Cinecast Mailbag (9/14)

The 411 on "2046"...

In the Criterion DVD of "In The Mood For Love," Wong Kar Wai talked about making a movie that spanned a decade involving the lives of the two characters Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung) and Su Li-zhen Chan (Maggie Cheung), but was only able to do half of it because of financial restrictions. "2046" is the second part of that decade, as it continues to follow Chow's life. The line that is used by Chow throughout "2046" ("In the old days, if someone had a secret they didn't want to share, they went up a mountain, found a tree, carved a hole in it and a whispered the secret into the hole. Then they covered it with mud. And leave the secret there.") refers to "In The Mood For Love," where the line is said by Chow and at the end it shows him doing exactly the same event at a ruin site in Cambodia. It is his way of ending his impossible relationship with Su. [I]n "2046" we see a change in Chow. Scarred by the romance and eventual rejection of Su, Chow has become an unemotional misogynist. He has become the complete opposite of what he embodied in "In The Mood For Love." He becomes this tragic figure. He is cold and possibly shell-shocked, as he feels that he will never love again. He has grown a mustache, which reflects his devilish behavior and more mature attitude.

I did not like "2046" compared to Wong Kar Wai's previous movies. The movie dragged for the first hour and didn't become interesting until the last forty minutes. I felt the futuristic sequences were redundant because the author's feelings were already being shown and played in the "present" sequences. Also, my bias for this movie may be the fact that Chow has become the total opposite of what I admired. I recommend watching "In The Mood For Love" because it is a far superior film and (also) makes you have a better understanding of 2046. -- W, Brooklyn, NY

Thanks for the e-mail, W. It may not have been clear in our review, but I actually did see "In The Mood For Love." But it was a couple of years ago. And I have the memory of a sieve. So I didn't realize when I watched "2046" that Tony Leung's character was the exact same one he played in "In The Mood For Love." I took "2046" as a completely isolated artistic entity. But before I explain which of the two films I prefer and why, here's another listener who agrees with you -- she's even got "2046" cinematographer Christopher Doyle in her corner.

Dear Sam and Adam, I love the show and was interested to hear your review of "2046" -- a movie that I found beautiful to look at but -- and I am not ashamed to say it -- a self-indulgent narrative mess. I was reminded of your review of The Brothers Grimm, when you said that if you are going to watch a chaotic mess of a movie, better Gilliam's chaos than anyone else's. I feel the same way about 2046. I would rather watch a flawed but visually stunning movie like 2046 than something less flawed but more prosaic, like, say Traffic.

I was lucky enough to see Christopher Doyle, the cinematographer who shot In The Mood For Love and 2046 in London earlier this year. He summed up my feelings when he said that 2046 was "totally redundant." In The Mood For Love was so perfect, and said everything that needed to be said about Tony Leung's character, (and about) love, and marriage, memory, longing, (and) regret. Why add to it? -- All the best, Sabina

Thanks for the e-mail, Sabina. To answer your question, "Why add to it?" To make a better film, that's why. I realize that I'm going to be in the minority here because "In The Mood For Love" seems to have achieved nearly instant classic status; but if I had to choose a favorite between "In The Mood" and "2046," I'd pick Wong Kar Wai's "self-indulgent narrative mess" over his subtlely written, beautifully filmed but kinda boring "masterpiece" any day. "In The Mood For Love" is full of ravishing images, great acting and a wonderfully sustained atmosphere of regret and repressed longing, but I also found it a little dull. It's an incredibly unsophisticated perspective, I realize, but I saw it so long ago that I'm not really in a position to articulate myself any better than that. "2046" may be indulgent, but I never found it dull. It had an exciting looseness and a wit to it that is largely absent in "In The Mood." That being said, now that I know that the two films were imagined by Wong Kar Wai as a single story, I'm eager to see both of them again and see if my current opinion stands.