2046

R

Released Aug 5, 2005

2h 7m

Romance

Drama

List

87%

120 Reviews

Tomatometer

85%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

A train in a futuristic landscape takes passengers to a place where they can recapture their memories, a place from which no one has ever returned. This is the premise of a novel by the womanizing sci-fi writer Chow (Tony Leung Chiu Wai), who engages in passionate affairs with a series of intriguing women he meets at the Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong. As Chow's lovers offer him inspiration for his writing, reality blends with fiction, and the past commingles with the future.

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Critics Consensus

Director Wong Kar-Wai has created in 2046 another visually stunning, atmospheric, and melancholy movie about unrequited love and loneliness.

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Marilyn K

I'll just say that it is one of my all-time favorites.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/12/24

Full Review

Kevin L

Is Chow a fool? There's much love right there, offering itself to him. As another lovelorn drunken fool writer was advised when describing a night from his own vagabond life, having turned down an offer after thinking she was a working girl- "Always take the chance that she might be out just for love". But then Chow's hardly alone. There's fools aplenty in Wong Kar-wai's brilliant trilogy. And there's probably more tears shed in them than any other trilogy ever. 2046 alone seems to have someone in deep pangs of sorrow. "2046" is another gorgeous film by a master, and for me the single finest Chinese/Hong Kong director of his time. These films exude class, style, lush colors and clothing, and great craft. But they also showcase Wong's exceptional skill with telling stories that reflect social customs of their place and time as well as the great depth and complexities of lust, love, and loss. Tony Leung is remarkable as a sultan of seduction and cool. The detached ladies man, writer, and poor gambler is an awesome character. Also good are Faye Wong and Carina Lau as two more room 2046 residents struggling with their own bluebirds of happiness, and Gong Li as another Su Li-zhen who passes through Chow's lifeline. Then there's Zhang Ziyi as Bai Ling, my favorite character along with Chow. She's a stunning, flirtatious femme fatale of sorts. She falls all the way for Chow, but he's stuck in part in his 'play-it-cool' mode, but more than that it's his fixed and set love for Su Li-zhen. And these actual stories inform Chow's writing, providing depth, realism and great fodder for readers looking for romance, the tragic, and science-fiction elements. Oh if we could just whisper our wishes into a tree hole, cover them, and wait. A beauty this is. 4.2 stars

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/04/23

Full Review

Cem Y

Another beautiful movie from Wang Kar Wai, and a wonderful sequel to In the Mood for Love. So full with emotion and meaning.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

07/23/23

Full Review

JJJJJJ J

A fine drama about a man trying to deal with losing the love of his life. So much about the emotional experience he has and how he tries to deal with it. The plot is a bit weird but it...

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/20/23

Full Review

Massoud H

Gorgeous film. I wish there were more like this.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/17/23

Full Review

Cheng Z

Couldn't understand. I even didn't keep aware to the end because I was tired. I'll try to get it again.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

Full Review

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Kar-Wai Wong

Director

Tony Leung Chiu Wai

Chow Mo-wan

Gong Li

Su Li-zhen

Takuya Kimura

Tak

Faye Wong

Wang Jing Wen

Zhang Ziyi

Bai Ling

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David Ansen

Newsweek

The ravishing images are tinged with regret and loss: no passion can assuage the jaded hero's solitude.

Mar 14, 2018

Full Review

Jonathan Romney

Independent on Sunday

Wwithout a doubt, it's seductively perplexing and devilishly good-looking -- and if you like it, you'll probably find that one viewing isn't enough.

Mar 6, 2015

Full Review

Kent Jones

Film Comment Magazine

For all its balance and grandeur, 2046 is the most nervous of Wong's films.

Nov 19, 2013

Full Review

Dave Giannini

InSession Film

Matching, and at times exceeding Leung’s performance, is his sometimes scene partner, Zhang Ziyi.

Feb 23, 2024

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

The hazy intensity of the saturated images, the enchanting soundtrack of lush lounge music, and Wong’s way of tilting intimate scenes with his skewed visuals, all create an atmosphere thick with longing and loneliness.

Aug 19, 2023

Full Review

Jason Shawhan

Nashville Scene

...this film is a sweeping epic of melancholy beauty and textures filtered through and diminished by the passage of time.

Sep 10, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

A train in a futuristic landscape takes passengers to a place where they can recapture their memories, a place from which no one has ever returned. This is the premise of a novel by the womanizing sci-fi writer Chow (Tony Leung Chiu Wai), who engages in passionate affairs with a series of intriguing women he meets at the Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong. As Chow's lovers offer him inspiration for his writing, reality blends with fiction, and the past commingles with the future.

Director: Kar-Wai Wong
Screenwriter: Kar-Wai Wong
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: Block 2 Pictures
Rating: R (Sexual Content)
Genre: Romance, Drama
Original Language: Chinese
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 5, 2005, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 18, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA): $261.5K
Runtime: 2h 7m
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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