Is Wong Kar Wai’s 2046 a sequel of In the Mood for Love? The answer to that question is as complicated as the lives of the characters in both of these films. 2046 is the hotel room that Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung’s characters pursue their affair in In the Mood for Love. That is the first connection to the later film. 2046 originally began as a story that altogether took place during that year, which is the end of the fifty year mark after China has regained control of Hong Kong. When China took back control of this province from Great Britain they promised that nothing would change in terms of Hong Kong’s westernized capitalistic tendencies for fifty years. That promise was mainly in terms of economic control and government policies; however such a promise stuck in Wong’s mind. However his ironic sense of humor allowed him to see how strange a promise of this sort was. He was intrigued by the notion of anything staying the same for a long period of time. These ideas were the original basis for the film 2046.
[1]However, as anyone that has studied or worked with him knows, Wong Kar Wai is notorious for changing the script on a day to day basis. Such was the case for In the Mood for Love as well as 2046. After the completion of Happy Together Wong had planned to complete another film before the handover of Hong Kong back to China. However when it became evident to him that he could not finish in time he announced that the turnover to China would also mark a new beginning in his career. 2046 was planned and put into pre-production before In the Mood for Love. However so were several other films which were called Summer in Beijing and A Story About Food. 2046 was the only one of these three films that was not abandoned. Wong however did push it aside to focus on In the Mood for Love.
The end result of both of these films is nearly unrecognizable from how they began. In the Mood for Love began as a fairly typical romantic melodrama. It was supposed to have been a straightforward love story between two people who had been betrayed by their spouses. It is evident through the months and months of shooting how much the film evolved during principal photography. Since Wong does not shoot from a pre-planned script it was never set in stone exactly how the film would work. Wong tends to operate on each days inspiration more than he does from a pre-ordained scenario. Through constant tweaking Wong made In the Mood for Love into a masterpiece about Chinese manners, self control, and unrequited love.
[2]Throughout In the Mood for Love many motifs are introduced and repeated throughout the film. This is the prototypical style of Wong Kar Wai. Actions, phrases, and musical cues are repeated many times throughout the film as if the characters are afraid they will forget them. Over and over again Mr. Chow (Tony Leung) and Su Li-Zhen (Maggie Cheung) tell each other that they will not be like their spouses. This comes up when the two of them figure out over dinner that their respective spouses are cheating on them with each other. Mr. Chow notices that Su Li-Zhen has the same purse that his wife has, and Su Li-Zhen notices that Mr. Chow has the same tie as her husband. The two of them decide that they will try to figure out how the love affair started, but they vow not to be like them. The effect of this on the audience can be jolting and confusing on first viewing of the film.
The first time that we see Mr. Chow and Su Li-Zhen talking to each other as if they were the others spouse, the audience is not sure of exactly what is happening. It starts out with Su Li-Zhen interrogating whom we think to be her husband, she asks him if he has a mistress, he says yes and she begins to cry. Then Wong reveals that she is actually talking to Mr. Chow. He consoles her, and they try again as Mr. Chow tries different responses so that Su Li-Zhen can be prepared if and when she actually confronts her husband. She eventually decides it will be too hard and gives up. These two characters will continue with their role playing “game” throughout the film. Through the use of editing, Wong makes it very difficult, particularly for a first time viewer, to figure out whether Mr. Chow and Su Li-Zhen are talking to each other. They may be themselves, or they may be playing another person at the time. Even when they inhabit other characters it seems to shift from time to time whether they are acting, or whether they are saying their true feelings.
Such is the case in the scene where the two of them are walking in an alley after eating dinner together. Mr. Chow starts talking softly to Su Li-Zhen and eventually takes her hand and suggests they spend the night together. At this point the audience is satisfied because they are acting as should be expected of them in a love story. However Su Li-Zhen begins to cry and once again states how hard it is on her to recreate their spouse’s infidelity. This is a perfect example of how this film moves away from what a viewer would expect in a typical love story. The audience expects a story about romance to unfold under a certain formula. And when that formula is not adhered to, it is very strange for any first time audience. However the way this film moves away from formula and denies expectations perfectly exemplifies the society that it represents. Wong never shows them consummating their relationship. There are parts of the film that one could read as hinting towards that idea; but it is never explicitly stated or shown. Instead the characters say over and over “We won’t be like them.” This seems like a trick that keeps them from thinking that they are doing something wrong. They feel they would lower themselves if they ever did make love to each other.
[3]This film is the perfect romantic byproduct of Chinese society. Throughout the film Su Li-Zhen and Mr. Chow are in constant fear of being seen together. They know that the will be looked down upon and several characters make reference to this during the film. Su Li-Zhen’s landlady tells her that she should not go out so much when her husband is out of town. In a very Chinese way she is saying that Su Li-Zhen should stop cheating on her husband. It is never stated whether she believes she is staying out with Mr. Chow, but that is beside the point. The fact is the cultural code, which is protected by the older generations is being violated by this younger beautiful woman. She is never explicitly accused of infidelity, because Chinese society relies on subtlety. This film also relies on subtlety to show the romance, or near romance, between Su Li-Zhen and Mr. Chow. We never see whether their relationship was consummated, but regardless of what happened; it left both of them unhappy.
Mr. Chow and Su Li-Zhen have secrets in In the Mood for Love. The audience is never quite sure of how many secrets they have. They could just be friends who enjoy spending time together but have never made love, yet they must still keep this secret because society will not allow them to be together, romantically or not. This secret consumes them both and leaves them unhappy. Su Li-Zhen cannot bring herself to leave her husband, even if he has mistreated her; and Mr. Chow cannot bring himself to tell Su Li-Zhen that he loves her. This is something that he will regret, and it will change him forever.
In 2046 Su Li-Zhen makes an appearance, but Mr. Chow is the focus. This film is a continuation but everything is different. Mr. Chow wishes everything could have stayed the same, yet he is totally different. He has become a womanizer and will not allow any woman to come close to him lest he be hurt again. The two films overlap and one could not exist without the other. Wong has continued the story of In the Mood for Love in the making of 2046. But instead of the characters being the same throughout the two films, the ending of In the Mood for Love has served as the catalyst for character development. Mr. Chow still longs for his love, but he has learned he can replace Su Li-Zhen with many one night stands and short term relationships where he hurts the woman just as he has been hurt in the past. These films are about the same person who has become very different.
Everything that occurred in In the Mood for Love has a profound effect on 2046. It begins by showing a hole in a futuristic world. This is the hole that people whisper their secrets into that they do not want other people to know. This story was told to Ping (Ping Lam Su) in the first film by Mr. Chow after his affair had begun with Su Li-Zhen. He knew that no one could know that they were spending so much time together, not even his closest friend. 2046 never answers what seems the popular underlying question of In the Mood for Love; which is whether or not Mr. Chow and Su Li-Zhen slept together. All we know for sure is that he loved her, and he is not sure whether she loved him back. We also know that whatever did, or did not, happen had a profound affect on the personality of Mr. Chow.
2046 also relies heavily on repetition just as In the Mood for Love did. Throughout the film Mr. Chow, or his literary adaptation of himself, tells people the story of the old days when people whispered their secrets into a hole and covered it with mud. Mr. Chow has become a writer who composes erotic stories for a Hong Kong newspaper. The main characters in these stories are all influenced by his life. In his story that is visualized at the beginning of the film and is also interspersed throughout, Tak (Takuya Kimura) is the focus. He is coming back from a place called 2046. In 2046 everything stays the same. However he states that no one knows whether this is true because he is the only person who has returned. Throughout the film we see this futuristic story along with its sequel, “2047”. The stories that Mr. Chow writes are all related to what is currently happening to him, or what has happened to him in the past. He yearns for a place and a time that he barely remembers; when he was happy with Su Li-Zhen. To him “2046” represents the time he spent with her. Mr. Chow wishes he could return and ponders whether “2046” was as happy as he remembers it. He knows he loved Su Li-Zhen, but he is not sure whether she loved him back. This thought is repeated throughout the film. The question of whether or not his love was reciprocated seems to be the more interesting relationship between the two films than the popular one of whether the two characters consummated their relationship.
The first time that Mr. Chow begins to ponder whether or not Su Li-Zhen loved him is near the beginning of the film when he sees the hotel room number 2046. This is the number of the hotel room that he and Su Li-Zhen spent so much time together writing stories. This is when the two of them were the happiest. He is trying to recreate some of that lost happiness by becoming a newspaper writer. However he writes stories that are drenched in sex, he could have never written these with Su Li-Zhen. These also show is frustration due to his unrequited love.
The most profound effect of In the Mood for Love on 2046 is the drastic change in the character of Mr. Chow. He looks, talks, walks, and acts different. He has grown a mustache that almost works as a disguise. He does not want anyone to see who he is. He no longer wants to be the person he was before. The old Mr. Chow was rejected and betrayed by women, and he could not stand up for himself. Now he is the one who rejects and betrays. He forms relationships with several different women in this film, but he only loves them if they do not love him back.
The core relationship of 2046 is between Mr. Chow and Bai Ling (Ziyi Zhang). He coolly pursues her until they sleep together. However, he does not want to show any romantic feelings towards her so he pays her money after they spend the night together. She is an escort, but is clearly hurt by the fact that he wants to pay her. As a game she says that she will give him the discount rate of 10 dollars. But the game to her is more about love than to Mr. Chow. Since Bai Ling loves him it turns Mr. Chow cold and dismissive towards her. When she questions him about whether he has been sleeping with other women, he tells her to mind her own business. He can easily dismiss a woman that loves him. Her love for him turns him away, just as he feels his love for Su Li-Zhen turned her away.
The next two relationships in the film are between two women who are unattainable for Mr. Chow for different reasons. He falls in love with Wang Jing Wen (Faye Wong) who is already in love with someone else. After pursuing her for some time he realizes that she is still in love with her Japanese boyfriend (Takuya Kimura again). This makes her an object of desire that he cannot resist, because he knows he cannot have her.
[4] This is also the case with another Su Li-Zhen (Gong Li). She is a gambler with a mysterious past. She helps win back his gambling debt while only asking in return that he no longer gambles. Eventually he must leave her in Singapore to go back to Hong Kong, and he asks her to come with him. She rejects him, and he tells her that she must escape her past, and if she does that she should find him. Before leaving he kisses her passionately for a long time. This is the kiss the audience hoped for and never got during In the Mood for Love. Wong has introduced a new character with the same name to bring back Mr. Chow’s lost memories. At the end of 2046 Mr. Chow has moved closer to how his character behaved at the end of In the Mood for Love and further away from how he acted at the beginning of 2046. This is the key to the films as Su Li-Zhen has once again caused his character to change.
2046 reflects much more upon repeated viewings than it does at first. If the viewer is familiar with the history of the film and of the director himself, this film takes on a whole different meaning. Wong states in many interviews that he wants 2046 to be viewed as a separate film from In the Mood for Love; however he also states that the characters in 2046 are heavily influenced by their past.
[5] 2046 had been in the planning stages for many years and it was repeatedly put on hold. He also told many people that he was shooting the film at the same time as In the Mood for Love. This seems to be one film that Wong could not escape. It was influenced by all of his films to date and it becomes the culmination of all his musings on love lost and regained, and how people change over time. From these films conventional beginnings they have transformed into shadows of their former selves, just as Mr. Chow does in between the two films.
[6]Wong Kar Wai changed very much over the years that he planned to make 2046 and In the Mood for Love. This becomes an ironic statement in terms of the place called 2046 where everything remains the same. Wong was intrigued by this perhaps because he knew from the beginning that this was impossible. The culmination of Wong Kar Wai’s work can be seen in 2046 where his musings on love lost and regained comes to their heartbreaking and meditative conclusions.
Bibliography
Blake, Nancy. (2003) “We Won’t Be Like Them: Repetition Compulsion in Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love” in “The Communication Review”
Lee, Nathan. (2005) ‘Elusive Objects of Desire’ in “Film Comment” (July/August), New York: The Film Society of Lincoln Center
Taubin, Amy. (2005) ‘The Long Goodbye’ in “Film Comment” (July/August), New York: The Film Society of Lincoln Center
Teo, Stephen. (2005) Wong Kar Wai, London: British Film Institute
[1] Taubin, Amy. (2005) ‘The Long Goodbye’ in “Film Comment” (July/August)
[2] Teo, Stephen. (2005) Wong Kar Wai
[3] Blake, Nancy. (2003) “We Won’t Be Like Them: Repetition Compulsion in Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love” in “The Communication Review”
[4] Lane, Nathan. (2005) ‘Elusive Objects of Desire’ in “Film Comment” (July/August)
[5] Teo, Stephen. (2005) Wong Kar Wai
[6] Taubin, Amy. (2005) ‘The Long Goodbye’
