2046

Hong Kong / China 2004, 120 minutes
Dir. Wong Kar-Wai
In Cantonese , Mandarin, Japanese with English subtitles
Rating: [M]
Genres: Foreign Cinema, Drama

Feat. Tony Leung (Chiu-wai), Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, Faye Wong, Dong Jie

Aroview: A companion piece of sorts to IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, this has the seasoned stylist dir. Wong Kar-Wai sketch an impressionistic portrait of loss, unattainable romance, self-pity and creative terminus, broken into visual fragments of evocative and sensual beauty.

Tony Leung plays a writer, inhabiting a hotel room in 1960s Hong Kong - by night, bedding various women in his search for love, and by day weaving fictional reveries of the future world of the year 2046. Scored with a selection of lush, jazzy sounds, this is predominantly a matter of erotic mood and suggestion, and may mystify those who fail to succumb to its symbology of passion. Best to relax, and let the dir.'s oblique cinematic daydream waft over you...

NZ International Film Festival 2005