12-27-2025, 01:26 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-27-2025, 01:36 PM by Drunk Monk.)
The final installment of Wong Kar Wai's masterpiece trilogy
In the Mood for Love https://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFo...p?tid=7358
Days of Being Wild https://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFo...p?tid=7145
My Criterion & Paramount+ subscriptions end with the new year, so I'm binging those streamers and discovered this was indeed on Criterion now so I finally watched it.
It's brilliant, absolutely gorgeous, and a fitting close to the trilogy. The story returns to Chow Mo-wan, with Tony Leung looking more. dashing than ever. He's a newspaper writer, creating romance serials now. 2046 refers to a room number in the seedy inn where he lives, but also to a science fiction story he is writing that is a thinly guised metaphor for his love life.
Again, WKW works those sea green colors dashed with brilliant reds of prostitute nails and lipstick, but now he steps into a neon lit world of the future, like a visual wasabi between savory bites of sushi. He frames his shots so the action is in a corner, like a frame within a frame, while the bulk of the screen is taken by architectural textures and chaotic decor. I don't know why this works but it is so alluring and seductive. Another slow burn of a story, but when it all hits, it strikes deep in the heart, the epitome of romance and love unrequited.
And this is by far the most erotic of the trilogy. There's a lot of sex scenes, although all are tactfully shot and the most revealing is a quick shot of Leung's butt. As dashing as he is, it's all about the women. It brings back Maggie Cheung, in wordless cameo flashbacks, as well Carina Lau, returning as another ex of Chow's, and goes on to add some of the most glamorous women in Chinese film: Gong Li, Faye Wong, and Zhang Ziyi. And WKW knows exactly how to shoot these stars, close-ups on their faces and necks to showcase their incredible acting skills, peripheral shots of their bodies that aren't prurient but oh so seductive. I fell head over heels for each of these stars like never before watching this. And I've never been that great of a fan of Z. She got to be in so many standout martial arts films with little martial background and I resented that. But her performance here as a prostitute and Chow's lover is outstanding.
Chow is a womanizer and a cad. One can say he's still smitten by the unrequited love of Su Li-zhen, Maggie in ItMfL, and now the Black Spider played by Gong Li, which makes Chow emotionally unavailable. His relationship with Z, and with all the women in this film, is heart wrenching. And then there's Faye, taking on a duel role as the landlord's daughter and a service android.
For such a story about love and affairs, it's really about existential loneliness, absolutely haunting relationships with gorgeous women and how fleeting they all are. Like Chow's metaphoric 2046 story, I can't help but wonder how much of WKW's experiences are embedded in these stories. These films have such profound authenticity and emotional depth, wrapped in non-linear storytelling and thoroughly delicious scene composition. I can see why they are hailed by so many art critics.
Seeing this made me want to watch all three movies back to back. You may not need to see the first two to follow the third, but it's the only way to get the whole picture. And that picture is simply stunning.
And surprisingly, it's a total xmas film.
D00M recommended.
In the Mood for Love https://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFo...p?tid=7358
Days of Being Wild https://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFo...p?tid=7145
My Criterion & Paramount+ subscriptions end with the new year, so I'm binging those streamers and discovered this was indeed on Criterion now so I finally watched it.
It's brilliant, absolutely gorgeous, and a fitting close to the trilogy. The story returns to Chow Mo-wan, with Tony Leung looking more. dashing than ever. He's a newspaper writer, creating romance serials now. 2046 refers to a room number in the seedy inn where he lives, but also to a science fiction story he is writing that is a thinly guised metaphor for his love life.
Again, WKW works those sea green colors dashed with brilliant reds of prostitute nails and lipstick, but now he steps into a neon lit world of the future, like a visual wasabi between savory bites of sushi. He frames his shots so the action is in a corner, like a frame within a frame, while the bulk of the screen is taken by architectural textures and chaotic decor. I don't know why this works but it is so alluring and seductive. Another slow burn of a story, but when it all hits, it strikes deep in the heart, the epitome of romance and love unrequited.
And this is by far the most erotic of the trilogy. There's a lot of sex scenes, although all are tactfully shot and the most revealing is a quick shot of Leung's butt. As dashing as he is, it's all about the women. It brings back Maggie Cheung, in wordless cameo flashbacks, as well Carina Lau, returning as another ex of Chow's, and goes on to add some of the most glamorous women in Chinese film: Gong Li, Faye Wong, and Zhang Ziyi. And WKW knows exactly how to shoot these stars, close-ups on their faces and necks to showcase their incredible acting skills, peripheral shots of their bodies that aren't prurient but oh so seductive. I fell head over heels for each of these stars like never before watching this. And I've never been that great of a fan of Z. She got to be in so many standout martial arts films with little martial background and I resented that. But her performance here as a prostitute and Chow's lover is outstanding.
Chow is a womanizer and a cad. One can say he's still smitten by the unrequited love of Su Li-zhen, Maggie in ItMfL, and now the Black Spider played by Gong Li, which makes Chow emotionally unavailable. His relationship with Z, and with all the women in this film, is heart wrenching. And then there's Faye, taking on a duel role as the landlord's daughter and a service android.
For such a story about love and affairs, it's really about existential loneliness, absolutely haunting relationships with gorgeous women and how fleeting they all are. Like Chow's metaphoric 2046 story, I can't help but wonder how much of WKW's experiences are embedded in these stories. These films have such profound authenticity and emotional depth, wrapped in non-linear storytelling and thoroughly delicious scene composition. I can see why they are hailed by so many art critics.
Seeing this made me want to watch all three movies back to back. You may not need to see the first two to follow the third, but it's the only way to get the whole picture. And that picture is simply stunning.
And surprisingly, it's a total xmas film.
D00M recommended.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse