I liked this film, for reasons I'm not quite sure of. It has a slow pacing, and the story is rather mundane, but somehow it's not boring.
One thing I didn't get, though, was the sci-fi part. What was the point of it? How did it relate to the rest of the film? It felt a lot like an aestethic excersise that didn't go anywhere.
Can someone explain it to me?
The conventional wisdom and the characterization of the director's comments themselves is that the "2046" world is a fantasy where Chow can make every relationship a perfect one. But obviously, the people are not real--not even in the novel. They are androids, which means there is still no real human connection.
Why 2046? Part of it has to do with the room 2046 in the prior film "In the Mood for Love" featuring the character Chow. The other part of it is that 2046 is the year that Hong Kong ends its quasi-independence from mainland China, and will begin the period "where nothing will ever change" according to some Chinese officials. Thus, in the film it says, "Nothing ever changes in 2046," and that's a reason people want to go, but can never come back, or something to that effect.
My prior theory on all of this was that the film begins with the Japanese narrator in 2046, and ends with the credits rolling in 2046, and that it's possible that the film works like a series of mirrors that reflect one another: Chow may be writing about the future to interpret his own life, but the man in the future may also be chronicling his "return" from 2046 in the fantasy of a science-fiction writer who actually gives his life meaning by being the subject of the author's world-weary love metaphors. None of this has been espoused by the director, however. Although, I think it is important to point out that the last scene in the film originally was supposed to be the scene of Chow, the writer, in the bar in 2046, completely scrambling the fantasy and reality elements, and perhaps suggesting that Chow and the Japanese man in the future are indeed the same person, but not in the way that the narrator Chow, suggests. At that point, his narration would become completely unreliable.
I got the idea from the films "Once upon a time in America," and "8 1/2," where fantasy and reality elements merge and the true objective voice is completely lost. I highly recommend both of those films. 2046 shares a lot in common with them, particularly with respect to playing with time and reality.
Anyway, I hope that gives you something to chew on.
There was never anyone in 2046. That is Chow making it up, as a writer. The opening scenes do not involve someone time traveling back to 1966. They are being invented by someone who was always in 1966.
To me, "going to 2046" just means, getting older and eventually dying. Chow will most likely be 100 years old or more in 2046. So the long train ride is just a metaphor for life. And since 2046 was a room number evocative of a past relationship, it also stands for trying to find romantic satisfaction.
I found personally that the science fiction element simply didn't work. As a metaphor, it was clumsy. As an opening for the film, it set up a totally unworkable story arc that was first dropped, and then re-entered by having the protagonist fall in love with not one but two robots. What??
Let's face it, artists often make a name for themselves by going "out there" creatively with metaphors or commentary on life that has more style about it than substance. I think that's what we've got here. The guy can't treat women decently, fails to find love, and whines about it. So what?
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I recognize why someone would not appreciate the Sci-Fi element. I agree that it feels like an idea that was explored, wasclumsy, but couldn't be abandoned. But, sometimes artists mistakes are more interesting than artistic perfection. I have noticed an affinity between those who like Once Upon a Time In America and this movie, both of which have time lines that don't really work, but both of which convey loss, wrong choices and a vast expanse of empty years.
So, whether or not the actually identify with Wong, his treatment of women, his self pity, etc. always says more about you and your experiences, then the merits or demerits of this film. There are a million linear, well told stories about honorable people doing honorable deeds, so I appreciate this moody, disjointed and artisticly pretentious piece, because the sum is greater than it's parts, and ultimately, just like Mr. Wong, the way I see it is all about me, and not what the Director intended.
Yes, and I also think there is an incredible sense of longing in the future scenes, longing which takes on a whole other dimension given the possibilities of androids standing in place for years at a time. I think that's what the story is about, longing, and I think the sci-fi scenes perfectly evoked this.
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