And you'll want to watch Days of Being Wild as well.

The main character in both movies is Mr. Chow. He found the perfect love in In the Mood for Love, but lost it. In 2046, he always measures his current love affair against that one, and finds it doesn't measure up. But 2046 is a meditation on that, but also stuff from Days of Being Wild as well, and a summary of the themes explored in the other two.

2046 touches on how memory often interferes with our ability to enjoy the present, and how love is a matter of timing, unrequited love, and failing to recognize what you have. Lulu continues to long for her deceased boyfriend, Bai Ling can't get over Mr. Chow, Wang Jing-wen longs for her Japanese boyfriend, and Su Li-zhen seems to be a bit of an enigma, both as interlude to represent memories, as a means to revive Mr. Chow's memories of the other Su Li-zhen, and as a way for Mr. Chow to better understand himself. The android, as played by Wang Jing-wen, represents the real Wang Jing-wen, and the man on the train represents Mr. Chow, but Chow has him played by the Japanese man Wang Jing-wen loves in real life.

Then there is the Chinese proverb about hiding a secret inside a hole in a tree, which was actually enacted by Mr. Chow in In the Mood for Love, and in 2046, it is explored by the man on the train as he tries to understand where the android's love lies, which, in a sense, is what Mr. Chow is trying to do with regard to Wang Jing-wen.

The book. The book by Kobo Abe. They made movies. That is, novelist Kobo Abe, composer Toru Takemitsu and artist/director Hiroshi Teshigahara. They didn't just stick to their roles. They collaborated and made four movies. Incredible stuff.

And watch Hiroshi Teshigahara's Woman in the Dunes and The Face of Another for avant-garde explorations of identity. And watch Masahiro Shinoda's Pale Flower, With Beauty and Sorrow, and The Petrified Forest for nihilistic themes. And don't miss out on Masaki Kobayashi's The Human Condition. And Nagisa Oshima's Cruel Story of Youth. And Imamura's Pigs and Battleships. Want more Naruse? Watch Hideko Takamine in Yearning and Floating Clouds. And don't miss out on Keisuke Kinoshita's Twenty-four Eyes for a brilliant performance from Takamine. And absolutely, you need to see Kenji Mizoguchi's three masterpieces starring Kinuyo Tanaka: The Life of Oharu, Ugetsu, and Sansho the Bailiff.

Of course. Hideko Takamine and Setsuko Hara, respectively.

Still, the more people involved, the better chance one single person is not attuned to the film, and that draws focus away. Not a good thing. Wong Kar-Wai films need focus. And it's not just my OTHER picks that are good. 2046 is the movie. Unless you just want to watch action flicks.

Oh, and Mr. Chow mentions (on Christmas Eve) that the sections 1224 and 1225 on the train lack heating, and are very cold. And that is symbolic of the coldness he feels on this Christmas Eve, being alone.

Finally, watching a bootleg copy of 2046, probably with botched subtitles, possibly not Wong Kar-Wai's final cut, with a bunch of guys is not the proper way to watch a Wong Kar-Wai film, ever. You watch it alone, or with a girlfriend who appreciates that kind of film.

You do realize that you might not have watched the correct cut of 2046? Wong Kar-Wai's films go through a development stage during release. Ten years ago was at the time of release.

You seriously need to rethink your take on the film. And the clip I just shared with you? I could go through some key points on it. But first, you should agree to watch it all the way through. Some points:

1. It's Christmas Eve.
2. He takes Wang out to dinner. He is in love with her.
3. Wang is in love with a Japanese man.
4. Wang says some things during dinner which are kind of rude and heartbreaking to him.
5. He offers a means for her to call her boyfriend.
6. He realizes how good he feels for doing this.
7. At 4:04, his eyes look downward, wistfully, and reflects.
8. He's going to tell you the conclusions he has come to.
9. That is a culmination of his prior failed relationships, and the big one, from the earlier film.
10. We see the character from the story he's writing walk away in the train.
11. That character is actually the Japanese Man Wang loves in real life.
12. That character has been rejected by the android in the story Mr. Chow is writing.
13. The android represents Wang
14. The Japanese Man in the story represents Mr. Chow.
15. So the character, and Mr. Chow simultaneously have a revelation.
16. And on the hotel rooftop, we see a still photo of Mr. Chow.
17. This is akin to a nostalgic moment.
18. We see the android look wistfully out the window of the train.
19. She's longing for the man she loves, which in the story is someone else.
20. But in real life, it's analogous to Wang's longing for the Japanese man.
21. And the opera music plays.
22. Wang's father is the fan of opera music, and so the opera music is like Wang's theme.
23. Other characters have different themes for music.
24. And so Mr. Chow reveals to himself that love is all a matter of timing.
25. Wang turns towards the camera, and it's her effective goodbye.
26. This final scene is an echo of Rebecca Pan's goodbye in Days of Being Wild.

flagel8,

This seven minute clip is monumentally important to the film, and stunningly beautiful, from beginning to end. Its combination of music, revelation to the main character, and final goodbye to Faye Wong's character, are just stunning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rg1QB_h6mY

And the whole damn movie is like that, it seems. Just a breathtakingly gorgeous confluence of emotion, realization, and heartbreak.

Well, consider:

1. I assume you've watched the film only once.
2. You haven't seen the other two films, which play a role in appreciating 2046.
3. You had expectations of a science fiction film, so you weren't getting exactly what you expected.

The film is layered. Mr. Chow is portrayed as he is, due to prior events. And in fact, there is a point where he realizes why things are the way they are. The other women, played by Faye Wong, Gong Li, Carina Lau, and Zhang Ziyi, all have their stories, and one can relate to them.

Here's a key: consider the moments of reflection the characters play as they ponder things on the hotel rooftop. Those are important moments.

Well, you just said you enjoyed it a lot. Is that the only Wong Kar-Wai film you've seen? There's a saying: "The more you put into a Wong Kar-Wai film, the more you get out of it." No way around it. 2046 is a masterpiece of allegory, stories within stories, an exploration of unrequited love and longing. And Zhang Ziyi's performance is nothing short of stunning. As one reviewer said: "She expresses bottomless agony with a single teardrop."

So much is being said in this wordless scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRfPF3tLIGQ

A Teshigahara/Abe/Takemitsu collaboration from the Japanese New Wave. An existential exploration of identity. Have you seen Teshigahara's The Face of Another? I rank it even slightly higher than Woman in the Dunes, and that's saying a lot. It's pretty much in my top 20. The Face of Another is probably the second greatest science fiction film of all time, if you so choose to qualify it as science fiction.

Are Rashomon and Seven Samurai your favorite Kurosawa films? Which Kurosawa films have you seen? My favorites are actually Red Beard, Seven Samurai, No Regrets for our Youth, and the The Idiot. Have you watched any films from the other masters of Japan's golden age - i.e. Ozu, Naruse, Mizoguchi, Kobayashi, or Kinoshita?

That one's on my want to watch list. I haven't yet had a chance to explore the works of Tsai Ming-liang yet. Oh, but I want to!

- What Time is it There?
- Goodbye, Dragon Inn
- The Wayward Cloud
- The Hole
- Vive L'Amour

Wong Kar-Wai's 2046 is a masterpiece of love and longing, no doubt about it. For neophytes, I'd recommend starting with his Chungking Express, and then progressing into his more cerebral works, those of course being his trilogy Days of Being Wild, In the Mood for Love, and 2046.

Some people can't digest 2046. Others call it one of their favorite films of all time. I'm definitely the latter. Best to watch all three films in random order, and then repeat, in random order, and then again.

Flagel8, what are some of your favorite moments, shots, scenes from 2046?

Awesome! Watch When a Woman Ascends the Stairs and No Regrets for our Youth.

Some are indeed extortion. Others are legitimate.

The first thing one must do is disabuse themselves of the idea that Asian cinema is solely the domain of samurais, kung fu masters and crime thrillers. With that said, where to start? Well, if you're a newbie, like Phinnaeus Gage, Kyle91, or faiza1990, and looking to expand your cinematic knowledge, a good place to start is modern Hong Kong cinema. And a good film to begin with is Wong Kar-Wai's Chungking Express: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bjd7PFf_TFw

And even if it wasn't related to Bitcoin, it would still be on topic for the off topic section. It boggles my mind that people expect a Bitcoin tie in in this section of the forum.

EDIT: I see now that this thread was probably moved.

Of Kubrick's, my favorite is 2001. It delivers on so many levels. The Face of Another to me, is a masterpiece beyond measure as well. You'd enjoy it more if you get familiar with the Japanese New Wave, and Tatsuya Nakadei as an actor.

In a nutshell:

2001: A Space Odyssey: Humanity's place in the Universe
The Face of Another: Psychological study of identity and its meaning
Pale Flower: Nihilism and self destruction
Yi Yi: Affirmation of being human
The Human Condition: Being defiant within a war machine
Woman in the Dunes: Another muse on identity and its role in society
Sansho the Bailiff: I don't know where to begin
2046: A meditation on love and longing
In the Mood for Love: same as above

All very cerebral. All very powerful. All critically acclaimed. All promoting discussion.

To me, The Matrix and Inception don't quite measure up. But you have to step outside of mainstream Hollywood cinema to discover the true treasures. Hollywood films are studio driven, which means they are designed by a committee to make money first.