2046
Director: Wong Kar-Wai
Year Released: 2004
Rating: 2.0
Simply a mess of a film - part sci-fi picture, part 60's mood piece (which is a lot like In the Mood for Love, except with a nastier Tony Leung) - that was met with some derision and confusion at Cannes where it premiered. It's bloated and rambling, as if Wong wasn't sure where to take the story of a writer, his romantic dalliance with Zhang Ziyi and his metaphorical story, "2046," which also has to do something with the year in which China gets to do whatever it wants with Hong Kong. It goes without saying that the strengths are in the presentation: even though the scenes are shapeless and seem tacked together, the colors and graceful camera movements are transfixing (Wong collaborators William Chang and Christopher Doyle deserve a good deal of praise). Faye Wong looks ravishing as an android in the (far superior) sci-fi aspect of the film; too bad the roughshod CGI isn't nearly as appealing.
