In the Mood for Rapture.
May 24, 2004 8:42 AM Subscribe
In the Mood for Rapture. "Forget the completion anxiety that attended Wong Kar-wai's new film 2046 — four years in the gestating, with scenes still being shot a few weeks ago — what 2046 makes unavoidably clear, is that Wong Kar-wai is the most romantic filmmaker in the world.
Love, the playwright Terry Johnson wrote, is something you fall in. Wong's films make art out of that vertiginous feeling. They soar as their characters plummet". It is a sequel of sorts to Wong's In the Mood for Love. It is the story of a writer: in his novel, a mysterious train left for 2046 every once in a while. Everyone who went there had the same intention: to recapture their lost memories. (more inside)
he is a favorite here too. how long until I get to see it? (that's the thing I hate about cannes... know that there are all these films out there and not knowing if or when I'll see them).
posted by grimley at 9:41 AM on May 24, 2004
posted by grimley at 9:41 AM on May 24, 2004
Posters, screen captures and dvd reviews for In the Mood for Love here (the reviewer states that apparently the French Region 2 Special Edition dvd is a better transfer than Criterion's own)
posted by matteo at 10:16 AM on May 24, 2004
posted by matteo at 10:16 AM on May 24, 2004
oooh, this should keep me busy...rock on with your roman godlike self matteo. :)
posted by dejah420 at 10:17 AM on May 24, 2004
posted by dejah420 at 10:17 AM on May 24, 2004
In the Mood for Love is an amazing movie. I'll definitely be seeing 2046.
Great post, too.
posted by kenko at 11:25 AM on May 24, 2004
Great post, too.
posted by kenko at 11:25 AM on May 24, 2004
"In incandescent images of glamorous performers, he details love's anguish and rapture, which are often the same thing."
Fantastic use of the word “rapture”; my dates leave me rapturous. Better use of the word than describing Christ’s return.
posted by thomcatspike at 11:40 AM on May 24, 2004
Fantastic use of the word “rapture”; my dates leave me rapturous. Better use of the word than describing Christ’s return.
posted by thomcatspike at 11:40 AM on May 24, 2004
It's a little hard to argue that the Palme d'Or vote for Farneheit 911 was anything other than a cheap political snap while there's a film like 2046 gathering the sort of attention and acclaim that it did... I for one cannot wait to see it myself.
posted by JollyWanker at 12:51 PM on May 24, 2004
posted by JollyWanker at 12:51 PM on May 24, 2004
It's a little hard to argue that the Palme d'Or vote for Fahrenheit 911 was anything other than a cheap political snap while there's a film like 2046 gathering the sort of attention and acclaim that it did... I for one cannot wait to see it myself.
So, JollyWanker, you're making a judgement even though you've only seen one of the two films (Fahrenheit 911, I assume, as you are still waiting to see 2046)? It seems like it might be better to wait until you've seen both before you can declare that argument isn't even possible. There were an awful lot of people here a couple of days ago expressing their opinion about the Moore film without having seen it. I, personally, find it hard to issue a judgement about a work of art without having first experienced it.
posted by mr_roboto at 2:47 PM on May 24, 2004
So, JollyWanker, you're making a judgement even though you've only seen one of the two films (Fahrenheit 911, I assume, as you are still waiting to see 2046)? It seems like it might be better to wait until you've seen both before you can declare that argument isn't even possible. There were an awful lot of people here a couple of days ago expressing their opinion about the Moore film without having seen it. I, personally, find it hard to issue a judgement about a work of art without having first experienced it.
posted by mr_roboto at 2:47 PM on May 24, 2004
matteo - nice post and links. Thanks.
I've been keeping a list of 2046 videos on my weblog, including the ones from the Cannes 2004 site and a couple of others that show longer scenes with dialogue.
One link I would add to your post is the press page of the french distributor for 2046, which isn't linked from their main page (which was the last link in your post). The press page has a PDF file with high-res imagery from 2046. Gorgeous stuff.
posted by shortfuse at 3:04 PM on May 24, 2004
I've been keeping a list of 2046 videos on my weblog, including the ones from the Cannes 2004 site and a couple of others that show longer scenes with dialogue.
One link I would add to your post is the press page of the french distributor for 2046, which isn't linked from their main page (which was the last link in your post). The press page has a PDF file with high-res imagery from 2046. Gorgeous stuff.
posted by shortfuse at 3:04 PM on May 24, 2004
by the way, Maggie Cheung fans shouldn't forget the sweet (and probably too cute for its own good), interesting romantic comedy/drama Comrades, Almost a Love Story. Where she, as usual, glows.
posted by matteo at 4:16 PM on May 24, 2004
posted by matteo at 4:16 PM on May 24, 2004
can't wait for 2046.
Well, its still 42 years away.
Err... wait... I'm tired.
posted by delmoi at 11:29 PM on May 24, 2004
Well, its still 42 years away.
Err... wait... I'm tired.
posted by delmoi at 11:29 PM on May 24, 2004
I first fell in love with WkW in high school, after watching
A Fei Zheng Zhuan (1991), featuring the late and much lamented
Leslie Cheung and a very young Maggie Cheung. Maggie's role in that movie is named 'Su Lizhen' as well, which would make 'A Fei', 'In the Mood' and this '2046' a sort of trilogy. Too bad they probably won't ever release 'A Fei' in the states.
Can't wait!
posted by of strange foe at 8:16 AM on May 25, 2004
A Fei Zheng Zhuan (1991), featuring the late and much lamented
Leslie Cheung and a very young Maggie Cheung. Maggie's role in that movie is named 'Su Lizhen' as well, which would make 'A Fei', 'In the Mood' and this '2046' a sort of trilogy. Too bad they probably won't ever release 'A Fei' in the states.
Can't wait!
posted by of strange foe at 8:16 AM on May 25, 2004
I think it already was a sort-of-trilogy: as tears go by, 'days of being wild', and then 'in the mood for love'. so now it's a sort-of-tetralogy...?
you can probably chance upon local theatres (e.g. the brattle, the angelika, etc.) showing them every once in a while. but at least they have been out on region-0 dvd for a while now, and with decent video transfers no less.
posted by dorian at 9:22 AM on May 25, 2004
you can probably chance upon local theatres (e.g. the brattle, the angelika, etc.) showing them every once in a while. but at least they have been out on region-0 dvd for a while now, and with decent video transfers no less.
posted by dorian at 9:22 AM on May 25, 2004
Oh right. I seem to recall Maggie Cheung had her breakout role in 'As Tears Go By' and started being regarded as a serious actress.
posted by of strange foe at 12:51 PM on May 25, 2004
posted by of strange foe at 12:51 PM on May 25, 2004
the onion had a nice interview with him about how difficult it was to shoot :D
"...at one point, we were shooting both films back-to-back at the same time, which became extremely difficult, because the other story takes place 50 years into the future. It was like falling in love with two different people at the same time. After we finished part of 2046, we started the production of In The Mood For Love again in Bangkok, because in the process of shooting part of 2046 in Bangkok, we saw some things that would be extremely good for In The Mood For Love. So we eventually moved it there. It was very chaotic. Somehow, we spent 15 months on these films."
wow!
posted by kliuless at 6:14 PM on May 25, 2004
"...at one point, we were shooting both films back-to-back at the same time, which became extremely difficult, because the other story takes place 50 years into the future. It was like falling in love with two different people at the same time. After we finished part of 2046, we started the production of In The Mood For Love again in Bangkok, because in the process of shooting part of 2046 in Bangkok, we saw some things that would be extremely good for In The Mood For Love. So we eventually moved it there. It was very chaotic. Somehow, we spent 15 months on these films."
wow!
posted by kliuless at 6:14 PM on May 25, 2004
for archival purposes, good story in the Village Voice:
Maybe, finally, Wong has learned his lesson. Dividing the critics and ignored by the jury, Wong might work more practically in the future. (Next: a more structured film about Bruce Lee with Leung, but also a follow-up to 2046 focusing on Gong Li's one-gloved gambler.) This need for change provides 2046's intriguing subtext. "I realized I was making a film about myself, about our process of making films! This film concludes all of my previous work. It's like a reunion of all the past moments. We tried for something different, but the past kept coming back."
posted by matteo at 12:37 PM on June 2, 2004
Maybe, finally, Wong has learned his lesson. Dividing the critics and ignored by the jury, Wong might work more practically in the future. (Next: a more structured film about Bruce Lee with Leung, but also a follow-up to 2046 focusing on Gong Li's one-gloved gambler.) This need for change provides 2046's intriguing subtext. "I realized I was making a film about myself, about our process of making films! This film concludes all of my previous work. It's like a reunion of all the past moments. We tried for something different, but the past kept coming back."
posted by matteo at 12:37 PM on June 2, 2004
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posted by matteo at 8:48 AM on May 24, 2004