2046 by Wong Kar-wai

Category: Non-English

This is really a little too ambitious from Wong Kar-Wai. The film essentially follows the aftermath of the character we all so yearned and cried for at the end of In The Mood for Love. If anything, our heart goes out to him even more, but there's something about Tony Leung playing a protagnoist who is primarily driven by lust this time around. His quest for the next Su Li-Zhen takes him across many people - some old, some new and some with undertones to people whom he has come across already.

Definitely a film to watch but only recommended if you have seen Days of Being Wild & In the Mood for Love. Finally there is also the lovely ladies who deserve a special mention - Carina Lau, Faye Wong, Zhang ZiYi & of course Maggie Cheung. One can't help but feel that Leslie Cheung, had he still been alive would have been probably the perfect ace to be cast into the role. Don't get me wrong, he would not be good for the second film in this trilogy but he would be apt for this role. The evolution of the character literally flows from Leslie Cheung to Tony Leung (Days of Being Wild end) and would have been perfect to return back to Leslie Cheung at the end of In the Mood for Love.

Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps.

Recomendation level: 3/5 - Noble and yes I liked the effort! I just think his depiction of the future and the kind of disconnection he makes his characters experience has gone a little far in this effort. The melancholy and suffering is still sharp and stagnant but he's basically treading too far away from reality and then back to it. Impressive Time and Space adjusting though, less shots of clocks and lesser still of the sky...

Chungking Express by Wong Kar-wai

Category: Non-English

I suppose having watched Chungking a long time before Fallen Angels made me pass a remark which I am proud to take back. After much deliberation I would say Fallen Angels reaches my list of must see movies. Even though the future of the officer and Faye is debatable it's still much more concrete than in FA.

The movie has 2 stories, the first about blondie and the cop who's nursing a broken heart and the second about a cop and Faye.

WKW's penchant for shots of the skies is clear even more so since he was working heavily on Ashes of Time before this movie. There is of course the proverbial shots of clocks (dates in this one) that WKW is otherwise famous for. WKW initially wanted Chungking Express to be his Ashes of Time but in an urban setting and with his trademark emotionally stagnant characters along with Christopher Doyle's brilliant camera work he executes this well.

Watch out for his expression of Time & Space in this film (depicted how!). Yes, there's plenty of frenzied camera work as well. WKW's characters always evoke and this time around expiring canned food, jogging & the cop who keeps talking to everything around him to nurse his broken heart.

Recomendation level: 4/5 A little dicey to give it anything less but I am also not sure if it deserves to be a 5, purely because that is now meant for the best of the best films.

Fallen Angels by Wong Kar-Wai

Category: Non-English

Wong Kar-Wai's Chungking Express was considered a pioneer in many ways be it, its technical expertise or it's understanding and execution of relationships in a society in constant conflict. It didn't work towards an ending and let the film simply "be".

With Fallen Angels, WKW tries to paint another portrait of individuals in conflict. His characters typically supressing themselves in one way or another. This one has a hitman, his business partner, a mute man & a blonde - these characters try their best to express. You can argue with me about the Gullit fan but she in no way suffers or is emotionally supressed.

The movie is brilliantly executed, the long lasting face shots interlaced with music and commentary is stunning (Doyle!). The characters are well played and most of all there's the trademark music from WKW. The only let down I had was that he tries to work to an end and that doesn't make it as likeable as Chungking.

Pretty faces all around.

Recommendation level: 4.5/5 - read above remarks! Get it for 4.5 rating I've given, for at the end of the day this is still a WKW movie.

Ashes of Time Redux by Wong Kar-Wai

Category: Non-English

Ashes of Time Redux version looks like a recent movie, sounds like one but in the end happens to lose a lot of its flavor which the original did thanks to WKW not having an orchestra at his disposal and for having shot in the desert in poor conditions for only a few hours a day made it a film as the characters also evolved and aged from frame to frame.

Anyway - basic premise: Ouyang Feng (brilliant Leslie Chueng) is a middle man between people who are wronged and seek revenge and the bounty hunters/assassins who need money. Every single character is driven by his/her greed and the resulting conflicts form the crux of the movie. Terrifc performances by the man in the picture, yes there's Maggie Cheung as well. This is the best and probably only post modernist take on wuxia films. Of course having seen the original it's almost like watching two completely different films but for someone just watching this version it will be a treat.

Recommendation level: 5/5. I guess the redux version is out in Mumbai but the original will be impossible to buy unless you look online.