Dialogue with Wong Kar-wai :2046

[news]

Dialogue with Wong Kar-wai
By Winnie Chung

Published May 19, 2004

In Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai remains an enigma. A director of art house films in a market that has little time or space for the genre and one who has had the luxury of making one movie in four years while others rush to helm four in a year, Wong has long since outgrown being just a Hong Kong director. His highly stylized films, such as "Happy Together" and "In the Mood for Love," have earned him the moniker of "Hong Kong's premier cinematic iconoclast" and frequent comparisons to internationally acclaimed filmmakers including Jean-Luc Godard and Alain Resnais. Wong has consistently been the darling of the film festival circuits, with many of his films picking up best film prizes from festivals from Valdivia to Argentina, and made international stars of his favorite actors, such as Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung. After wowing the Cannes crowd in 1997 and 2000 with "Happy Together" and "In the Mood for Love" respectively, Wong is returning in Cannes with his much-awaited "2046."

The Hollywood Reporter: Is it a relief or an anti-climax to have finally finished "2046"?
Wong Kar-wai: I definitely feel relief. Some people have said my film will come out in the year 2046. I don't like that kind of joke. I am glad people cannot tell these jokes anymore.

THR: Why has it taken so long?
Wong: There are many reasons, including the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), but probably it is the way I filmed my movies with a small and intimate crew. We take our time. This has been the method for all my films.

THR: How does it feel to be back In Competition in Cannes again?
Wong: I am delighted but also worried as it brings the deadline closer and closer.

THR: From the time you started conceptualizing the film to its finished version now, how much of it has changed?
Wong: Like all my films, the films have their own lives, and they evolve. It is somewhat different from what I started to do.

THR: Most of your films have a tone of desolation and rejection about them. Does "2046" follow along the same vein?
Wong: I think the audience will be the best judge when (they) see the film.

THR:"2046" is about life 50 years after the Handover. Is this your personal vision of what life will be like then?
Wong: I started thinking of the film in 1997 when Hong Kong was returned to China. A question came up in my head: Are there things that will remain unchanged over time? I began to think about this question and its philosophical implication. Thus, "2046" is my film rethinking about the past over the present and the future.

THR: In the making of the film, how affected were you by the political issues that Hong Kong has been grappling with over the past few years?
Wong: This is a serious question that needs time to address, which is beyond our time here.

THR: You have a core group of people from cast to crew - such as William Chang, Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung - whom you like to work with over and over again. What do you look for in the people you work with?
Wong: Friendship. We have worked together so long and understand each other very well. We do not need to waste time to understand each other and can push each other further.

THR: Tony and Maggie have achieved international success, in large, due to the work they have done for your films. What unique qualities do you see in these two actors?
Wong: What more can I say except that they are two of the most talented actors of their generation?

THR: There's obviously a very strong following for your work on the international market, yet you seem content to carry on making your unique Hong Kong films. Why is that? Have you ever been tempted to try your luck full time in Hollywood or Europe like John Woo has done?
Wong: Why am I always asked this question? However, I thank you for your kind words. I am a Chinese filmmaker who was born in Shanghai and grew up in Hong Kong. My influences are filmmakers from China, Europe, other parts of Asia and America. So far, my film journey has taken me from Buenos Aires to Taipei and Philippines. Who knows? I might be making a film in the U.S. one day in the near future.

THR: What is the one thing you enjoy about making a "Hong Kong" film?
Wong: Being surrounded by my family and friends in a location I know well and that is forever changing.

THR: Music plays a strong part in your films, whether original soundtracks or cover version. Can you tell us how you go about picking the music for your films?
Wong: Music is part of the sound. It is just as important as the dialogue spoken in the film.

THR: How do you view the filmmaking process?
Wong: It is like falling in love with a very dangerous woman.

THR: You've often described your films as "simple," yet critics love tearing them apart looking for hidden meanings and deeper nuances. How do you feel when you read reviews like that?
Wong: I am glad to learn from them.

THR: What's next after "2046"?
Wong: Another movie.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/awards/cannes/feature_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000514706

[news]

Vignettes from the Cannes Film Festival

By ANGELA DOLAND
The Associated Press
5/20/2004, 4:57 p.m. ET
...Respected Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai started shooting his latest picture five years ago. Fans hoped the futuristic "2046" would be ready in time for Cannes last year.

It wasn't.

"Some people have said my film will come out in the year 2046," the "In the Mood for Love" director told The Hollywood Reporter. "I don't like that kind of joke."

Wong said it was a relief to finally have the movie at Cannes this year.

Still, he cut it close: Organizers had to postpone the Thursday press screening because the reels hadn't been delivered in time....

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/entertainment/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-2/108508711641040.xml

[news]

5.21.04

With 2046, presented in competition, Wong Kar-wai is making his fourth appearance on the Croisette. In the year 2000, actor Tony Leung was awarded Best Actor for his performance in In the Mood for Love, and in 1997, the director won the Best Director award for Happy Together.


In a mysterious atmosphere, 2046 revolves around romantic relationships, desires and memories. The central character played by Tony Leung is a writer/journalist. He thought he had written about the future but it really was the past. In his novel, a mysterious train left for 2046 every once and a while. Everyone who went there had the same intention...to recapture his or her lost memories. It was said that in 2046, nothing ever changed. Nobody knew if it was true, because nobody who went there had ever come back – except for one. He wanted to change.


”There is a need in all of us to have a place to hide or store certain memories, thoughts, impulses, hopes and dreams," says Wong Kar-wai. "These are part of our lives that we can't resolve or best not act upon, but at the time, we are afraid to jettison them. For some, this is a physical place; for others, it is a mental space, and for a few it is neither."

http://www.festival-cannes.fr/index.php?langue=6002