Perhaps Wong Kar Wai's most feverish aesthetic display, 2046 inhabits a dream-like plane between material and spiritual, where vibrant, vivid romanticism is juxtaposed with the cold, unpredictable nature of living. From the epoch in which it takes place - 1967, when large scale riots against the colonial government took place, to the science-fiction artifice constructed by our principle protagonist - one in which discouraged lovers flee to re-live their past, 2046 is a luminous experience that aims to encapsulate the anarchic nature of living, one in which the individual in many ways is at the mercy of the external conditions that help define them. The interiority of the human condition, the pursuit for intimacy and/or meaningful connection cannot be forged alone, it requires reciprocity but also timing, and what WKW continues with 2046 is effectively a mature deconstruction of existential longing. Love, connection, solace in the good times, and what it means to care for others, despite our natural proclivities to embrace the carnal impulse alone instead of wrangling with underlying emotions that open up vulnerability. The setting itself - 1967 Hong Kong - also signals this lack of control we have, the unknown future, and the collective identity of Hong Kong's people very much lurks in the subtext, but ultimately this feels very intentional, as WKW draws parallels between diasporic spirituality and collective identity - we all in many ways are just searching for a sense of peace and stability from the unpredictability of life itself.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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