The Rice Thresher, Vol. 93, No. 3, Ed. 1 Friday, September 2, 2005 Page: 11 of 20
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THE RICE THRESHER ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2,2005
11
Stunning '2046' muses about lost
love with wondrous visual acuity
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COURTESY SONY PICTURE CLASSICS
Tony Leung Chiu Wai (In the Mood for Love) stars as Chow Mo Wan in 2046, director Wong Kar Wai's visually
stunning film about unrequited love.
Margaret Tung
FOR THE THRESHER
Booze, tobacco and one-night
stands pepper the landscapes of
2046, the new film from Hong Kong
director Kar Wai Wong. While the
movie has its share of unadulterated
passion, underneath the debauchery
it portrays the conflict between the
freedom the protagonist's bachelor
status allows and the loneliness it
often creates.
2046'
In theaters
Rating: ★★★★
(out of five)
The narrator, Chow Mo Wan
(In the Mood for Ijjve's Tony Leung
Chiu Wai), is a carefree F. Scott
Fitzgerald-esque writer whose
highly stylized life and torrid affairs
provide the characters and plots
for his sensationalized, borderline-
steamy novels. He notes, "love is
all about timing," and through this
perspective the audience meets all
of the women with whom Wai be-
comes emotionally and physically
involved. The film's title, 2046. is
a reference to the hotel room in
which Chow once stayed with a
former flame and is also the title
of his science-fiction novel.
In his book. Chow includes
liasons with Bai Ling (Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragons Zhang Ziyi)
and Wang Jing Wen (Chungking
Express's Faye Wong). Ziyi dazzles
in her role as a sophisticated and
seductive temptress who uses her
breathtaking beauty to manipulate
the opposite sex. Bai Ling has per-
fected the art of playing games with
men so well that it only appears to
be extended foreplay.
Wong Kar Wai
brings a SEXILY
stylized approach
to a classic love
story by shooting
intricate close-ups
and toying
with colorful
cinematography.
Wong's character is the daughter
of the owner of the hotel where
Chow stays. She fell in love with
a Japanese man her father did
not approve of and spent time at a
mental hospital to recover from the
heartbreak. Then, Chow appears at
the hotel to mend her broken heart
through nights of avid writing, small
favors and much physical restraint
on Chow's part. Chow takes Jing
Wen to a newspaper office so she
can make a long-distance call to
her Japanese boyfriend in a cli-
mactic scene illustrating the film's
themes of freedom and loneliness.
As Chow peers into the glass win-
dow, his characteristic cigarette in
hand — with its snake-like smoke
ensnaring the frame — he clearly
sees someone he desires — a de-
sire made stronger because she is
emotionally unavailable.
This motif of unrequited love
is also played out in a short story
Chow affectionately writes for Jing
Wen, jokingly titled "2047." In this
section of the film, Wong Kar Wai
contrasts the dark and muted colors
of the previous storyline with high-
light-toned pinks and Tokyo-infused
fashions that denote the fantasy to
the audience. In this subplot, the
hero falls for an android against the
wishes of the 2046 train conductor.
Through the android, also played by
Faye Wong, the universal theme of
the human need for companionship
is shown — a need that has been
pre-wired, so to speak, into our
genetic coding.
Hie film's only fault is its often
laborious pace. Otherwise, Wong Kar
Wai brings a sexily stylized approach
to a classic love story by shooting
intricate close-ups and toying with
colorful cinematography. He has
created a captivating and flirtatious
project that will set the bar for any
of his future work.
GARDENER
From page 10
instance, Meirelles shows audi-
ences one of Justin's memories
of Tessa early in their marriage
and then cuts to a shot of Justin
running from authorities months
later. The film's narration has no
order, but each segment unveils
more information behind the
tragedies consuming Justin's life.
The viewer's mind processes two
juxtaposed, hasty narratives until
they eventually collide, gelling into
one serene ending.
While this narrative structure is
initially compelling, the flashbacks
ultimately feel rough and uncon-
nected. ITie random jumps through
time leave the viewer wanting a better
sense of continuity.
Meirelles' refusal to tell LeCar-
re's story from start to finish also
makes character development com-
plicated. Fiennes attempts to por-
tray Justin as an unemotional man
who eventually grows a fervently
beating heart. Justin's character
arc is difficult to show, though, be-
cause of the randomly interspersed
flashbacks. With Justin's levels of
emotional growth shining unevenly,
any sympathy for him is dwarfed by
a sense of confusion.
In addition, Weisz's portrayal of
Tessa in the beginning scenes as
such an outspoken, fearless activ-
ist, in contrast to the nearly lifeless
Fiennes, make their roles seem like
cartoonishly polar opposites. The
film's time limit does not allow for
the complex character development
LeCarre's text calls for.
Despite glitches in translation
from book to screen, The Constant
Gardener is a breathtaking film,
brimming with striking scenery.
From brilliant reds and arid oranges
in Kenya to the graying gardens of
Ivondon, the cinematography has the
ability to make the viewer feel, not
just see, the desperation of the many
African families and a single British
one. Yet in their lives of depression,
the beauty — in countrysides, in
community, in danger — of finding
love after it has been lost prevails.
Meirelles's juxtaposition of land-
scapes and fates captures this point
stunningly.
The Constant Gardener s so well-
shot and so topically relevant that
it compensates for the storylines
disjointedness. Audiences should
not expect the same genius Mei-
relles expressed with City of God,
but they can look forward to an
enjoyable political thriller.
i FAN'S \<n i s
This fan remembers
Douglas Adams
This summer, Touchstone
Pictures destroyed a small part
of my soul. The company released
an incomparably me-
diocre film entitled The
Hitchhiker's Guide to the
Galaxy, based on the sci-
ence-fiction cult classic
by Douglas Adams. No,
I didn't expect it to be a
blockbuster (it wasn't)
and I never thought it
could compare to the
radio series or books
of the same name (it
didn't), but I was hoping
against hope the film
would be something
otherthan afeeble attempt to make
a little more money off one of the
most ingenious authors of modern
sci-fi. My hopes were dashed, and
Adams deserved better.
I came home from the open-
ing-night show — which, by
the way, was nowhere near sold
out — utterly dismayed. Marvin
the Paranoid Android had nothing
on me. In a feeble attempt to cheer
myself up, I Googled the film to
see whether Adams could have
actually been involved in such a
disgrace.
Things went from bad to
worse. Not only had Adams co-
authored the movie script, he
had been working to create a film
version of The Hitchhiker's Guide
for about 20 years. My head began
swimming and I started to doubt
whether the meaning of life was
really 42. Then, in a miniscule
box on a for-more-information
website, I found redemption. And
redemption came to me as The
Salmon of Doubt.
It would be hard to make a
book called The Salmon of Doubt
bad. But when the volume is filled
with anecdotes about Adams as
told by his friends and admirers,
as well as unfinished, never-
before-published short stories
and collected essays by Adams
himself, it is impossible not to fall
in literary love.
Salmon made its debut in
May 2002, commemorating
the anniversary of Adams' un-
timely death. Inside, the mind
of Douglas Adams spews forth
satirical and bizarre commentary
on everything from tangles of
Julia
Bursten
technological miscellany ("little
dongly things" in Adams' tongue-
in-cheek essay) to the supposed
private life of Genghis
Khan. He also reveals
the true account of
his involvement in
the Hitchhiker's movie
process — and rest
assured, I am going
to lay full blame for
the film's failure on
Touchstone Pictures
from now on.
Perhaps the most
relevant portion of
The Salmon of Doubt
is the story of the
same name. In its introduction,
Adamfc explains that he wanted
to end the Hitchhiker's series on
a more upbeat note than in the
rather dark fifth book, Mostly
Harmless. The Salmon of Doubt
was supposed to be a full sixth
novel in the saga, but a fatal heart
attack in 2001 prevented Adams
from finishing his work.
I've reread portions of this
collection innumerable times,
and I have found a favorite essay
among Adams' masses of wonder-
fully random thoughts. 'ITie essay
dates to the late 1990s or early
2000s and describes Adams' first
experience with a personal digital
assistant. He writes the essay,
originally a column in the Brit-
ish newspaper The Independent,
only because he wants to prove
he can write an entire column on
a palm-sized computer.
To me, such a stunt is quintes-
sential Adams. It incorporates his
love of technology and his love of
irony into a meaningful commen-
tary on modern culture.
Adams' whimsical, irreverent
fascination with science, which in-
spired the entire Hitchhiker's Guide
to the Galaxy series, has been boiled
down to its essence in this piece.
Every time I see how this spirit
was lost in the production of the
Hitchhiker's Guide movie, I think
Adams might smile if he knew his
fans have to turn from a high-tech
film to a low-tech book to find his
most meaningful work.
Julia Bursten is a Ijivett College
sophomore and assistant arts and
entertainment editor.
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Obermeyer, Amber. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 93, No. 3, Ed. 1 Friday, September 2, 2005, newspaper, September 2, 2005; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443002/m1/11/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.