2046 (2004)

Director:

Kar Wai Wong

Writer:

Kar Wai Wong (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 September 2004 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Where everything ends... and begins (Spanish translation)

Plot:

He was a writer. He thought he wrote about the future but it really was the past. In his novel, a mysterious train left for 2046 every once in a while...

Plot Keywords:

Prostitute | Unrequited Love | Sex | Android | Hong Kong

Awards:

21 wins & 30 nominations

Cast

Tony Leung Chiu Wai	...	Chow Mo-wan (as Tony Leung)
Li Gong	...	Su Li-zhen
Faye Wong	...	Wang Jing-wen / Android on 2046 Train
Takuya Kimura	...	Tak / Wang Jing-wen's Boyfriend
Ziyi Zhang	...	Bai Ling
Carina Lau	...	Lulu / Mimi / Android on 2046 Train
Chen Chang	...	Mimi's Boyfriend
Jie Dong	...	Wang Jie-wen
Maggie Cheung	...	Su Li-zhen in 1960
Thongchai McIntyre	...	Bird (as Bird Thongchai McIntyre)
Wang Sum	...	Mr. Wang / Train Captain
Ping Lam Siu	...	Ah Ping
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ting Yip Ng	...	(unconfirmed)

Also Known As:

2046 - Der ultimative Liebesfilm (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content.

Runtime:

129 min

Country:

China | France | Germany | Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | Japanese | Mandarin

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Hungary:16 | Brazil:16 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Hong Kong:IIB | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Malaysia:18SX (uncut version) | Australia:M | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Ireland:12 (video rating) | Ireland:15A (original rating) | Italy:T | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A | USA:R | China:17

Filming Locations:

China

Company:

Block 2 Pictures

Trivia:

While 2046 was being filmed, a photographer from Sudden Weekly, a Hong Kong tabloid, bribed his way onto the set. After his pictures of the interior of the Oriental Hotel were published, 'Wong Kar Wai' ordered the set to be rebuilt. The photographer was subsequently sentenced to three months' jail for corruption.

Quotes:

Chow Mo Wan: I once fell in love with someone. I couldn't stop wondering if she loved me back. I found an android which looked just like her. I hoped she would give me the answer.

Movie Connections:

References Blade Runner (1982)

Soundtrack:

Perfidia

A tragedy - in many ways

Why do I have my problems with the movies of Wong-Kar-Wai? As always: the pictures he shows are outstanding, the music is hypnotizing, the actors are the who-is-who of contemporary Chinese cinema. But the overall impression is that of a creamy bitter-sweet chocolate-cake. Since "In the mood for love" (for which is "2046" a definitive sequel) Kar-Wai has made only one development: his erotic is sharper, more powerful, but like in the prequel: his male protagonist shows no evolution. He is as passive and dumb as a chestnut on Xmas eve. I'm beginning to fear that Kar-Wai ends up like Soderbergh: every movie is nearly a masterpiece. And i mean really "nearly", but his art-house-aestheticism is way over the top, the story wants to be multi-level and is in fact only confusing. The dialog is as poetical as boring. Leung is (as in "mood") no match for his female partners. This movie is only saved by the beautiful music and the gorgeous female characters. I'm certainly begging that Kar-Wai turns on another genre and let that existentialism of his be, then he could do something "real" outstanding (like Park did with his "oldboy").