2046
Wong Kar-wai | 2004 | Hong Kong | 2h08m | Presented in the original Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese audio with English subtitles.
Are you falling in love, or looking for someone you’ve already lost?
After screening IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE during Asian Film Week, I wanted to follow it with Wong Kar-wai’s loose sequel. Tony Leung returns as Chow, carrying the memory of that earlier relationship into a life of greater freedom and less tenderness.
To saw Chow has evolved would be an understatement. He writes, pursues women and insists on keeping his relationships casual. He appears to have moved on from an earlier heartbreak, yet the women he meets keep reminding him of what he cannot recover. Their encounters become material for a science-fiction story in which people travel to a place where nothing ever changes.
Leung makes the change visible through small differences in behaviour. Chow flirts more readily, smiles with greater confidence and withdraws when someone asks for more than he wants to give. His charm makes the attraction understandable. His evasions reveal what becoming involved with him can cost. For those joining us for INFERNAL AFFAIRS on Friday, this is another opportunity to watch how much Leung communicates through what his characters conceal.
The women around him give those evasions consequences. Zhang Ziyi’s Bai Ling meets his detachment with desire, anger and wounded pride. Her performance makes it difficult to accept Chow’s account of himself as simply someone unlucky in love. He has suffered, but he is also capable of making others suffer.
Wong moves between these relationships and the futuristic story Chow writes. Faces and situations recur in altered forms. Feelings that remain unspoken in the hotel become easier to recognise in fiction, where waiting for an answer can become a literal delay in someone’s ability to respond.
The visual detail makes these connections felt. Doorways and curtains interrupt our view of the characters. Patterned rooms and William Chang’s costumes distinguish encounters that memory threatens to merge. Repeated music brings an earlier feeling into a later scene, even when the people involved have changed.
2046 understands the attraction of returning to an unfinished relationship in your mind. It also notices the people you overlook while doing so. Chow can rewrite his experiences, change the setting and give someone else his words. Recognising his own behaviour is more difficult.
10% OFF FOOD, PLUS GROUP DEALS
Dinner before a film at FOMO is now sorted! We’ve arranged special offers with our two favourite places to eat in Bazari Orbeliani, both right next door to FOMO:
10% off at La Focacceria
20% off at Potato Factory
Potato Factory 2+1: buy two and get one free
Potato Factory 3+2: buy three and get two free
Simply show your Fienta ticket when ordering.
You’re welcome to eat in the Sherekilebi Bar at FOMO Secret Cinema or upstairs at FOMO Open-Air Cinema. Tell them where you’ll be sitting and they’ll bring your food to you.
FOOD AND DRINK POLICY: SHEREKILEBI Bar in FOMO Cinema opens 1 hour before the first screening of the day and closes at 01:30, serving a wide selection of beer, wine, cocktails, and non-alcoholic refreshments, as well as fresh hot popcorn! Outside food is allowed in the bar but not in the cinema. No alcohol or drinks from outside allowed. All guests are invited to arrive early and stay late!
LOCATION: FOMO Secret Cinema, Bazari Orbeliani, Tbilisi. A five minute walk from Liberty Square metro.
HOW TO FIND FOMO: Enter Bazari Orbeliani via Atoneli St above Carrefour and take the stairs on your left to Level 1. Signage on the door. You can also check our Instagram story highlights for a video showing exactly how to find us: https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3OTMzMTA2Mjk0MDI5MjM1
REFUND & CREDIT POLICY: If FOMO cancels a screening, all ticket holders will receive a full refund. If your plans change and you can no longer attend, we’ll issue you a credit for the value of your ticket, which can be used for any FOMO film screening within the following 30 days.
TICKETS are also available to purchase over the bar if not sold out.
FOMO Secret Cinema • Bazari Orbeliani, 0105 Tbilisi, Georgia
