'2046'

2046 is a time and a place in a strange unattainable future where the desires of our memories are satisfied. it is also a hotel room through which women enter the life of a sleazy journalist who unsuccessfully attempts to satisfy his one true love through affairs with different women.

highly stylized- in fact often claustrophobically so- screens split in two halves, lush saturated colors, terribly beautiful women and a storyline that jumps back and forth through reality and imagination. wong kar wai’s sequel to ‘ in the mood for love’ is self consciously epic and dreamlike.

for me it falls apart when the dream is analyzed using rather trite pop psychology, or when the sponsors logo wafts in and out of the futuristic city shots and stays on distastefully like an emblem through the entire closing titles (is he being cynical- or just a slave to the system).

when the film was shown at cannes – it seems many people complained about its unintelligible structure and theme. so i guess in the new cut all ambiguity is foregone with a voiceover that leaves almost nothing to the imagination.

somewhere vaguely it reminded me of alain resnais’ ‘last year at marienbad’ which was so brilliant and played with similar themes (perhaps). enigmatic and surreal, it left so many possibilities for interpretation. 2046 almost got there- but did not.