Film Reviews

2046

• Rating:
• Director: Kar Wai Wong
• Starring: Dong Jie
• Details: Chi/ 127 mins/ (15A).

A loose sequel of sorts to the director's own critical smash, In the Mood for Love (2000), 2046 is a gorgeous-looking if vague mediation on love and the forces which shape us. Last seen jacking it up in the magnificent Infernal Affairs (2002), Tony Leung plays Chow, a playboy writer who moves to Hong Kong in an effort to finish his novel, 2046. His procrastination in actually submitting the manuscript isn't exactly helped by his eye for the ladies, whom he pursues relentlessly. Residing in a low rent hotel - his room is number 2046 - Chow goes about his business of writing and meeting as many women as possible, some he shares a history with.
Since the film has been in production for several years, its star, Tony Leung, once speculated that the film may not be ready until the year of its title, but 2046 is as beautiful a picture as Kar Wai Wong has made. The film's rather delicate narrative structure requires some patienc - it loses sight of plausibility frequently - but one suspects that Kar Wai Wong wasn't overly concerned with the creditability of his narrative. Romance and mapping the pattern of the human heart seem to rank highly on his list of objectives, and through the swirling images and delicate frames of 2046, he delivers just that.

Review by Garreth Murphy