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2046 (2004) Synopsis Analysis The sets the director uses throughout the film are almost all
inspired. Wong gives each of the locations his characters inhabit its
own distinctive look and feel, distinguishing it from the others
while, simultaneously, using it to complement them. He presents
Singapore as a dark and threatening place, like some vast, damp, and
ruinous cavern, and contrasts it with the hotel in which the
protagonist lives in Hong Kong, which he bathes in deep reds and
greens and constructs entirely out of narrow halls and claustrophobic
rooms. Adorned with peeling paint, crowned with a decaying neon sign,
and filled with shoddy furniture, the place is infused with both a
genuine charm and a sense of oppressive sadness. Perhaps the film's
most inventive sets, however, are those Wong uses for the train in
which the man in the protagonist's story is escaping from 2046. In the
sequences depicting this story, the director shows the viewer a world
that seems to have been inspired by visions of the future current in
films and television programs from the 1970s and music videos from the
1980s. The effect he achieves is quirky, intriguing, and engaging.
Even though 2046 is not a brilliant film, Wong has made it so
impressive to look at that the viewer is unlikely to find his
attention wandering for long. This is not to say, however, that 2046 is enjoyable only
for its appearance. The director successfully evokes a real sense of
tragedy and lets this feeling pervade nearly the whole of his movie.
There is hardly a character in the film whose life is not, for some
reason or another, filled with sorrow. Chow Mo himself, for example,
despite his relationships with a number of women, is unable to form an
abiding attachment to any of them. Being incapable of emotional
involvement, he remains isolated, lonely, and unsatisfied. In fact,
not only does he wound himself because of this alienation, he hurts
those around him as well. While the viewer is not always allowed to
see into these other persons' hearts, he is given the opportunity to
experience their sorrows, both those Chow Mo has caused them and those
which have arisen independently of him. What is more, the members of the cast suffuse each of the film's
central characters with such a vibrant life that the viewer is quickly
enthralled by their performances and, consequently, better able to
absorb himself in their characters' stories. Zhang Ziyi, in
particular, deserves recognition for the work she has done in the
movie. Although she is in 2046 as ethereally beautiful as she
always is, the actress brings such a sense of desperate sadness to her
role that her very loveliness contrasts with the terrible conditions
of her life. She is like some heavenly being, some apsaras, mired in a
wretched, horrible world filled with cruelty and misery, and, being
so, she arouses an astonishing feeling of tragedy in the viewer. Ms
Ziyi, in fact, brings to the film both a remarkable physical presence
and a genuinely inspired performance. Even though she is surrounded by
other actors who all acquit themselves extremely well, she still
manages to stand out. Despite such considerable virtues, 2046 does have a number
of faults, as has been noted above. It is, sometimes, poorly paced,
and, more frequently, it can be annoyingly pretentious. Had he made
less of an effort to display his own sophistication, the director
would, almost certainly, have crafted a better movie. I do not, however, mean to imply that 2046 is fatally
flawed. While it is not a masterpiece, by any means, it is a genuinely
enjoyable and generally well made film. Review by Keith Allen Click here to post your own
review of this or any other movie!
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