I watched two films directed by Wong Kar-Wai today: In the Mood for Love (2000) and 2046 (2004). These two films share the same main character, Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung), but you can watch them on their own because they dont rely on each other a lot, but it gives you a wider perspective when you watch In the Mood for Love before 2046. In In the Mood for Love, Chow and Su Lizhen (Maggie Cheung) become neighbours after they move into neighbouring apartments with their spouses. It is not a spoiler to reveal that their spouses become lovers and most of the film is spent on studying Chow's and Su's relationship after they become aware of the affaire. In 2046, Chow earns his living as a writer who surrounds himself with a lot of women. The film focuses on stories of each of these women. Both of these films share love as a major theme, but they focus on quite different aspects of it. Wong's earlier film, Days of Being Wild, is also connected with these films as it is the story of Su Lizhen before the events of In the Mood for Love.
In the Mood for Love focuses on cheating and vulnerability of love. Chow and Su are uncertain and in doubt of how they should act after finding out about the affaire. They certainly begin to feel something for each other, but they aren't easily willing to admit and embrace it so that they wont be like their spouses. The vulnerability is visible in nearly every scene and it is cautiously examined by the director.
2046 - on the other hand - takes a wider look at love. Chow's playboy-like life serves as the basis for different storylines. The three main storylines are focused on a) an aggressive prostitute who is looking for a long term relationship, b) the daugther of the owner of the hotel who is in love with a Japanese man, c) a mysterious woman gambler who is also called Su Lizhen, like the woman in In the Mood for Love. There are also a few substorylines that revolve around love, but arent given a lot of attention. 2046 is truly a scattered story of love which is able to handle a lot of different aspects, but all these aspects are handled quite hazily. The story bounces between these different stories and in the end you might not remember all of them because you lose track, and that weakens the impact of the content. It seemed to me that none of these aspects were properly handled and the film would have worked a lot better if Wong had left something out.
Both of these films emphasize how love is only a matter of right timing. Chow even mentions this in one of his many monologues in 2046. He also handles it in the story he is writing that is heavily influenced by his own life. The story - which is called 2046 - takes a deeper look at the storyline of the hotel owner's daughter. For me, the scenes of this story were dragged on for too long and it doesnt quite fit in to the atmosphere of the rest of the film. While they are certainly interesting and the content benefits from the story, I would have rather cut a lot of it and I would have told it in a lot shorter way. Wong also uses this as a way of commenting on the process of writing itself.
In the Mood for Love also has a few other things going on while the relationship between Chow and Su is under observation. Similarly to 2046, all of these storylines have something to do with love. Chow's friend, Ping, is constantly looking for new women and he's a regular customer for the local prostitutes. Most of the time we see Su at work, she is more focused on handling anything concerning the lover of her boss. It is intriguing to tweak the thematic depth a little by these minor details.
The beginning of In the Mood for Love has a really tight narrative. It goes through events so quickly that it is a little disorienting on the first time, but it is OK because then the film takes a lot calmer pace when the actual subject of the film is brought up. I would go as far to say that the film is nearly perfectly constructed. The pace of 2046 keeps changing all the time, partly due to the changing story arcs. While the editing masterfully keeps the viewer satisfied, the construction of the film is a little uneven - maybe on purpose. The film is so full of ups and downs that you dont really understand whether it is ever going to build up for a climax (or follow an easier pattern) - which it does not. This "poetic narrative" is fascinating yet a little frustating sometimes. Luckily Wong handles it quite well.
Wong uses slides of text during both of these films. In 2046, the slides are there to tell the viewer how much time has passed. There are also a few peculiar moments when events of history are focused on in the movie although they seem to have no relevance to the content at all. In In the Mood for Love they are used for quotes that strenghten the content of certain scenes.
In terms of cinematic form, Wong Kar-Wai is a madman. In In the Mood for Love and 2046, he is a bit more restrained than usually, which is a better choice. He likes to use precise and clear compositions to affect the mood cleverly. His films in general use a lot of closesups, slowmotion and fastmotion shots, and God knows what else. In the Mood for Love uses the apartments' hallways to create a little tension. The slowmotion shots are well used in In the Mood for Love where they seem to have greater resonance than in 2046. The lighting in both of these films is carefully handled and extremely beautiful. Wong likes to hang on certain moments in all of his films, and these two aren't exceptions to that "rule". The peculiarities in his form are often combined with strong musical choices to create unforgetable scenes.
There is one special formal method in In the Mood for Love that deserves to be mentioned. The faces of the spouses are never shown. We either see the back of their heads or hear their voices, but they are almost always outside of the shot. That makes the viewer even more alienated from them, which is necessary for the viewing experience. 2046 concentrates on framing with walls and a lot of other things. There is a huge number of interior shots that are framed with some object. It gives a nice touch to the beautiful shots.
There is a great example of Wong's form in In the Mood for Love. It combines the brilliance of his camerawork, editing and music. Chow and Su sit down for a discussion that is a huge turning point. The camera's movement totally reflects the mood of the whole situation. Switching from casual to tense by simple camera movement and/or cut. Even the background music is killed at the right moment which strengthens the impact of the scene.
Tony Leung's performance as Chow in these two films is brilliant. The character changes remarkably between the films, but he is able perform all aspects of the character flawlessly. His charisma easily carriers 2046 which is certainly used. Maggie Cheung manages to be at least as great as Leung in In the Mood for Love. Her subdued performance is a vital factor in setting the film's mood. In 2046, Zhang Ziyi's wild and overenthusiastic performance somehow fits although it might at first seem very over-the-top. Casting Faye Wong was a nice tribute to Wong's Chungking Express - even her character reminds of her character in Chungking Express.
In overall, In the Mood for Love is the film I prefer of these two. It is a lot more solid experience and doesnt falter in any aspect. 2046 is a little uneven in many aspects that the entirety is inevitably worse.
Scores:
In the Mood for Love (2000): 10 out of 10
2046 (2004): 8 out of 10
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