During the creation of 2046, Wong Kar Wai realized he was creating a sequel of sorts to his previous film, In the Mood for Love, since he was writing the script as it was being shot. While the previous film focused on the tension between two could-be lovers bonded by infidelity, 2046 hones in on the fallout of failed love and one man’s desperate need to forget his past. Pulp-fiction writer Chow Mo Wan (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) uses his fiction as a tool to move through the past, present, and future, tracking his life through liaisons with six different women (played by Ziyi Zhang, Gong Li, Faye Wong, Carina Lau, Dong Jie, and Maggie Cheung). Featuring lush, color-saturated cinematography and an innovative score that references the past and present, 2046 weaves a unique narrative about memory, love, loss, regret, and hope. Hong Kong, color, 35mm, in Cantonese, Mandarin, and Japanese with English subtitles, 129 minutes.
