2046: Os Segredos do Amor

A journalist quits his job, when his novels became top-seller. To be able to finish his last novel he needed inspiration, so he revisits a cheap motel which he has lived bittersweet memories with his ex-love, 2 years ago in 1967. The story takes place in 1969 in the same motel, once the novelist decided to stay there.

The novel he was writing has been a science fiction at first. Whereas, he's driven by a serendipity that the name of this novel "2046" is also the room number in which he and his ex has shared a love. Into that room, now a harlot settles in. He enriches his novel by putting himself as the true love of this harlot staying in room 2046. As destiny would have it, when the harlot meets him she really falls in love with him. By courtesy of her swallowing his bait, the novelist subjoins an erotic component into his novel. Let's gather together the first phase of the movie: We have one man and two woman. First woman left him 2 years ago, and he is still in love with her. Then at the present time, the second woman falls in love with him.

The second phase is the vengeance of the novelist from the woman he loved in 1967. This phase forms the essence of the novel: The future in the year 2046. Future is under the control of dreamers. Everybody who can dream and who can love, can travel into 2046 deep in their heart to recapture their lost memories. The novelist never goes there, 'cause he knows that if he goes once, he would never return to the present time, and would stay stuck in the future, living in the memories. Instead of making himself gone, he sends her inconstant love into 2046 as an android woman. Living as an android, the woman doesn't have a heart. But a young man falls in love with her. She yearns for him so much, but she could never express her feelings nor the look in her eyes could ever change; since she has no heart no more. She realizes that she deserves to be loved, and denies herself. She begins suffering of the love she remained lighthearted to the novelist 79 years ago. Witnessing her repentance, the novelist forgives her love; and wants her back at the present time in 1969.

At the last phase the novelist loses himself before his love finds him. Because his novel concludes to an ending which he doesn't have the love for her true love anymore, he depletes his inspirations to finish his novel without the memories of his past love. When she returns to him, he stands indifferent.

An amazing story layering ahead, including tons of short stories inside, and the director Wong Kar Wai uses a giddy and ravishing cinematography for use of symbolism. It's the viewers' duty to solve the puzzles of the storyline, to match the short stories with their attributions and to set in order of the straight-going novel versus unsteadily progressing movie; which altogether I shared with you above.

Both director and the writer of 2046, Wong Kar Wai presents a novel adaptation in the movie, and a movie adaptation in the novel; in conclusion a mixture of two arts on silver screen.

This film is the autobiographical narrative of a writer's love life between 4 women back in 1960's, and his imaginative reality on board of the train 2046.

This film is very beautifully made. It is atmospheric, with excellent cinematography and a very beautiful classical soundtrack. The story weaves from one relationship to another without getting confusing, even though they do not occur in chronological order. The emotions portrayed are rich and varied. I am particularly impressed by Ziyi Zhang's performance in the film as a woman who makes the transition from being strong willed and independent woman to being desperately in love. The plot is complex and will require many viewings to understand what it is about. There is a lot of imagery in the film, and many of them I have not been able to spot if I had not read the other comments here. This film is really a piece of art!

"2046" is the number of an apartment where a journalist lives. It is also the title of his novel, which takes place in the future. And it is also the last year before the 50-year period the Chinese Government promised to let Hong Kong remain as it is...

Wong-Kar-Wai comes back 4 years after "In the mood for love" with another refined and delicate movie, although this one has not the same strength as the previous... Because the director wants to develop too many themes (love, the power of memories, the lack of communication, the importance of living now...). "In the mood for love" was maybe more focused on a love story and the impossibility of living it. "2046" is a sort of sequel, but we don't understand very well where the director wants to lead us.

Apart from that, the film deserves to be watched because it is original, it explains that we don't have to live the future in putting there the hopes which belonged to the past, otherwise life has a wasted meaning. The film is colourful and cinematography is excellent. Very slow, yes, but a film like this one follow its own poetry, images here are much more important than words.

Kar Wai Wong is without a doubt, one of the best directors today. That said, with "2046" he achieves something of an impressive feat with this film that keeps reminding us of his previous "In the Mood for Love", which in comparison, pales next to this new installment of Mr. Wong's take about the life of the character of the previous film. The gorgeous cinematography of Christopher Doyle, Kwan Pun Leung and Yiu-Fai-Lai has a rich texture throughout the film and the haunting musical score by Peer Raben and Shiguru Umebayashi fits the movie like a glove.

Some people commenting in this forum have expressed the view of Mr. Wong's film being futuristic because the way the film starts. But basically, those futuristic sequences last so little on the screen that it might be a misnomer for "2046" to be deemed about the future, when in reality we are taken back to the sixties when Mr. Chow is seen so much in love with Bai Ling.

Mr. Wong gives us a vivid account of what the two lovers had together, but he also takes us back when something is revealed about Mr. Chow we never knew about his involvement with SuLi Zheng, the mysterious woman who is lucky in winning for him an enormous amount, but while he falls in love with her, she coolly lets him go.

We are also shown Wong Jing Wen, who Mr. Chow had a passionate love affair with, in the previous film. It appears the involvement they both had is now clearly forgotten, or maybe it wasn't as important as it once appeared to be.

The director's technique calls for an infinite amount of medium shots, usually over the shoulder of the person that listens. As a matter of fact, there is hardly any scenery in the film since most of the action either takes place while the characters are seen in conversation, or in bed where some of the torrid encounters take place. The futuristic scenes seem to be a sort of limbo where the characters, like the beautiful Android, seems to in in a world of her own.

The best asset in the film is the music the director adds to the different scenes. Some of the music is nostalgic, some operatic, or depending on whatever is being emphasized at the moment. The music enhances the action in ways that make the film hard to forget.

The best thing the director has in the film is the enormously talented Tony Leung. Mr. Leung is an actor that is always interesting to see in anything. In this film, Mr. Wong and his main actor show how attuned they both are to their collaboration. Ziyi Zhang is tremendously appealing as Bai Ling, the woman that loved intensely and suddenly finds herself on her own after the affair ended. Gong Li is seen briefly as SuLi Zheng, the mysterious woman with the one black globe he meets in Singapore. Also Maggie Cheung and Carina Lau contributed to the film as the women in Mr. Chow's life.

"2046" is a hypnotic piece of film making because the magnificent style which Kar Wai Wong gives to everything in the film to achieve this moody piece that examines love relationships in ways that are seldom seen in the movies.

Movies, due to dubbing, are usually late in Germany. While the rest of the world is enjoying, or has finished enjoying their movies, we are still waiting here. Except when it comes to many of the new Asian movies.

2046 was the same. Already released on DVD me and my girlfriend were quite interested in seeing it. Having already seen "In the Mood for Love" we were looking forward to something much the same, except hopefully a little faster in pace and emotionally-heated. I thought I was going to be the Hero – renting a romance (which I don't normally go for) but it turned out to be a disappointment.

Perhaps it is not so much the fault of the movie, but of the trailers that lead you to believe that the movie is something that it isn't.

The movie is, like many other films from Kar Wai Wong, a visual masterpiece in my opinion. I was riveted to the images – he is truly a modern painter. This is not to be underestimated. This is enough to get you through the whole movie, despite its crawling pace. Simply for the images I can understand that many viewers would love this movie.

But it takes more then that to make the "ultimate love movie" (as it was advertised here in Germany). I found many parts in the movie confusing and mixed up, I got the impression towards the end that the movie might not be in chronological order. If it isn't, then there is much more to investigate for me, if it is, then I have to say that the movie isn't that clear, and that the characters motives and feelings are not always properly portrayed.

If this was a book, I would love to read it. Simply to get into the heads of the characters and find out what they were thinking, what was driving them, and how they were feeling. Perhaps that is what is left out, perhaps that is why we find it so odd here in the West. We are used to romances being opened and voiced, and usually simple. We are not used to people feeling emotions but hiding their motives behind those emotions, which might be more understood in a conservative society such as China.

This is a movie I would love to own, and watch over and over again, just to try to understand if there is any magic hidden that cannot be seen at the first watching. I would not be surprised if that is how it is, but the long dragging scenes might hinder me from sitting though it more then 2 more times, because it drags. Perhaps next time Kar Wai Wong should hire a brutal editor and good writer to get his ideas out, because this movie had greater potential then what it became. Still, for me it gets 7/10 : its far from BAD.