Tuesday, January 10, 2006

KBT Presents: 2046


Welcome to the 1st screening of 2006 and the overall 50th KBT Screening. An exotic jewel of a film, namely Wong Kar Wai's "2046" will mark the occasion. Released in a very limited way in North America in 2005 it was certainly one of the prettiest films of last year. Every single frame in this film drips with a lush density which screams artistry and attention to the most minute detail.

2046 is somewhat of a sequel to the equally sumptuous In The Mood For Love, but knowledge of the original is not necessary to enjoy this film. In that film, set in a highly stylized version 1960s Hong Kong, neighbours Chow Mo-Wan and Su Li-Zhen find out their spouses are having an affair with one another. Even though there is a strong and undeniable attraction between Mo-Wan and Li-Zhen, they refuse to have an affair to lower themselves to the levels of their cheating spouses. That film ends with Mo-Wan leaving to become a writer of science fiction novels. 2046 follows Mo-Wan who is a more hard-boiled version of his former shy self, but deeply scarred on the inside. He bounces from several relationships with woman played by gorgeous and acclaimed Chinese actresses, Faye Wong, Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li. In parallel to this, are scenes from Mo Wan's novel, set in the year 2046, which feature a Japanese man falling in love with an android on train returning from a mysterious colony/state-of-being. If that sounds complex and confusing, well it is to some degree. Wong Kar Wai's films are as much about mood as they are about narrative, and the collapsing house of cards that this film presents onscreen is a bold, if often esoteric, attempt to visualize Mo Wan's wounded psyche. Oh what a gorgeous collapse it is.

Come out Tuesday (Jan 10) at 8:00 pm for a glass of wine before the 8:30 showtime.

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