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Why do so many people think 2046 is confusing?

 
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Marie



Joined: 30 Jul 2007
Posts: 143
Location: North Carolina, USA

PostPosted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 7:40 am    Post subject: Why do so many people think 2046 is confusing?

I must say, I have been quite surprised by the reviews and discussions I have seen about 2046 on the internet. Very many people seem to find the movie confusing.

After In the Mood for Love, where it was really hard to decide on first viewing what was actually happening with Maggie and Tony (did they, didn't they, who loved who--and how much?), I found 2046 much easier to follow. There was a very clear, overarching theme of Mr. Chow's pursuit of love and the way his experience with Maggie in In the Mood For Love set him up to replay, with every woman he met, the tortured emotions of that failed attempt at requited love. The science fiction aspect was a peek into the Mr. Chow's head as a writer, and how he begins to identify so completely with his Japanese character, once he began to recognize his feeling for Faye Wong, whom he casts as an android in his story. As a writer, this is sometimes how it works; you create a character and, after a time, you see that you are playing out something deep within yourself through this other character (just like actors do with their roles). What really made 2046 crystal clear for me was a second viewing. Then the Gong Li story made a lot more sense because I could set it in the context of what comes after it, chronologically and emotionally, in the rest of the movie. With a second viewing of In the Mood For Love, I still wasn't sure of Maggie's feelings for Tony. In my humble opinion, 2046 is a very coherent film that, by focusing exclusively on Mr. Chow and his interactions with the characters around him (real and his own fictional creations) is a beautiful example of "theme and variations". The "theme" is introduced in the relationship between Tony and Maggie in In the Mood for Love and the "variations" are presented in 2046. Yes, it is a Baroque film, but Baroque composers were masters of the theme and variation genre, especially when the performers improvised on the theme. (I hope this mention of improvision strikes a chord since this is a Wong Kar-Wai film, afterall.) Also, the use of music, not only to set the scene, but also to amplify the emotion and add coherence to the film (the recurring use of the Christmas Song each Christmas Eve) as well as the recurring musical themes that are tied to particular characters or emotional states ties the various elements of the film together very nicely. I absolutely love 2046 because of its emotional depth and the way the audience's emotional response is shaped by every aspect of the film. This is my favorite Wong Kar-Wai film, the one where everything comes together in the most amazingly delicious way. It has stayed with me more than any other of his films. Tony's performance is absolutely central to the film's success. What a tour-de-force! He is a different Mr. Chow with each woman, but always struggling with the same deep-seated emotional issues. Each encounter brings something different out in the character, something different for him to confront. But it always leads back to the failed relationship with Maggie in In the Mood for Love. The bleak ending, when Tony realizes that he is a rat trapped in a maze and has no idea how to get out, hopeless and depressed at seeing the rest of his life stretching out before him as a replay of what has already occurred, is a stroke of genius. A great performance from Tony (the glue that holds the entire film together) and a masterpiece from director Wong Kar-Wei. What a shame that so many have given up because they found the film "confusing" on first viewing.

Marie
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