Time shuffles randomly between the 1960s and 2046 - the year the sci-fi fantasy he is writing is set. There is a similar disconnection between the succession of relationships he has and between himself and the women he has them with.
This is the most randomised Kar-Wai movie I've seen, and the first in which I've thought the characters are stilted stereotypes, created to prove a narrative point rather than to suggest emotional subtleties beyond the script.
Thankfully, the familiar themes of brooding melancholia and iconic alienation still predominate. And of course, the cinematography is as ravishing as ever.
The Guardian's review is almost as lush as the film itself. According to them, 2046 is a:
"gorgeous, shapeless rhapsody on the theme of regrets and lost love, a sensual swirl of images within which, somewhere down deep, there's a swollen heartbeat of inconsolable pain ... an extravagant, amorphous mass whose very waywardness and enigmatic elusiveness are the key to how obscurely moving it is."
I think the reviewer's been possessed, as has the BBC, which describes 2046 as "a panting, passionate picture". Phew!
I found the film too stylised for my liking, but the three people I saw it with had never seen a Kar-Wai film and they were mesmerised. Boy, are they in for a treat when they watch and then devour his back catalogue.
Related links:
+ "What is 2046, in the end, but a series of preciously hollow romantic imbroglios interspersed with ostentatious ruminations on memory repeated ad nauseam?" Slant.
+ "2046 is a big symphony, and In The Mood For Love is one of its movements." Wong Kar-Wai talks to Time Asia.
Other links today:
+ Gadget growth fuels eco concerns
+ Firefox help, tips and tricks
+ Airbus A380. One muther of an airplane.
+ Google holiday logos
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