2046People's Republic of China, 2004. 2 hrs, 5 mins.
Dir: Wong Kar-Wai Rated: 12a. At arty cinemas everywhere!2046 is not about the future. It is about romance, and as such it is romantic as fuck. A hack writer living in a cheap hotel, scamming free meals off his aqcuaintances, the hero is my kind of guy. In fact I found this film super-romantic, especially in it's basic premise- that love is as much about timing as who you fall in love with. 2046 is about crummy relationships between unsuitable partners, writing, and the lives of deeply lonely people. Like the hero's fictional time traveller ("A Japanese man riding a train to 2046"), the characters are all deeply alienated. Even the landlord's daughter- one of the inspirations for the protagonist's novel-within-the-film, is in love with someone her father detests, a Japanese businessman, although she does end up being happy. Probably. Not so our sleazy hack, who shags his way through a number of prostitutes and neigbours, (the room next door is numbered "2046"), and the women in his life tend to go through rather sad versions of living themselves, generally vowing never to speak to him again or just moving on away from the area. It is hard to be sympathetic to him at first- he really does seem like a complete bastard, telling one lover he "borrows people to pass the time", and refusing to acknowledge that there's anything special between them. But later we find that he's actually a Rather Damaged Casualty(TM), yet he does still have the ability to make friends- he just won't let anyone get close- until it's too darn late. And he has a very loneley lifestyle anyway, which mostly consists of hanging out in bars in between locking himself away and writing. Probably because he's been so unlucky in love, which is because he spends most of his time rejecting women, hanging out in bars, and writing, which he does because he's been so unlucky in love, which is because- you get the idea. Even though all this sounds like a cliche, it's so well executed you won't even think of it at the time. Honestly- I didn't. One thing that caught my attention was the 1960's atmosphere- apart from the fantasy sequences which are set in 2046, the entire film is set in Hong Kong and Singapore, between the years 1963 and 1969- and they've managed to really bring it off. Original costumes (man, those suits!), set design (really sleazy and grotty!), and even old-fashioned flim stock is used intercut with the modern-day stuff, to give it a totally authentic feel, so much so that even if you were born twenty years later you'll "dig" the "atmosphere". Not that there are any hippy jerks to be seen. In addition, the time jumps and ambiguity at the start at to whether the protagonist is himself a time traveller give it a great William Burroughs feel, insofar as Burroughs always said that extreme emotional experiences were one of the keys to time travel. It certainly produced a reaction in me, and I'm normally a very unromantic, unsentimental person. It was good though, although it goes on a bit and could have stood another trip to the cutting room, and it can be very confusing, at least it doesn't try to manipulate you, a feeling I all too often get from any Western film with even a romantic sub-plot. Maybe it's the vein of nihilism running through it. But then I would call that realism. Konsumer Kitten tends only to review things he likes, boys and girls, so ratings do feel increasingly pointless as I review more things. However I feel I'd be letting you down if I didn't give it a rating, just in case I decide to review something I can't stand. Rating: "R" for "Romantic as fuck". "L" for "Little bit too long". Points out of 10: 7.5. Final Word: Not a waste of time. Bring a date, if one of you doesn't like it, you should probably split up.
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