First of all, I'd like to introduce myself: I'm not the kind of guy who likes Hollywood crap. At all. I appreciate quality in cinema, no matter what the genre or the origin country is. I enjoy mainstream flicks like "X-Men", slow paced foreign movies like "Raise The Red Lantern", dramas like "Remains Of The Day", brainy ruminations like "Dead Ringers", indie films like "Happiness" and plain fun like "Top Secret". To put it short: I tend to like quality. No prejudices.
There's, however, one unwritten universal film-making law that has been dramatically overlooked during the production of this movie: don't ever bore the audience. Do whatever you like. Do you wish to make a very slow movie? OK, right, there are a lot of beautiful and interesting slow movies. Do you like long dialogues? OK, perfect, just remember to keep them meaningful and relevant. The list of movie attributes that can be adjusted to avoid yawning in the audience while being true to your work is almost endless, isn't it? Well, "2046" managed to bore the hell out of me and forced me to take a look at my watch many more times than it is desirable. In fact, the movie felt like it was endless. 129 minutes? God, it felt like 229.
There are a lot of problems with "2046". The first of all, is that this is supposed to be a film about love (somebody please correct me if I'm wrong). I don't know if I'm getting soppy with age, but "2046" was cold as ice. The direction is distant. The main character is an irritant tiny man that we're supposed to buy for some kind of heartbreaker dandy. I can't empathize with him. Furthermore, of all relationships (?) presented in the movie, the only one appealing (hotels owner's daughter) is criminally underdeveloped. The story focuses on relations devoid of feeling. But don't think this is a beautiful look on the decadent side of relations between men and women. It isn't, either. It's an unsatisfying middle ground where characters you don't care about just come and go.
So you'll imagine how surprised was I after realizing how many people were praising this movie. Well, not so surprised, but I don't want to be pricky.
People are eulogizing the direction, the lightning and the poetic of the film. Excuse me? 1) With regard to direction: camera angles and rhythm are nothing I haven't seen before; there are occasional beautiful camera settings, but not much more; on the other hand, there is a cumbersome story development (in the most turgid way). 2) With regard to lightning: there is some remarkable use of shadows here and there, and the darkness of the film is nothing magical, it's just darkness; the most effective use of lightning appears inside the "futurisitc train", and my jaw didn't drop. 3) With regard to the poetic: the android mini-story does it for me, and the hotel owner's daughter, which I mentioned before, is the real deal in the movie. What a pity it didn't last even 15 minutes.
I really wanted to like this movie in the beginning. Later, I only wanted it to end.
As a last comment, I've been shocked to hear some people say that "2046" is the Asian equivalent to "Lost In Translation". I see what they mean, but there is an ocean between both movies. An ocean full of true emotion, sense of humor, likable characters, non pretentious style, varied music and endearing happenings.
If you are planning to watch this movie because of the hype, be warned: although you could love it, it might be a long, long, boring trip.
RATING: 2.3
There's, however, one unwritten universal film-making law that has been dramatically overlooked during the production of this movie: don't ever bore the audience. Do whatever you like. Do you wish to make a very slow movie? OK, right, there are a lot of beautiful and interesting slow movies. Do you like long dialogues? OK, perfect, just remember to keep them meaningful and relevant. The list of movie attributes that can be adjusted to avoid yawning in the audience while being true to your work is almost endless, isn't it? Well, "2046" managed to bore the hell out of me and forced me to take a look at my watch many more times than it is desirable. In fact, the movie felt like it was endless. 129 minutes? God, it felt like 229.
There are a lot of problems with "2046". The first of all, is that this is supposed to be a film about love (somebody please correct me if I'm wrong). I don't know if I'm getting soppy with age, but "2046" was cold as ice. The direction is distant. The main character is an irritant tiny man that we're supposed to buy for some kind of heartbreaker dandy. I can't empathize with him. Furthermore, of all relationships (?) presented in the movie, the only one appealing (hotels owner's daughter) is criminally underdeveloped. The story focuses on relations devoid of feeling. But don't think this is a beautiful look on the decadent side of relations between men and women. It isn't, either. It's an unsatisfying middle ground where characters you don't care about just come and go.
So you'll imagine how surprised was I after realizing how many people were praising this movie. Well, not so surprised, but I don't want to be pricky.
People are eulogizing the direction, the lightning and the poetic of the film. Excuse me? 1) With regard to direction: camera angles and rhythm are nothing I haven't seen before; there are occasional beautiful camera settings, but not much more; on the other hand, there is a cumbersome story development (in the most turgid way). 2) With regard to lightning: there is some remarkable use of shadows here and there, and the darkness of the film is nothing magical, it's just darkness; the most effective use of lightning appears inside the "futurisitc train", and my jaw didn't drop. 3) With regard to the poetic: the android mini-story does it for me, and the hotel owner's daughter, which I mentioned before, is the real deal in the movie. What a pity it didn't last even 15 minutes.
I really wanted to like this movie in the beginning. Later, I only wanted it to end.
As a last comment, I've been shocked to hear some people say that "2046" is the Asian equivalent to "Lost In Translation". I see what they mean, but there is an ocean between both movies. An ocean full of true emotion, sense of humor, likable characters, non pretentious style, varied music and endearing happenings.
If you are planning to watch this movie because of the hype, be warned: although you could love it, it might be a long, long, boring trip.
RATING: 2.3