2046 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

2046 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 26, 2021

Wong Kar Wai's "2046" (2004) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include promotional materials for the film; deleted scenes; the short film "The Hand"; music video; and more. In Cantonese, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The trip

The two descriptions of 2046 that you will hear from Wong Kar Wai in an archival documentary that is included on this this release are quite interesting. He states that 2046 is an “echo of In the Mood for Love” and then confesses that it may actually be an unusual cinematic summation of his work. Both descriptions make sense, but I think that most viewers would see 2046 differently.

At the core of this film is a story about a writer (Tony Leung) who is aging prematurely. He is in his thirties, possibly early forties and living alone in Hong Kong, but his heart is older. How is this possible? We learn how from his monologues. In one of them he describes a train that takes travelers to a mysterious place named 2046 where they attempt to regain their memories. Because the travelers never return no one has been able to determine if 2046 is real or imaginary -- no one but the writer. He knows that 2046 is real because he has been there and managed to come back. He has brought with him memories of the tragic love stories of his youth, which are slowly being reconstructed in his book. But the experience has been so intense that his heart has started aging faster than his body.

As the writer begins describing each of the women he had a relationship with the past, the present and the future become so closely intertwined that often times it becomes impossible to tell if he is telling the truth or his mind is playing tricks on him. But isn’t this what usually happens to people when they age? They slowly become lost in a sea of memories that are either incomplete or manufactured. Or could it be that the writer’s monologues are actually the fantasies of a traveler who planned to return from 2046 but was only able to imagine the trip?

The film produces a conclusive answer, but it is a surprising one. The writer’s story is about a trip, but the traveler is Wong Kar Wai and the fluid memories that are described in the monologues are his. This is without a shadow of a doubt the reason why Wong Kar Wai confesses that 2046 is a cinematic summation of his work. The writer’s love affairs are recreations of the special relationships Wong Kar Wai had with cinematic characters from his previous films that profoundly altered his career and life, as well as characters that he imagined but was never able to bring in front of the camera. 2046 unites both and gives the director a chance to reconnect with them and then imagine what could have been but never was.

Such a deeply intimate and contemplative film can’t be everyone’s cup of tea and this is precisely why there are such drastically different takes on 2046. Indeed, in order for the film to work for you, you will need to be on the same wavelength with Wong Kar Wai’s mind, and even then, there is an excellent chance that you won’t rationalize everything that happens in it as the director does. In fact, the monologues seem to suggest that Wong Kar Wai is not at all interested in rationalizing everything that emerges from the depths of his mind. It is enough that he is able to give these memories a structure and then begin to rediscover the feelings and emotions that inspired him to be creative when he was younger. This is the trip that is described in the film and the simple reason why those that take it never return to confirm its authenticity -- it is an indescribably personal experience.

Christopher Doyle's work is once again impeccable and provides the film with a seemingly never-ending supply of stunning visuals. The animated footage, however, is a bit too artificial.

The moody soundtrack combines is very diverse. It blends operatic music from Vincenzo Bellini, classic tunes from Dean Martin and Nat 'King' Cole, and original by the likes of Zbigniew Preisner, Peer Raben, and Shigeru Umebayashi, amongst others.

2046 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, 2046 arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The 4K restoration that was completed for this film was approved by Wong Kar Wai, which means that the film's current appearance is the director's preferred appearance. I think that in terms of color-grading the end product is very easy to like because the overall balance preserves the film's theatrical identity. Indeed, the primaries appear solid and convincingly balanced and there are good ranges of nuances. There are a few areas where it feels like the blues become somewhat subdued while the greens flourish more than they should, but I personally wasn't bothered at all. Once again, the overall balance looks convincing.

Unfortunately, in other areas the makeover and technical presentation could have been more convincing. For example, there is plenty of darker footage where the grain begins to look like noise. While there is room for some encoding optimizations, there is something else that triggers the effect because the film's native dynamic range suffers as well (you can see examples in screencaptures #5, 10, and 17). Stylistic choices that engage light in very particular ways can exacerbate the effect(s), but the shifts are not organic. There are traces of the same effect(s) in daylight footage as well, where nuances for instance are uncharacteristically flattened (see screencapture #16). Some of the color manipulations intentionally destabilize select primaries, but in darker areas I spotted some classic macroblocking as well (see bottom of screencapture #14). Fortunately, the stylization makes it virtually impossible to detect such anomalies, so my guess is that only folks with very big screens and projectors are likely to spot them. Image stability is very good. There are no age-related imperfections to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

2046 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray: Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (with portions of Japanese and Mandarin). Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The lossless track is outstanding. The film has a very diverse soundtrack with that blends great music and some pretty good effects and the range of nuances that emerge from the lossless track are of near reference quality. I was very impressed. The narraiton and dialog are very clear, sharp, stable, and easy to follow. The English translation is excellent.

2046 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - new trailer for the 4K restoration of 2046. In Cantonese, with optional English subtitles. (3 min).

• Deleted Scenes - two deleted scenes, with optional English subtitles.
  
  1. Bai Ling, Christmas Eve. (2 min).
  2. Black Spider Visits Chow. (6 min).

• The Hand - presented here is an extended version of Won Kar Wai's short film The Hand, which was the director's entry in the 2004 anthology Eros. It stars Gong Li and Chang Chen. In Mandarin, Italian, and English, with optional English subtitles. (57 min).

• Making of 2046 - this archival program focuses on the conception and production of 2046. Included in it are clips from interviews with Wong Kar Wai, Tony Leung, Ziyi Zhang, Chang Cheng, Faye Wong, and Takuya Kimura, amongst others. The program was produced in 2004. With optional English subtitles where necessary. (38 min).

• Ziyi Zhang - presented here is raw footage with Ziyi Zhang playing her character in 2046, Bai Ling. With optional English subtitles where necessary. (4 min).

• "Casta Diva" - this music video was created for 2046. (8 min).

• Promo Reel - this English-narrated promotional program for 2046 uses footage that isn't seen in the film. It was produced in 2003. With optional English subtitles where necessary. (9 min).

• World of Wong Kar Wai - promotional video for the World of Wong Kar Wai project. With optional English subtitles where necessary. (2 min).

• Book - a perfect-bound, French-fold book featuring lavish photography, an essay by critic John Powers, a director's note, and six collectible art prints, as well as technical credits.

2046 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Viewing 2046 can be an interesting experience if you figure out how to be on the same wavelength with Wong Kar Wai's mind. I have seen it a couple of times and believe that I have gotten pretty close to accomplishing precisely that, but there are still portions of its narrative that strike me as elaborate attempts to validate Mick Jagger's famous claim that "anything worth doing is worth overdoing". It is crystal-clear that it is a very personal film, and as it is usually the case with these types of projects, there is plenty in it that makes perfect sense only to its creator. The disc we have reviewed here is included in Criterion's World of Wong Kar Wai seven-disc box set. RECOMMENDED.