Review of 2046 (2004) by Keenan S — 06 Jun 2015

My first Wong Kar-Wai experience was with the flawed but enjoyable film, The Grandmaster. Even from that first experience, there was something so interesting and fascinating about the director and his methods, but I didn't come to truly know his name until I watched 2046 and I saw the true greatness of the director and why he is such a respected and beloved film-maker.

What we have here with 2046 is a magnificent romantic drama and science-fiction/fantasy masterpiece that stands above many of its peers in its respective genres as it seamlessly blends the genres together, creating a beautiful, stylish, heartfelt, heart-breaking, sexy, and thoroughly engaging film about unrequited love and loneliness. It's a very soulful film that digs deep into the characters and their troubles, without ever becoming overwrought or insincere in its methods and depictions. It tackles the most fragile of human emotions, but also one of the strongest: the want and the need for love. It's not exactly a cheerful film, but it is rather a bittersweet film with beautiful moments, but it also has its moments of heartbreak and sadness, much like the nature of love itself.

After working in Singapore for a number of years, writer/journalist Chow Mo-Wan has returned to Hong Kong to stay at a hotel where he had an affair with a woman named Su Li Zhen (His character's lover from the 2000 film, In The Mood For Love) - his most ideal woman whom he had to end an affair with years earlier. He learns the room - 2046 - where they conducted their affair in was also the room of her death, as she had been stabbed by her jealous boyfriend only the night before.

He decides to stay in room 2047 until renovations are done, but decides to stay as he has made himself quite comfortable. But room 2046 develops a new significance to him as it becomes the place where multiple troubled women make it their residence over the course of the mid-to-late 1960's ranging from the hotel owner's daughter, Wang Jin Wen, to a showgirl, Bai Ling, while he also has flashbacks of another woman named Su Li Zhen whom he met in Singapore.

The film has multiple arcs like Wang Jin Wen falling in love with a Japanese man, which her father is adamantly opposed to because of the Japanese occupation of China and struggles with her decision on whether or not to keep up the relationship. Bai Ling is a showgirl whom Chow falls for and begins a tumultuous relationship with and how her career flourishes and falls apart. In his flashbacks of the other woman named Su Li Zhen, she is a gambler known as the "Black Spider" who helps him raise money to get back to Hong Kong after draining his savings, but refuses to go with him, even though he has developed a crush on her.

During these various events, he begins writing science-fiction stories incorporating these women into them, all involving the year 2046, where people in the future travel to to recapture lost memories and where nothing ever changes, which is why those who travel there never come back, except for a Japanese man named Tak, who falls in love with an android during the train ride to 2046. Chow's stories provide his escape from the real world, though he lives in the past with them, as he lets these women whom he grows to care for slip through his fingers because of his idealization of the first Su Li Zhen he knew years earlier.

The story is very multi-faceted and multi-layered with a wealth of interesting characters to explore. Each character has a soul, even the very elusive ones, like the second Su Li Zhen. Chow is probably the most interesting character as he observes the troubled women he meets, struggles with letting go of the past, losing the woman he loved most, and buries himself in a science-fiction fantasy of his innermost desires and thoughts, and then coming to certain realizations about his own life. It's also a film about not taking the time to enjoy the present and see what is right in front of you, only to realize what you had too late. It's basically an all-encompassing story about the flaws of human nature trying to cope with the realities of life and what we lose in the process of hiding, escaping, and idealizing what can simply never be.

It also does a great job at exploring the various levels of what it feels like to be in love: the good times, the bad times, the unrequited, the forbidden, the feelings of ecstasy, the lust of course, the heartbreak, the letting go, the pleasure, revealing one's inner self, idealizations of love, the sadness, and everything in between. I think that it really does explore all these elements, and quite well, too. It's an honest film that bravely tackles all these elements.

The acting across the board is quite stellar, but then again, it'd better be good considering that this film amassed a great deal of talent like Tony Leung, Ziyi Zhang, Faye Wong, Gong Li, and more. Tony Leung as Chow was probably the best performance as the lovesick writer living too much in the past and not in the present, and he believably performs a wide variety of elements like love, regret, sadness, humor, and also empathy towards these women he meets, like helping Faye Wong's character, Wang Jin Wen, muster the courage to run off with her Japanese boyfriend, or helping out Ziyi Zhang's Bai Ling character even after their relationship has ended.

That's not to say the other actors were slackers. Oh, hell no. In fact, I don't think I would be able to accurately sum up all the great performances because there are so many in this film, and especially as they are all so different from one another. The simplest way is to say that all of the acting is absolutely stellar. This is a great example of doing an ensemble film well.

As this film is a multi-genre piece, there is a lot for a viewer to find here for entertainment. But in its simplest form, it is a phenomenal drama with the great support of romance, science-fiction, and fantasy deepening the quality of the film-making and storytelling elements. It's a very story-oriented film with rich characters and an unusual premise, bolstered by beautiful visuals and a superb soundtrack. There is never a dull moment or a lack of wonder to behold. There is always something, even if subtle, going on at all times and you will always be eager to dig to see what lies in it. I can't properly describe the wonder, the emotional elements, or anything else about this film - you must see it for yourself to behold it in all its glory.

2046 has certainly cemented itself as one of the greatest love stories of our time, and certainly one of my personal favorites. If you like any of the genres this film is classified under, or if you love any great film regardless of genre, 2046 is a must-see because of its tremendous depth and emotional power. GO. WATCH. IT. NOW.