Christmas Dinner – “2046” (2004)
For fans of Wong and Doyle’s films, “2046” is a bittersweet affair. Taking close to 5 years to complete, feeling like a contractual obligation more than any of their previous, ad hoc efforts, this spiritual and futuristic sequel to “In the Mood for Love” follows Mr. Chow (Leung) after his life-changing encounter with Su-Li Zhen (Cheung). Even if it was the film that effectively broke Doyle and Wong up, “2046” is still one of the best shot “unnecessary” sequels in contemporary cinema, and this scene – featuring Wong stalwarts Tony Leung and Faye Wong as Jing-wen – gives the greatest ballast to an unwavering and tonally off-kilter picture. It is the distant and futuristic relative to the “In The Mood for Love” entry; a tracking shot that sways from side to side and captures two people and their reflections in the same shot. For almost a full minute and a half, the space covered by the uninterrupted shot is the length of a dinner table but by magnifying, duplicating and refracting the actors with lambent reflection, the ground covered feels much larger. Instilling an epic nature into something as intimate and everyday as a dinner conversation is one of Doyle’s many uncanny abilities, and here, with a little help from Nat King Cole and two brilliant screen performers, loneliness and the sense of doomed romance are once again in wedlock. They’re both alone on Christmas Eve, and Chow – who has turned into something of a womanizing selfish former shell of the man we once knew – is on the verge of doing the most selfless thing in the film; helping Jing-wen reunite with her Japanese boyfriend. The reflections – futuristic in their shapes, perhaps even digitized – signal the evolution of the same story from “In the Mood,” as Chow looks at the one woman who reminds him of Su Li-zhen the most, and decides that the right thing to do – no matter how close they’ve grown and become part of each other’s lives – is to let her go.
A fitting final shot to bring this article to an end. Doyle often cites breaks ups, and the depression that usually follows them, as the greatest creative stimulant to his best work.
The films mentioned above overflow with shots that contain tiny worlds, so here’s hoping that this article encourages readers to seek out and revisit all of them. Any film, even if they are shot-for-shot remakes by Gus Van Sant (“Psycho”) or ‘lesser’ exports by the likes of Jim Jarmsuch (“Limits of Control”), Jon Favreau (“Made”) and M. Night Shyamalan (“Lady in the Water”) are worth seeing because of Christopher Doyle’s inventive use of tracking, composition, and lighting. Special mention has to be made for “Rabbit Proof-Fence” (2002) and “Last Life in the Universe” (2003) which contain shots that nearly made it on here. Even still, we’ll all still secretly hoping that Wong and Doyle make-up and create something special again because they really turned out some magical stuff together.
Got any favorite Doyle shots you want to get off your chest? Thoughts on anything we’ve discussed, or about the idea of going to bars in lieu of watching movies for artistic inspiration? You know where to sound off!
