2046

Note: I've watched quite a few movies over the last few weeks, but haven't updated for a while.

This movie was bizarre. I was originally motivated to watch it because Gong Li (Raise the Red Lantern) was in it. I saw a lot of her films in the 90s, but have haven't seen many of them since. But in this film, she didn't didn't particularly stand out. Also, I like Chinese films and the title gave me the impression that it had some kind of science fiction aspect to it (it doesn't to any significant degree).

The film has some kind of indication of time travel, but most of is just about an affair a man has with some woman in Hong Kong in the 60s with a lot of social turbulence going on. There are occasional flashes to some kind of time train, which also inexplicably has Kimtaku (from the Japanese pop group SMAP) on the train and speaking in Japanese (with subtitles for the viewers). While his existence in the film makes no sense, also the fact that he speaks no Chinese but some has a conversation (more like two monologues) with a Chinese speaking man on the train is further exasperating.

If you forget the superfluous moments of the film, the affair is vaguely interesting, and the man's refusal to make any sort of commitment to the woman, is baffling. Those elements made an otherwise bizarre film somewhat interesting. I am unsure how this film was received, but I failed to find out what the draw to the film was supposed to be.

Apparently, this the third in a series of films, but I haven't been motivated to go back and watch the other two.