puzzling; I read somewhere “2046 is a beautiful mess!” Also there are many similarities between ‘IMFL’ and 2046.

Visually it’s really good, mostly filmed in green and red tone with classy retro setup. Cinematography is beautiful but some special effects are really weird.

I’m Tony, Ziyi, Maggie and Li Gong fan, so I expected impressive performances. Most impressive is Zhang Ziyi. She’s not only beautiful but very talented too. I saw her great performances in ‘The Road Home’ and ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’; she gave her one of the best performance. Tony Leung is as great as always, he portrayed his ‘womanizer jerk trapped in sadness’ character very well. Same goes for Li Gong. Her screen time is less compared to Ziyi and Tony but she’s equally powerful. Faye Wong, Carina Lau and Kimura Takuya – I heard many good things about these three but this is first time I watched them. Faye Wong is very likable and Kimura Takuya and Carina are also good in their tiny role.

Like ‘IMFL’ music is really beautiful. It nostalgic and creates emotional environment.

I like this movie very much but it’s not a re-watch material, it’s quite heavy film to watch again so if I may watch it again after few years.

It’s a must watch for those who love poetic, slow art films and especially for those who enjoyed ‘In the Mood for Love’! 2046 is better than ‘IMFL’.

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