“2046”
Directed by Wong Kar-Wai
Sony Pictures Classics
The Wong Kar-Wai DVD box set comes emblazoned with a rather
impressive quote from Time on the cover: “The most romantic
filmmaker in the world.” No, no, no. Of all the contentious
statements that could be made about Wong ““ including, even,
world’s greatest director ““ “most romantic”
is often thrown about, but it’s just wrong. Wong makes films
that are about love, and he does so better ““ they can be
beautiful, exhilarating, poetic ““ than any director today.
But to reduce him to romantic is too easy. Nowhere is this more
evident than in his latest work, the masterful
“2046.”
“2046” finally arrives in the United States as
heavily anticipated as any art house film has been in some time,
for the simple reason that it is a sequel to 2000’s “In
the Mood for Love,” perhaps the best film of the past decade
(calm down, David Lynch fans). But whereas “Mood” was a
focused, restrained look at the impossible romance between two
neighbors, “2046” is a sprawling series of variations
on its aftershocks, in CinemaScope.
The title refers to the hotel room number where the characters
Su Lizhen and Chow Mowan may or may not have consummated their
relationship in “In the Mood for Love.”
“2046” picks up in Hong Kong 1966, after the two have
gone their separate ways, and follows Chow’s (Tony Leung)
ensuing days as a swinging bachelor. He chances upon an old friend
staying in room 2046 of another hotel, himself moving into room
2047. By this time, he’s transformed into something of a cold
womanizer and carries out a string of ill-fated relationships in a
pathetic attempt to recapture the memory of his old flame.
It’s about as romantic as “Vertigo.”
Chow’s feelings of loss and emotional distance are
mirrored in the futuristic fiction he churns out, a novel he sets
in the year 2046, where some people travel to a place called 2046
to, yes, recapture old memories. Wong’s vision of
Chow’s vision is ““ in the tradition of any sci-fi
vision worth its salt ““ a stark and cold world, and most of
what he shows us takes place on a train where passengers hold on to
android fembots for warmth. Chow titles this novel, appropriately,
“2046.”
If all of this sounds layered, complex and self-reflexive,
that’s because it is. Multiple viewings may be required to
get one’s head fully around the film, but it is carefully
structured with its own rhythm, and is anything but obtuse. The
film isn’t exactly “8 1â„2,” but it’s
fair game to suggest that metacinematic tendencies do surface. One
can’t help but view Chow’s role as surrogate narrator
and his struggle to summon up lost magic as a commentary by Wong on
the daunting task of following “In the Mood for Love.”
Critics have said the film is emotionally uninvolving, but that
might just be the point. The cumulative effect devastates.
The level of craft put into this film is stunning, most notably
in the acting, set design, and cinematography. Every frame is a
poster. With the possible exception of Terence Malick’s
upcoming “The New World,” a better-looking film will
not grace screens this year.
Romantic, no. But “2046” shrugs off the expectations
of “In the Mood for Love” to emerge on its own merit as
an entirely different and truly great film about love, and
everything after it.
-Alfred Lee