Review of 2046 (2004) by Thomas M — 26 Jan 2008

I must say that among the 5 people on the planet that didn't like in the mood for love, there's me. so I had to make a big effort to drag myself to see 2046. but I was in an asian flick extravaganza, I like science fiction, especially when it looks a bit metaphysical, so I went. and I was smashed! this movie is my kind of a gem: the storyline is complicated, liquid, it weaves several characters, times, plots and styles around the mere spine of a narrative voice: that of the writer, an undecided writer lost in his works and reverie. all the subplots are equally fascinating: the ziyi zhang one (with her outstanding prostitute charater), the fay wang plot with her japanese boyfriend in which the narrator is but a distant observer (finally we get another serving of the delightful elf from chunking express), the li gong plot (set in a stylized past), the futurist plot (dreamlike and allegorical).

The whole movie is a phenomenal experience, like the soul meandering of an artist in the making, opening the doors of his mind and emotions to create and allowing himself to drift unconstrained. music, cinematography, everything supports this sensorial flow. and finally, there, hidden between layers of thoughts, ultra briefly, the image of the loved woman rises up from a bed: maggie cheung, materializes and faints, suddenly making me regret not to be able to immediately watch back in the mood for love as a longer and slower chapter of this magnifiscent web. thanks for such a cinematographic ufo.