2046

Plot synopsis:
The film is the third chapter of a shared story that began with Days of Being Wild and continued with In the Mood for Love.
There are four main story arcs to the film. Three are about the relations of Chow with women that he meets after losing Su Li-zhen. The first concerns Chow and Wang Jing-wen, the second is about Chow and Bai Ling, and the third is about Chow and a different woman who is also named Su Li-zhen. The fourth takes place in Chow's mysterious world of 2046 and concerns a Japanese passenger falling in love with a gynoid. Typical of Wong Kar-wai films, the arcs are presented in pieces and in non-chronological order.
The approximate order of the arcs is listed below.
=== 2047 arc part I ===
This section is the only part narrated by Chow's fictional character and not Chow himself. Set in the far future, a huge rail network connects the planet. The world is a vast dystopia, and lonely souls all try to reach a mysterious place called 2046 in order to recapture lost loves. In the world of 2046 nothing ever changes, so there is never loss or sadness. No one has ever returned from 2046 except the protagonist, a lonely Japanese man named Tak (played by Takuya Kimura). As the story begins, Tak is on a long train ride returning from 2046.
=== "All Memories Are Traces of Tears" ===
As Chow Mo-wan's life is revisited, we learn that he is still struggling to get over the loss of his idealised love, Su Li-zhen. He returns to Hong Kong after being in Singapore for a number of years to try to forget his anguish. To cover up his pain, he becomes a suave ladies' man. Chow attends many lavish parties and beds many women.
On Christmas Eve, Chow meets Lulu from the first film (Days of Being Wild) whom he remembers from Singapore, although she has no recollection of him. That night, Chow Mo-wan takes Lulu home as she is quite drunk, but accidentally keeps her room key. As he leaves, he notices that her room number is 2046, the same room number that he and Su Li-zhen had during their emotional affair. Upon returning a few days later to return the room key, the landlord informs Chow that the room is not available due to renovations. The landlord offers him the adjacent room 2047. Chow later learns that Lulu was stabbed in the room the night before by a jealous boyfriend.
Chow agrees to rent room 2047 in the meantime. After the renovation of room 2046 is complete, the landlord asks Chow if he wants to move in. However, by this time he has gotten used to room 2047 and decides to stay there. The rooms 2046 and 2047 are connected by a common hallway, Chow regularly watches and gets involved with the people that move into 2046.
=== Wang Jing-wen and Wang Jie-wen arc part I ===
The first person that moves next door into 2046 is the landlord's daughter, Wang Jing-wen (played by Faye Wong). Chow spends a good deal of time just observing her from his room. He learns that she has a Japanese boyfriend working in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, the relationship is forbidden by her father. Eventually, Wang breaks up with her boyfriend, then suffers a breakdown and is institutionalised. Afterwards, the next tenant that moves into 2046 is the younger daughter of the landlord, Wang Jie-wen. She is young, attractive, and flirtatious. She frequently tries to seduce him but he refuses each time.
A short time later, Chow runs into some financial difficulties, and stops going out. To make some extra money, he starts to write a science fiction series called 2046. The story is set in the distant future, about a group of heart sick individuals looking for love. The only place to find it is at a mysterious location called 2046. Virtually all of the characters in 2046 are based on people that Chow has met, such as Su Li-zhen, Lulu, or Wang Jing-wen. Whether 2046 is a place, a room, or a state of mind is never explicitly defined. Chow makes the story somewhat bizarre and erotic, and readers seem to take notice.
=== Bai Ling arc part I ===
The third person to move into room 2046 is the coquettish Bai Ling (Zhang Ziyi). She wears similar qipao dresses as the original Su Li-zhen but radiates a much more aggressive sensuality than her. While it is never explicitly stated in the film, it is implied that she is a nightclub girl who occasionally doubles as a high-class prostitute. However, she is intent on finding a long-term relationship. In one instance, when Chow overhears her arguing with a man, Bai tells the man that to continue seeing her, he must end his relationship with the other woman. Chow again spends a lot of time observing her across the thin wall separating rooms 2046 and 2047.
On the next Christmas Eve, Bai runs into Chow just after she is dumped by her boyfriend before they are to go to Singapore. Chow suggests that they go for dinner, to which she grudgingly accepts. During dinner, Chow tells Bai about his experiences in Singapore. She is intrigued, and after dinner she agrees to try to form a platonic friendship with him by borrowing time from each other. Their brief friendship does not last however, as they soon develop carnal lust for each other. Not surprisingly, Chow wants to keep the relationship strictly physical; he continues to pick up other prostitutes. To compromise, Bai soon develops a compensation system where he pays her 10 Hong Kong dollars (a trivial sum) each time he stays over. However, over time Bai finds that she has feelings for Chow, and she asks him to discontinue seeing other women. Chow refuses and gives a counter offer, the option to be his customer for $10 each night. Bai is crushed and breaks things off with Chow. As a way of revenge, Bai then descends into seeing men exclusively for money, frequently changing partners. A short while later, she moves out of Room 2046.
=== Wang Jing-wen part II ===
After Bai Ling moves out, Wang Jing-wen moves back into 2046 after returning from the mental hospital. She is a shell of a former self, and still very depressed over the loss of her Japanese boyfriend. Her ex writes numerous letters in an attempt to reconcile with her, but she refuses due to her father.
Wang passes the time by assisting her father at the hotel. She also starts to spend more and more time with Chow helping him with his writing and editing. At this point, he is regularly publishing chapters of 2046. These scenes are very similar to those in In the Mood for Love when Su Li-zhen used to help Chow with his writing in their hotel room. Chow remarks that this period in his life is the happiest that he has been after Su Li-zhen. However, before he realises it, he develops feelings for Wang Jing-wen. He makes some minor attempts to start a romance with her, but nothing develops since she is still very much in love with the Japanese man.
One day Wang Jing-wen asks Chow rhetorically if some things in life never change. He answers her by writing a story called 2047. In this story, a Japanese man leaves the world of 2046, but falls in love on the journey home. While he initially tried to base the story on Wang Jing-wen's ex-boyfriend, he realises that the story is ultimately about himself.
=== 2047 arc part II ===
Chow's fictional world is revisited. However, this time it is narrated by Chow himself. Set in the far future, for passengers to reach or leave 2046 they must take a long journey on a vast train network. The main character, Tak (who is portrayed by Wang Jing-wen's Japanese boyfriend) is trying to leave 2046 because he lost the love of his life in that world. As the train travels through the extremely cold sections 1224–1225, Tak becomes intimate with one of the train's gynoid assistants (played by Faye Wong) and later falls in love with her. He then asks her numerous times to come with him. However, each time the gynoid does not answer. Tak has heard earlier that excessive operation causes the gynoid's response time to slow down and decides to wait on the train to see if this is the case. He sits quietly on the train, and counts the seconds that go by, hoping the gynoid will decide to leave with him. However, the gynoid still does not respond. Ultimately, Tak realises that it is not a delayed reaction that causes that gynoid not to respond, but that she is in love with someone else and that their relationship is simply not meant to be. With this knowledge, he finally has the strength to leave the train and 2046. Completing the story marks a turning point in Chow's recovery.
=== Wang Jing-wen part III ===
Next Christmas, Chow invites Wang Jing-wen out to dinner. After finding out that she still misses her ex in Japan, he takes her to his office so that she can call him to wish him well. Looking sadly through the window panes as Wang Jing-wen is overjoyed talking to her ex, Chow remarks that in fact Section 1224-1225 from the story are simply the dates for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day when everyone is especially lonely and needs additional love. He goes on to say that while he had feelings for her, and most likely could have taken advantage of the situation (as he did the previous year with Bai Ling) he was happy that in this situation he did the "right thing". The call re-ignites the romance. Soon afterward, Wang Jing-wen moves to Japan and gets engaged.
A short while later, while still feeling depressed over the loss of Wang Jing-wen, Chow runs into Lulu again as she has a violent confrontation with another woman that is sleeping with her current playboy boyfriend. This incident is identical to one that occurred in the original Days of Being Wild when she confronted the original Su Li-zhen for sleeping with Yuddy. Chow remarks that Lulu, is likely to forever remain living in the past. However, he then remarks that this is not really a sad thing, as she seems perfectly content to be miserable. The incident strengthens Chow's resolve to get over Su Li-zhen.
=== Bai Ling arc part II ===
Some time later, Chow gets a call from Bai Ling and the two go out to dinner. This time, Bai looks much less glamorous and more "run-down". She informs Chow that she plans to leave for Singapore, and asks him to provide a reference and plane fare. She also asks where he was last Christmas, as she stopped by at that time, and was hoping to see him. In fact, she remarks that she really misses him. It turns out, during last Christmas, Chow had gone back to Singapore in an attempt to find a former lover, another woman named Su Li-zhen (played by Gong Li).
=== Su Li-Zhen Arc ===
Chronologically, this arc occurs first in the film. Chow met the second Su Li-zhen some years back when he first arrived in Singapore. At that time, he was still grieving over losing the original Su Li-zhen and spending much of his free time in the local casinos. After losing much of his savings, he encounters the second Su Li-zhen, a mysterious gambler. They become lovers, and he soon wants to know everything about her. But she insists that he beat her in a "high-card" draw before she will reveal anything about her past, which he never is able to do. Eventually, she agrees to help him win back his money so that he can return to Hong Kong. When she does so, he prepares to leave, and asks her to go with him. Again, she challenges him to a high-card draw, which he again loses. Knowing little about her, Chow speculates that she, like himself, has a troubled past.
Initially heartbroken about this, he remarks that after he completes the story '2047' he finally understands why the second Su Li-zhen did not go with him, as he would again have tried to recapture the past by looking for elements of the original Su Li-zhen. When Chow went back to Singapore to visit her the second time, he does not find her. He makes some inquiries as to her whereabouts and speculates that she either returned to Cambodia or was killed.
=== Bai Ling arc part III ===
Shortly after the events of 'Bai Ling arc part II' and the night before she boards a plane for Singapore, Chow again meets Bai Ling for dinner. Bai remarks that, between their two meetings, one of her clients has given her a lot of money and she wants to pay Chow back immediately. He refuses to take the money. Bai insists on paying for dinner, and Chow is stunned when she hands him a stack of money, each $10 bill representing one night they had spent together. Bai tells Chow to pay for dinner with this stack of bills, while unbeknownst to him, she sadly watches behind the restaurant's green window veils.
After dinner, Chow walks her back to her apartment. Grasping his hands at the apartment door, she begs him to lend his time to her once more and spend the night. She then asks him "Why can't it be like it was before?" He refuses to stay over, even out of pity, coldly stating that that is simply something he would never lend. He exits by jerking his hands away from her and remarks in voiceover that this was the last time he ever saw her. He leaves in a taxi, staring emptily into space, as the camera slowly enters a whispering hole.

Tags: boring, romantic, mystery, dark, atmospheric

Review:
There is one poignant scene where, after he realizes what has been happening, he states that timing is crucial in love.The film is well acted, the characters are understandable if not necessarily ones we can identify with, and the story gradually allows itself to be revealed, a peek here and a peek there, until all the pieces fall into place.Turn off the lights, cuddle up with a glass of wine, and see this one.
It tells the tale of an emotionally wrecked man, Chow Mo Wan (played by Tony Leung), a reprised character from Wong's critically acclaimed earlier oeuver, _In the Mood for Love (2000)_, and the many beautiful women he keeps and fails to keep, in a time-space continuance that is laden with sepia-tinted memories: a monologue, if you will, of Chow's torrid love affairs, love spats, and the ensuing heartbreaks resulting, no doubt, from the pangs of a failed liaison Chow is trying to escape.
This film can still be watched on its own, though it'd certainly help if you could link moments in _2046_ to the director's earlier works, for it's laden with jumbled continuity (take the character of Lulu, for example, first seen in _Days of Being Wild (1991)_), hidden meanings (read: Neo-Godardian) and other fun stuff, sorta an insider's joke, if you dig such esoteric things.
And it's been said that this is a culmination of all the previous filmic experience of director Wong (bordering on narcissism); hence its "end-of-an-era" feel and look is duly appreciated and a point well taken.In _2046_, Chow's isn't an easily likable character owing to the frailty and the vagaries of his own personal emotions and peccadilloes, but that makes him only human and real, and his character, believable.
Take the following exchange:Su Lizhen (Gong Li) to Chow Mo Wan (Tony Leung): Do you know my past?Professional gambler Su (she who is of the same name as that of Maggie's character in _In the Mood for Love_) asked Chow, dissonantly, questioning the latter essentially whether there is a future for the both of them, if he cannot forget his past.
Seen in this light, it is also a double-entendre for director Wong: Why can't this film be like the one before in the form of _In the Mood for Love_?
He continues to encounter women for whom he desires more than surface relationships (there is a stunning lady gambler cameo who represents everything he lusts and longs for, etc) but he is never able to find his tenuous ideal: his memory is his only source of consolation.The actors in every role include many of the finest actors available: Li Gong, Ziyi Zhang, Carina Lau, Maggie Cheung, Takuya Kimura, Chen Chang, and of course Tony Leung.
Whether the viewer elects to view the story as a continuation of the director's previous films, or as reality vs memory, fiction vs imagination, sci-fi excursion, or simply a plethora of vignettes about the challenges of finding love in a world geared toward instant gratification, this is a magnificent achievement.
Some said you had to see it before 2046, although the general consensus was that the unusual romanticism and little details in both films, and actors like Tony Leung and Maggie Chung, made the only real connection(s) (Wong himself has said ironically to see 2046 before In the Mood for Love).
It isn't a perfect film, and towards the end it starts to lag, but such criticisms are made up for by the attributes.We learn from the narrator and lead character, Chow (Leung), that there is a place, if not a time, called 2046, where people don't leave unless they fall in love.
Without the strong performances from them all, in particular Ziyi, Lau and Cheung, the drama just wouldn't be there, and certainly the style giving much weight to the film would become over-cooked and pretentious.The style, of which, was something I took various notes of while I watched, scribbling bits, elements, colors and shots that caught my eyes: the greens in the halls, the brightness of outside on the porch, the black and white scene in the cab (one of my favorites), and of course the futuristic visualization scenes of Chow's own 2046.
What's curious about the real sci-fi type scenes is that they make little sense aside from the central point- finding real love and the exile following- but the atmosphere, use of different colors and shots and film speeds (Christopher Doyle, a DP on most of Wong's films, does beautiful work all around) is unique, and basically saves a dramatically empty sequence.There is also the question of slow-motion, which is used to much more effect than in the previous Wong films I've seen, and if it is over-used.
Overall, Wong Kar-Wai displays without a shadow of doubt with 2046 that he is a master of compositions, of moods, and of creating characters that are true to themselves, who feel and love but can't seem to reach for it.
The gorgeous cinematography of Christopher Doyle, Kwan Pun Leung and Yiu-Fai-Lai has a rich texture throughout the film and the haunting musical score by Peer Raben and Shiguru Umebayashi fits the movie like a glove.Some people commenting in this forum have expressed the view of Mr. Wong's film being futuristic because the way the film starts.
But basically, those futuristic sequences last so little on the screen that it might be a misnomer for "2046" to be deemed about the future, when in reality we are taken back to the sixties when Mr. Chow is seen so much in love with Bai Ling.Mr. Wong gives us a vivid account of what the two lovers had together, but he also takes us back when something is revealed about Mr. Chow we never knew about his involvement with SuLi Zheng, the mysterious woman who is lucky in winning for him an enormous amount, but while he falls in love with her, she coolly lets him go.We are also shown Wong Jing Wen, who Mr. Chow had a passionate love affair with, in the previous film.
Also Maggie Cheung and Carina Lau contributed to the film as the women in Mr. Chow's life."2046" is a hypnotic piece of film making because the magnificent style which Kar Wai Wong gives to everything in the film to achieve this moody piece that examines love relationships in ways that are seldom seen in the movies..
And it is also the last year before the 50-year period the Chinese Government promised to let Hong Kong remain as it is...Wong-Kar-Wai comes back 4 years after "In the mood for love" with another refined and delicate movie, although this one has not the same strength as the previous...
"2046" is a sort of sequel, but we don't understand very well where the director wants to lead us.Apart from that, the film deserves to be watched because it is original, it explains that we don't have to live the future in putting there the hopes which belonged to the past, otherwise life has a wasted meaning.
Mr. Leung's character, Mr. Chow, seems transformed in personality, and not for the better, when compared to his conduct in "Mood." Rather than the wistful, subdued, formal and tactful man he used to be, he has become hedonistic, unctuous, predatory toward women, a drinker and gambler, sort of a nasty fellow.The new film more-or-less traces his encounters with three women in the late 1960s in Hong Kong: Wang Jing Wen (Faye Wong), Chow's landlord's daughter, who is in love with a Japanese man (Chow's relationship with Ms. Wang is platonic, though, in a futuristic fantasy sequence, he has an amorous encounter with a robotic woman identical in facial features to Wang); Bai Ling (Ziyi Zhang), a prostitute bunking in the room next to Chow's  they share sex and drink a lot together; and Zhen Su Li (Gong Li), a black clad femme fatale gambler with the same name as Chow's love interest in "Mood." Maggie Cheung also puts in a minor appearance as the original Zhen Su Li.It's hard to know exactly what's going on much of the time.
As Roger Ebert notes so eloquently, the film "exists primarily as a visual style imposed upon beautiful faces." Just for the record, the number 2046 stands for (1) the room next door to Chow's at the Oriental Hotel; (2) a room with the same number in the earlier film, "Mood"; (3) the title of a science fiction novel Chow is writing; (4) a mythical place that may or may not be identical to what's in the novel, a place we can all go to in order to embrace all of our memories, though no one who goes there ever escapes (except for the Japanese man who may be Wang Jing Wen's sweetie); and (5) the future date (in fact) when Hong Kong's quasi-independence from mainland China ceases.If there's an overarching theme that spans Wong's two films (and there may not be one, except in the imagination of the viewer), it might be that life is plagued by discontinuities, ruptures even, that can be ruinous; the only hope of pulling things together lies in accessing our memories and dreams, but, alas, they are discontinuous as well.
An ocean full of true emotion, sense of humor, likable characters, non pretentious style, varied music and endearing happenings.If you are planning to watch this movie because of the hype, be warned: although you could love it, it might be a long, long, boring trip.RATING: 2.3.
I thought I was going to be the Hero  renting a romance (which I don't normally go for) but it turned out to be a disappointment.Perhaps it is not so much the fault of the movie, but of the trailers that lead you to believe that the movie is something that it isn't.The movie is, like many other films from Kar Wai Wong, a visual masterpiece in my opinion.
I had also heard about "In The Mood For Love" but have never seen it.To be quite frank I was insulted by this movie's habit of redundancy and the forcefulness in its closed-minded attitude.How many times must I see that same slow pan shot from the edge of a wall to the characters?
Wong Kar Wai shows this in every single character and situation in his movie by denying any kind of drop of realness to grow or exist in their beings.The main metaphor of the story in a story in this film was how all the women Cho Wo Man encountered are essentially androids with a delayed response time.
Overall, it has been a worthwhile wait, especially for those keen on getting whatever the frequently obscure movie maker wants to impart.2046's name comes from several sources, all originating with its main protagonist, one Zhou Mu Yun. This fellow, done by dapper Tony Leung (Liang Chao Wei), has been a Wong Kar Wai staple since In the Mood For Love, and now returns to the screen, reprising his previous appearance as a speakeasy socialite skirting the journalist's haphazard life in 1960's Hong Kong.
As a consequence, we delve into a tale known simply as 2046, either due to the year when it takes place (Hong Kong's last as a polity separate from mainland China, according to the British-Chinese agreement), or the hotel room where some of Zhou's objects d'art reside.Irrespective of your own take on the film, 2046 has much to offer and seldom complicates matters as do many of Wong's older entries, a la Chongqing Express, Fallen Angles and Ashes of Time.
This is intertwined with the story of the same writer, and we see him go through various girlfriends while living in hotel room '2047'.Despite the fact that it is intellectually devoid, pretentious film fans will love the plot of this movie as it features lots of downtrodden acting and several melodramatic speeches.
The plot moves along at snail pace, and despite the bright and vibrant colours that Wong Kar Wai populates his film with; the movie is never interesting enough to fully hold the viewer's attention, and the fact that it's massively overlong will annoy many.
I'm posting these reviews in the order in which I watched the films, and unfortunately I decided to watch '2046' before 'In the Mood for Love.' I wish I had not gone out of order chronologically simply because I would have liked to have seen the expansion of Mr. Chow's philosophical views on relationships and life in general from the end of 'In the Mood for Love' into '2046.' The one component of '2046' that I really enjoyed was the cinematography throughout.
While he has this relationship and others he works on his novel  a futuristic story where people make the journey on a train to zone 2046 in order to forget; nobody ever returns from 2046 but one man is trying to.To date "In the Mood For Love" has been my favourite Kar Wai-Wong film because it featured his usual clever direction without taking away from the film, great acting and a story that had great emotional involvement.
In other words, I didn't think the film was that good at all.The plot summary sounds like the original story will continue with Chow while a sci-fi story allows us insight into his feelings by way of his writing it.
I have just finished watching 2046 for the first time and I am incredibly disappointed given the hype.It is the first (and need I say it...)Wong movie I have seen and it resonates with half-conceived notions of romance and love which would lead to your average 18 year old art student being laughed out of class.
Leung meets Zhang Ziyi - another tenant at the hotel who also goes through men like Wong Kar Wai with film stock.
Can you try to change it to a happier ending?"We see Leung trying to start with the revision.This is where I, if ever I had the chance of working with Wong Kar Wai, would suggest:Keep the scene with Tony Leung trying to write, cut the Intertitles showing passage of time, use all the shots of the women and people Tony Leung have come across and created in the time and moments that affected him, keep the Zhang Ziyi scene at the end, cut the Gongli scene at the end, and close with the movie showing Leung start to write with a smile.Voice-over: "I guess some things just cannot be changed...
I am sure that this review will not be appreciated by many of the more devoted fans of the films of Wong Kar-Wai, but I really didn't like this movie.
Sure there are some special effects (but they're pretty corny) and some painstakingly composed shots, but this is just Wong Kar Wai doing what people expect of him.Those expecting another film along the lines of the brilliantly restrained romantic drama In the Mood for Love might find themselves to be a bit disappointed.
This film has a profound and with deep messages script,talking not only about human relationships or love,but it is also a journey into the human nature and it's passions,needs and feelings and above all-as i personally believe-it's strength and courage.A writer Chow Mo Whan,is the main character.The film is following him while he's experiencing passion,pure platonic love and in the end real artistic creation.We realize,from the beginning,that he once loved his best friend's woman deeply and very much and that now he wants to get away from that and live again as he used to.Gamble,drink,sleep with prostitutes,go to parties and write.He seems-or at least that's what he wants to believe,-to want to forget everything.But the number 2046 follows him everywhere.His love was in 2046,the room where he stays is 2046,the girl that he meets Bai Ling-and with whom he has a rather strange relationship-and finally his platonic lover,Wang Jing Wen,but whom he cannot love,and finally the place where he write his novel "2046".This is only one small part of the story.
Hong Kong director Kar-Wai Wong's recent film 2046 is actually a continuation of the story he began in his 2001 art-house hit In the Mood for Love.
Later viewing has made it clear that these are only meant to be flashbacks or in the case of the "android" image, daydreams (or musings) of a love lost.I congratulate Wong Kar Wai in his subtle manner of linking the 3 films ("Days of Being Wild" "In the Mood.." & "2046") into a loose trilogy through the characters of Chow Mon Wan, Su Li Zhen & the tragic Lulu/Mimi (played by Carina Lau).
In Wong Kar-wai's film, the reason why the love could not come true was that they could not communicate with each other besides the memories they could not give up.
It is stylistic - who would've thought smoking a fag would be shot so artistically?Tony Leung is Chow, a character from the previous Wong Kar Wai movie "In The Mood For Love" (ITMFL).
Chow, the writer protagonist of this film, a character from an earlier Kar Wai Wong movie "In the Mood for Love", is a different case; he was once hopelessly in love, but the relationship ended and from then on he has endorsed the Irv philosophy.
Directed by one of Hong Kong's most renowned filmmakers, Wong Kar Wai, 2046 is a co-production between the Shanghai Film Studio and Jet Tone Films Ltd. According to director Wong, "The story for 2046 came to me at the same time as we were working on IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, but while some of the characters have similarities, 2046 is not a sequel." The above is very important to understanding this masterpiece.
It's Wong Kar-Wai's follow-up to 'In the Mood For Love', which was one of my favorite movies this decade.