REVIEW: DVD Release: 2046

Film: 2046
Release date: 23rd May 2005
Certificate: 12
Running time: 129 mins
Director: Wong Kar-wai
Starring: Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Li Gong, Faye Wong, Takuya Kimura, Ziyi Zhang
Genre: Drama/Romance/Fantasy
Studio: Tartan
Format: DVD
Country: Hong Kong

How to follow up one of the most internationally acclaimed films of recent times? If you’re Wong Kar-wai, you serve up a semi-sequel, sort of-remix. Does 2046 match up to In The Mood For Love?

Picking up four years after the events of In The Mood For Love, newspaper man, Chow (Leung), still nurses a broken heart over the loss of Su Li-zhen, and returns to Hong Kong from Singapore in 1966 as a calculating womaniser who leaves a trail of emotional destruction in his wake.

As he bounces from woman to woman, he documents his experiences in a serialised, allegorical science-fiction story about a semi-mythical utopia called “2046” - a place where people go to “recapture lost memories. Because nothing ever changes in ‘2046’. Nobody really knows if that’s true - because nobody has ever come back…”


What is the significance of the number 2046 as a film title? Is director Wong Kar-wai exploring hitherto un-chartered political waters, presenting audiences with symbolic angst over Hong Kong’s eventual return to overall Chinese control (the famous “one country, two systems” policy being due to expire in the year 2047, with no official word yet on how Hong Kong will be run beyond that point)? How can a character speaking Cantonese have a fluid conversation with a character responding in Mandarin? And why does Gong Li’s character have the same name as the one essayed by Maggie Cheung in Days Of Being Wild and In The Mood For Love?

These are just some of the many questions a first-time viewer will be left scratching their head over during the closing credits of 2046, a film which veers from mildly confusing to outright alienating, all the while being never less than utterly compelling.

Where In The Mood For Love was a heart-driven movie about restrained passion, 2046 is a more cerebral affair about human beings as wounded animals, and the terminal ache of unrealised desire. Thanks in large part to wonderful work from a fine ensemble cast, Wong’s emotional themes resonate profoundly, even if his intellectual commentary may initially seem somewhat garbled.

Gong Li makes a great impression in a very small role, while Zhang Ziyi really begins to show depth and range as a lovelorn escort. But the anchor of the film is Tony Leung, who revisits the romantic hero of In The Mood For Love and re-imagines him as a heartless cad, effortlessly conveying that the promiscuity and emotional cruelty on display are never anything more than weak tonics for his own broken heart.

Technically, the film is never anything less than exquisite. Wong’s visual flourishes remain peerless, whilst the cinematography from Christopher Doyle and Lai Yiu-fai is typically stunning, with its rich texture and originality of composition. Between the fine cast and the matchless crew, a first viewing of 2046 is always arresting, if not especially satisfying.

It’s on repeat viewings that the majesty of the film really shines. With hindsight, the director’s reprisal of music cues from earlier works, such as Days Of Being Wild, become more noticeable, as do various other recalls - such as moments where a character considerately removes a lady’s high heels as she pretends to be asleep; or the use of mysterious female characters who hide behind adopted names/personae in lieu of facing up to who they really are - and in aid of running from memories that are just too painful.

While 2046 may, at times, play like a mid-concert medley of a singer’s greatest hits, to dismiss it as purely self-indulgent is to misunderstand the level that Wong is working on. His abiding theme, consistent in each of his films, is memory and its destructive power over our lives. And what better way to illustrate the weight of memory than to recall characters, metaphors and leitmotifs from his oeuvre?

That being said, 2046 falls just short of ‘classic’ status for this very reason. Though he is among the most distinctive directors working today, Wong’s fingerprints have never been so clearly visible on one of his films before. Where his previous work saw richly realised characters gently meandering through their lives, the director, seemingly at the mercy of their actions (or, more often, inaction), is much more in control of his characters, forcibly guiding them through scenes and sequences to serve his existential commentary. Gone is the exploratory joyousness of Chungking Express and Fallen Angels, and in its place is a colder detachment that one would not normally associate with the director. But this is a minor notch against a film of staggering depth and ambition, that rewards repeat viewings like few others. It may not play well for the uninitiated, but for anyone who has ever seen a single Wong Kar-wai film, it is simply essential.


Not quite a masterpiece, but an engaging and enlightening career retrospective that also happens to be a rather excellent movie in its own right. As the final word on Wong Kar-wai’s cinematic obsession with memory and loneliness, it leaves admirers very excited to see which path he takes with his career from this point. JN

REVIEW: DVD Release: Chungking Express

Film: Chungking Express
Release date: 26th January 2009

Certificate: 12

Running time: 96 mins

Director: Wong Kar-wai

Starring: Bridget Lin, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Faye Wong, Valerie Chow

Genre: Drama

Studio: Artificial Eye

Format: DVD

Country: Hong Kong

There is possibly one and only one context in which you could stare for about 45 minutes at a Taiwanese woman whose identity is utterly protected by a faded blonde wig, a pair of bright red opaque sunglasses and a trench coat, without the slightest impulsion of calling her a weirdo or worse; there is no way this woman is comic or ridiculous, and on the contrary, fascination increases with the secret hope that she may reveal what she hides behind the mask at some point. Wong Kar-wai possesses the hypnotic power that prevents the audience from taking even one eye from her, or the movie.

The film is entitled Chungking Express, which echoes Midnight Express, the name of the snack corner shop located in the outskirts of Hong Kong’s busy streets. As the first narrative tells the audience, people cross one another’s way everyday without knowing each other. As the Midnight Express is the actual place where people can stop for a break from the constant urban hustle and bustle, it stands as well as a crossroads where people can have the opportunity to meet others, and to take the time to create a bond. However, these connections are obviously of no secure balance of interests towards each other; thus, in this framework, Wong Kar-wai catches two Express male-female encounters, that are not directly related, but linked by his desire to explore the construction of potential love stories between a man and a woman in a random environment..

In the first part, the audience follows on the one hand the gentle torments of Cop 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro – Fallen Angels, House Of Flying Daggers) running after criminals, and after love: his ex-girlfriend May split from him on 1st April – April Fool’s Day - and since then he has bought every day one tin of pineapple whose expiration date is on his birthday – 1st May - the day when ideally his love for her will be completely consumed and the pain will be digested alongside the pineapples. On the other hand, a woman with a blonde wig (Brigitte Lin – Ashes Of Times) is in trouble after she has been tricked in a failed drug-smuggling mission. Both fooled characters end up in the same bar on 1st May, and Cop 223 – determined to fall in love with the first woman he meets - initiates the bond between them.

The second part pictures another policeman, Cop 663 (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai), who stops daily at the Midnight Express, either for coffee at the start of his shift, or for takeaways at the end, which he takes to his girlfriend, an airhostess. Faye (Faye Wong - 2046) is a relative of the snack bar’s owner, has recently started to help him out; as she has fallen for Cop 663, she startles out of her reverie and gets the chance to break into his life and his flat when the latter is left by his ex-girlfriend, too, like Cop 223...


Even though the two stories mix a man and a woman in order to observe the possibility of a love match, there is much more than kind sentimentalism. Wong Kar-wai firstly captures the loneliness of these lives in the alienating city, where they are primarily identified by their job and thus losing their individual identity - we can notice that most of the positive interactions work on duty. Possibly because of these pervading masks, the characters struggle to create bonds. This is accurately illustrated by the absence of dialogue that haunts the scenes in which the making of a relationship could progress (Cop 223 and the woman with a blonde wig in the bar and a hotel room; and Cop 663 and Faye at the counter).

Then, Wong Kar-wai manages to produce the touch of melancholy that stands for his signature in this art. Some sweetness comes out from the pineapples of consumed love, the empty uniform of the ex as a souvenir, or the tune California Dreamin’ that rocks the audience to nostalgia for an imaginary past. This melancholy is reinforced by the subtle expression of sadness among the male characters. At last, Wong Kar-Wai’s new wave way of filming creates vivid motives and energetic pictures in absolute harmony with the congested atmosphere… So many points could be endlessly raised and discussed, but it is also the delight of the audience to find its own pleasure whilst watching.


Another masterpiece based on the recurring theme of random encounters. This movie is a sublime representation of the quest of sentimental love from individual perspectives, and the focus on the process and not the product gives a greater insight of its complexity. MCR

REVIEW: DVD Release: In The Mood For Love

Film: In The Mood For Love
Release date: 29th October 2001

Certificate: PG

Running time: 94 mins

Director: Wong Kar-wai

Starring: Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Ping Lam Siu, Tung Cho 'Joe' Cheung, Rebecca Pan

Genre: Drama/Romance

Studio: Tartan

Format: DVD

Country: Hong Kong

Time Out New York recently put this film in the fifth spot of the best films of the previous decade, with the addend that it was the "consummate unconsummated love story of the new millennium." Consummate really is the word to describe it.

The film takes place in Hong Kong in 1962, and charts the blossoming friendship between two neighbours whose spouses’ are having an affair. Distraught at the mutual infidelities of their partners’, the pair, Chow Mo-Wan (Tony Leung) and So Lai-Zhen (Maggie Cheung), find solace in one another’s company. Unanimously deciding to maintain a wholly platonic relationship, not wanting to stoop to the level of their ex-lovers, they go about dining together at a local noodle stand and later working on a martial arts novel. The sexual tension between the two is palpable, to the credit of sympathetic, powerful performances from Leung and Cheung, yet, due in part to the constrictive society they are a part of but perhaps more importantly due to their confused feelings, their love is never consummated.

As time passes, they are forced away from one another by jobs, age and So’s husband’s return, and but for a few brief encounters they end up losing all contact.

In the background are a Dickensian cast of sub characters; Mahjong-playing neighbours, drinkers, wheeler dealers, gambling friends, and the ever reproachful local gossips but, as if a calm in the eye of the storm, So and Chow maintain their intense relationship with a quiet stoicism. The obvious potential for a fulfilled, loving and, critically, sexual affair however never comes to fruition…


Whilst there is much narrative in the film, that is to say many events occur, the plot is rather staid - nothing much actually happens. Interest in the film is maintained through the veritable visual feast provided by Doyle and the slow, serpentine, unravelling of the relationships documented.

What is instantly noticeable is despite Wong Kar Wai’s distinctive writing style, the film is shot in a very different way to many of his other movies. Gone are the blurs and hyper kinetic camera work of earlier films, say Chungking Express, in favour of static cameras that often pick out objects in the foreground rather than the characters and action which blend into the background. This static stylistic choice sets the period of In The Mood For Love effectively, and lends the air of the Kubrick or Hitchcock classics that it seems to be influenced by. Further it mirrors perfectly the characters’ static state of mind and the rut they have worked their inter-personal relationships into. This demure camera work gives space for each individual shot being artfully composed with flashes of lush colour bursting through the otherwise greyscale palette, again mirroring Chow and So’s heart-breaking failure of an affair.

The film’s relationship and use of music is as thoughtful and successful as its use of the camera. Music is often used repetitiously or with small variation, for example different versions of the same song are commonly employed to establish a consistent mood. This roots certain themes to certain sounds, and even specific settings seem to have their own sound colours much like in the best opera (The film‘s use of diegetic sound is very reminiscent of Mozart‘s use of various flute motifs in The Magic Flute). The soundtrack is also elemental in establishing the historical setting (there is extensive use of ‘50s and ‘60s Chinese pop hits, often rearranged western or Latin orchestral numbers) but, more subtly, at hinting at the historical context the film situates itself in. 1962 was a tumultuous period in Hong Kong’s history and other places that the film visits, such as Singapore (which gained its independence from the UK that year, and is probably a major motivation for Chow’s relocation there though this is not obviously stated). Whilst the film invites us to see parallels between context and the disintegration of the characters’ relationships on screen, it does not foist these upon us in simple allegorical or metaphorical terms, more it allows us to view them as two strands weaving together. It raises the point that whilst monumental events are happening around these characters, they themselves are far more concerned about what is happening in their world rather than the world at large.


Few movies explore their subjects with the kind of deft and subtlety as In The Mood For Love. In The Mood For Love cannot be considered as anything other than a masterpiece of modern cinema and stands proud as one of the finest films of the new millennium. JR

REVIEW: DVD Release: Happy Together

Film: Happy Together
Release date: 26th January 2009
Certificate: 15
Running time: 93 mins
Director: Wong Kar-wai
Starring: Leslie Cheung, Kwok-Wing, Tony Leung, Chiu-Wai, Chang Chen
Genre: Drama
Studio: Artificial Eye
Format: DVD
Country: Hong Kong

Flamboyant, camp and loud are the characteristics of a homosexual man which mainstream media has been keen to exaggerate - damaging displays of what it is to be gay dominate today’s society. I’m glad to say that these representations are a million miles away from what director Wong Kar-wai chooses to present in his 1997 outing, Happy Together.

As with most of Wai’s work, the story is limited and focuses on one particular area. We follow the on/off relationship of Lai (Tony Leung - Chungking Express, Lust, Caution) and Ho (Leslie Cheung - Ashes Of Time, A Better Tomorrow). After arriving in Argentina as a couple, suddenly they break up. Ho has been deeply affected by this event. He is trying to move on with his life, but now working in Buenos Aires as a doorman at a Tango bar, Ho unexpectedly turns up one night with another man. Suddenly all of his emotions come rushing back.

Deeply upset and angry that his ex partner has returned, Ho insists on trying his best to get back with Lai. After several confrontational violent arguments, Ho returns to Lai severely bruised and beaten. Lai begins to care for him at his small one bedroom apartment. As Lai and Ho stay together again, overtime Lai’s feelings once again start to develop. What follows are events that will test their love forever…


This is all I care to share about the movie’s narrative - the movie’s success lays in not really knowing a lot about it. This enhances the overall effect of the movie. In fairness, not a lot of events actually happen in this movie. On the other hand, Wong Kar-wai has never been a director to rush along with the development of the narrative. What we have is one of the most authentic and real representations of what it’s like to be in a relationship in cinema history.

Whether you are homosexual, bisexual, lesbian or straight; this movie captures the passion, the foundations of what makes people fall in love with someone; and also presents the effects of what being in love can do. Wai did not choose to exploit the representation of a homosexual relationship - for instance, the movie does not use graphic sex scenes for the sake of ‘shock factor’.

Unlike other gay-targeted productions, the movie works so well because it does not focus on the taboos of being a homosexual in society. The relationship could as easily be a man and woman – it just happens to be two men (they do not act in any manner that is out of the ordinary). This is what drives the movie, seeing their relationship develop over a period of time. In particular moments, Wai will have several scenes back to back in the same location. The cinematography by Christopher Doyle is once again on top form - beautifully captivating a true sense of isolation from the outside world. This makes the relationship seem more believable and on a knife’s edge.

The two characters live in poverty stricken conditions, however Wong Kai-wai manages to craft each shot like they are individual pieces of art. Although Happy Together is not as accessible as his other works, the movie is still enjoyable, making use of two powerhouse performances from Leung and Cheung in career defining roles. The tone of the movie isn’t as funny or hip as say Chungking Express, but this movie isn’t meant to be in that same vein.

Its seriousness and gripping tone throughout does make you care for the relationship. It can be argued that the brief comedic and romantic elements are lost due to the constant violent arguments and struggling desires between the two, but it’s a minor quibble.

The new print of Happy Together has been beautifully remastered for its twelve year anniversary. The sound of Frank Zappa’s guitar sounds crisper, whilst the visuals have been transferred into glorious high definition - the movie looks better than ever!

The DVD comes with an insightful making of documentary, the theatrical trailer and filmographies of both the cast and director. I just wish Wong Kar-wai gave more access to raw footage from his movies. I’d especially like to see some original takes of the argument, for example - it would be very interesting to see how he directed these crucial sequences, and how they developed.


Happy Together is a great experience. The movie looks amazing and is incredibly acted. Most importantly, it creates a representation of homosexual men that is generally lacking in film and TV today. TJP