Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Somewhere in the world, a film by Wong Kar Wai is playing that I can’t see yet. Grrrrrr...
Hi Harry,
Wong Kar Wai is that rare thing among Hong Kong filmmakers – an artist more interested in character and mood than in product placements and the quick buck. For this reason he is given something of a cold shoulder by the local industry, sneered at for his “pretensions” and resistance against putting Charlene Choi (or any other equally untalented and unlikeable poppette) in every movie he makes. Actors of course, all want to work for him. A Wong Kar Wai film will almost definitely reach an overseas audience, immediately be held in high regard and raise their profile onto the international stage, a place where few people other than Jackie Chan and Chow Yun Fat can claim to stand.
The result of this situation is that, provided Wong can pull together the necessary funds to finance his projects, he has the best of both Worlds – a marketable and talented cast without the interference of the local studios. Some might argue, the perfect combination.
Financing however, did not prove so easy to come by. Ever the plight of the independent film, it came in dribs and drabs over a period of four years forcing Wong to film where and when he could afford to. Add to that the over-crammed work schedule of your typical HK actor and you can begin to see how this project became something akin to wrestling a large anaconda in a paddling pool of KY jelly. (What do you mean you’ve never tried?!)
What was originally going to be a tale of three pairs of warrior-lovers in a nihilistic future was soon eclipsed by the unfinished, unsettled emotions of Tony Leung’s writer from Wong’s previous film In The Mood For Love, who slipped into the story somehow and proceeded to take it over. For a long while it was feared that the project had swollen into an indulgent, sprawling mess and even when the film premiered earlier this year at the Cannes film festival, critics and jury members alike shied away from it, claiming it lacked focus or relevance. Wong was quick to confess that the film was still unfinished and took it back to Bangkok to re-edit it and polish up the special effects.
The good news is that his hard work and last minute tinkering seems to have worked. What was very obviously at one stage nothing more than can after can of beautifully constructed yet almost wholly unrelated sequences, has finally found a form that can be appreciated by an audience and enjoyed as a single story of events.
After the failure of his relationship with next-door neighbour Maggie Cheung in In The Mood For Love, writer Chow retreats to 1960s Singapore where he begins a seemingly never-ending string of affairs with almost every woman who crosses his path, that leads him back to Hong Kong and more specifically to the hotel room numbered 2046.
Chow writes a story for the hotelier’s daughter (Faye Wong), inspired by her forbidden relationship with a young Japanese man. His story is set in the year 2046 where broken hearted lovers travel to by train in order to recapture the memories of their past. In 2046 nothing ever changes. The story, predictably becomes autobiographical and Chow realizes that his young Japanese lead is in fact himself and that he cannot find the past that he is so desperately searching for, cannot find Maggie Cheung’s Su Li Shen in any of the other women he occupies his time with. He is drifting slowly into the future trying to recapture a past that is getting further and further away, paying little or no attention to that which currently surrounds him, especially Bai Ling (Zhang Ziyi, who has never been better) the Mainland good time girl who rents the room next door to him (room 2046), whose heart he effortlessly captures and whose wrath he eventually incurs.
Much has been made of the title and it’s relevance to Hong Kong. In 2046 the basic law, set up with the British government will dissolve, leaving the future of Hong Kong firmly in the hands of mainland China. Thankfully however, the film, on the surface at least, never even broaches the subject. It could be argued that the Wong is telling the mainland that Hong Kong has changed, that it is no longer the place taken over by the British all those years ago and although they chase after the year 2046 to recapture the past, to wipe the slate clean of all the bad things that have happened in the many years since, things can never be the same again. But then again, it may not be saying that at all, and ultimately there are other aspects of the film far more important and more interesting than any political agenda.
The wonderful music, from opera to Nat King Cole at once recaptures the mood of the period whilst giving it a rich, otherworldly feel which, when viewed through Chris Doyle’s exquisite kaleidoscope of images, makes the whole film intoxicating. In fact, the look of the film is as important as any of the characters and arguably, along with Zhang and Leung’s performances the most enjoyable aspect of the film.
Like going to an art gallery, soak up the mood, be dazzled by the colours and ultimately come away with whatever you want from it. There is no right, there is no wrong.
Either it draws a feeling, an emotion or a memory from you – or else it’s just a bunch of pretty colours thrown together randomly. Such is art. Such is life.
Until next time,
Marshy
Sounds wonderful. Thanks for the review.
"Moriarty" out.
