Four years after Wong Kar-Wai directed In The Mood For Love, he continues the story of Chow Mo Wan (Hero's Tony Leung) in the "sumptuous" Cantonese drama 2046. Rising star Zhang Ziyi features as one of Chow's many sexual conquests in this journey to romantic enlightenment, which took almost five years to make. Critics thought it was worth the wait although its arthouse credentials mean that it probably didn't make it to your local multiplex.
2046 Weeks Later...
Fans will surely appreciate a 15-minute interview with director Wong Kar-Wai exclusive to this UK edition of the DVD. He talks about In The Mood For Love and 2046 as, "Two films with two different approaches that act like a mirror for each other." While he doesn't go into detail about why 2046 took such a long time to make, he does mention the minor differences between the cut shown at last year's Cannes Film Festival and the final theatrical version. He also suggests that Zhang Ziyi needed a lot of reassurance to fully inhabit the role of a 60s "hostess".
Ziyi echoes the director in a separate interview, but blames tough working conditions for her various insecurities. For one thing, there was no script and Kar-Wai demanded between 30-40 takes for each scene. "I wasn't used to that," she says, "You begin to wonder, 'What's gone wrong? Why can't I get it right?'" On top of that, the actress had problems adjusting to her tight-fitting gowns. "It was hard work," she insists, "You couldn't eat or your stomach became too big!"
Hairspray
A short montage of behind-the-scenes footage confirms that there is no angle from which Zhang Ziyi looks anything less than beautiful - although she does complain about a beehive hairdo that took six hours to style. Followers of 60s fashion may be enthralled by this trivia titbit otherwise this is a pretty pointless featurette.
A bunch of trailers and a Casta Diva music video pad out the bonus section, which overall, gives very limited insight into Kar-Wai's creative process. There are only hints of his Kubrickian tendencies and for a film that took so long to get in the can, this is a disappointing package.
EXTRA FEATURES
