In the year 2046 a vast rail network spans the globe
A mysterious train leaves for 2046 every once in a while
Every passenger going to 2046 has the same intention
They want to recapture lost memories
Because nothing ever changes in 2046
Nobody really knows if that’s true
Because nobody’s ever comes back
Except me
2046
If someone wants to leave
...how long will it take?
Some people get away fairly easily
Others find that it takes them much longer
I forget how long I’ve been on this train
I’m starting to feel very lonely
Before 2046:
2046 is a sequel to WongKar-Wai’s previous movie In the Mood for Love. 2046 starts where In the Mood For Love ends. In the previous movie, Chow (Tony Leung), a writer by profession, gets emotionally involved with a married woman Su Lizhen (Maggie Cheung) who stays in an adjoining hotel room to that of Chow’s. “In the Mood For Love” saw a beautifully understated romance between the protagonists. 2046 follows only Chow’s character from where his being an utter gentleman in In the Mood for Love, he changes into a Casanova as 2046 proceeds.
2046:
2046 starts in late 1960s in Singapore. The viewer is introduced to Chow who is madly in love with a married woman Su Lizhen. The lady simply denies answering to his proposal. Chow relocates to Hong Kong, where he stays in a hotel. Here he is mysteriously fascinated by room number 2046. Chow moves in room 2047 which is next to 2046. He earns a living by writing soft porn, martial arts novels, science fiction and whatever his mind feels convenient to write, while he keeps a watch on 2046.
One of the residents of 2046, Lulu (Carina Lau) disappeared mysteriously. Then there is the landlord’s daughter Wang Jing Wen (Faye Wong) who is in love with a Japanese man (TakuyaKimura), but her father disapproves of their relationship. Then comes Bai Ling (Ziyi Zhang), a beautiful and gracious call girl.
In the course of his encounters with the residents of 2046, Chow starts writing a story about a train that leaves for the year 2046.
One might think 2046 lies in the future. But 2046 is in itself a past.
A place where nothing changes and neither can be deliberately changed.
A place from where some people don’t want to come back.
Some get away fairly easily.
Others find that it takes them much longer.
Chow now finds himself writing about his own past, pasts of people with whom he is acquainted with while living in the hotel room. The ones who come to stay in 2046.
The movie follows Chow’s relationships with several women, his many one night stands and his inability to commit to any of his relationships. His mysterious inclination for room number 2046 is obvious. The number is the same as the hotel room number which saw his near-tryst with Su Lizhen in “In theMood for Love” His haunting memories never leave him alone, but yet leave him lonely.
Traveling to 2046:
Love, Loss, Loneliness, Eroticism, Haunting Pasts, Dark Desires, Self Destruction..... are just some of the many colors that paint 2046 into amotion picture. 2046 is a nostalgic journey narrated brilliantly using vibrant colors, smoky environment, loungy background score and voice over full of heartsick quotes.
2046 is full of various sub-plots as lives of it’s various characters wander in different directions but yet attached to an unknown, unseen, unsaid force. A mysterious longing for something. Is it for love?
2046 is a movie better felt than watched. It’s a story about waiting for something and waiting endlessly. No matter how much time. Because nothing changes in 2046.
Some quotes from the movie:
Chow: When ever someone asked why I left 2046, I always gave them some vague answer. It was easier.
Chow: I have a secret to tell you. Will you leave with me?
Chow: When you don’t take "no" for an answer, there is still a chance you’ll get what you want.
Bai Ling: Why can’t it be like it was before?
Chow: Love is all a matter of timing. It’s no good meeting the right person too soon or too late.
Chow: If I’d live in another time or place...... my story might have had a very different ending.
Chow: I felt Like Santa Claus that night. I took her to the newspaper office......and Let her make a long-distance call to her boyfriend. I was happy......to see her so happy.
Chow: I would also like the story to have a happy ending. But I don’t know how to write it.
Bai Ling: You know what? I came by here at Christmas. I thought I might run into you.
Chow: Maybe one day you’ll escape your past. If you do. Look for me.
Behind 2046:
Among the performances, Tony Leung plays Chow with natural charisma.
Ziyi Zhang turns out to be thestrongest thread of 2046 giving a magnificent performance.
Faye Wong also delivers a punch in her role of the landlord’s daughter.
Gong Li makes an effective cameo.
Wong Kar-Wai directs2046, giving it a dreamy feel. He blends the true incidents with imaginary, mixing them rigorously to speak the unsaid. Wong Kar-Wai uses a fast train to denote journey between times – the real and fiction. The room 2046 is an unchanging place from Chow’s point of view. For him, everything related to this number will always remain painfully still, waiting for something. The undercurrents of nostalgia, add to the cinematic beauty of the movie. Cinematography by Christopher Doyle, Lai Yiu-Fai and Kwan Pun-Leung and art direction by William CheungSuk-Ping give 2046 it’s vibrant, smoky, almost intoxicating ambience.
Each frame of 2046 exudes doped enigmatic beauty. The camera passionately captures every twitch of an eyebrow, every smile, every tear, cigarette smoke and to be precise every detail to the fullest. The slow pace at which the story unfolds only adds to the unchanging character of 2046.
A movie about loneliness and longing
2046 is movie-making of it’s own kind
Loneliness....
When are we not alone?
We are, always
Be it in an empty room,
In midst of a crowd,
Or in midst of the ones we love
We are always alone with ourselves
Lonely there, somewhere inside