Saturday, January 01, 2005

2046

Chinese cinema has gained serious mainstream interest over the last few years. Thanks to a combination of the appearance in Hollywood of the likes of John Woo, Jackie Chan and Jet Li, as well as films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero and House of Flying Daggers, cinemagoers who would previously never have imagined going to see such films are flocking in their droves for the new releases.

What all three of those films had in common was the actress Zhang Ziyi. She seems to have secured herself a place as the single most popular Chinese actress working today. Here she is reunited with Maggie Cheung from Hero to team up with one of the most revered of all Chinese directors, the cult master that is Wong Kar Wai, for a very different film to the epic martial arts flicks in which audiences are most used to seeing her.

Wong Kar Wai has built a reputation for directing truly beautiful films. But unlike the almost overwhelming, broad beauty of the sweeping landscapes of Hero and Crouching Tiger, his films are usually visually stunning in a deeply intimate manner. His last, In the Mood for Love, which also starred Maggie Cheung, was a close, personal look at love and extra-marital affairs. His most famous, Chunking Express, focussed on twin tales of lost love and its ensuing despair. Both received attention as much for the richly inventive visuals of joint cinematographers Wai Keung Lau (who has since made his own name as a director with the superb Infernal Affairs series, whose Tony Leung also stars here) and Christopher Doyle as for their director’s uncanny knack for portraying melancholy emotion in a truly engaging and sensitive manner.

Here, Christopher Doyle again returns, and his eye for colour and knack for framing shots to heighten the on-screen action is again one of the primary reasons for seeing the film. Between them, director and cinematographer have created another film that is almost a work of high art as much as a piece of restrained entertainment. Like In the Mood for Love and the director’s 1997 film Happy Together before it, 2046 was nominated for the Palm D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and very nearly won – pipped to the post by the jury’s decision to court controversy by rewarding the political polemic that was Fahrenheit9/11.

Perhaps because of all this talent and expectation, 2046 may well disappoint some viewers. It covers many of Wong Kar Wai’s usual themes – love lost and found amidst a hunt for privacy in a decidedly non-private environment – and at its heart lies an attempt to unravel the nature of memory.

Yep, this is an art-house flick through and through, it just happens to have got a wider release. Told from the perspective of a writer reminiscing from the year 2046, the plot – such as there is one – is highly confusing, as various women and relationships come and go in a small hotel.

But the plot isn’t the point – this is an exercise in atmosphere, and in this it succeeds perfectly. Rarely will you find a more entrancingly wistful portrayal of nostalgic longing on screen. It’s certainly not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but for those who approach it in the right frame of mind, 2046 could well end up holding a special place in your hearts.

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