Sony Classics co-pres Michael Barker (left) and Film Society lead programmer Richard Peņa (right) with Asian auteur Wong Kar Wai, Wednesday night at Lincoln Center. Film Comment hosted a special screening of WKW's latest, "2046," followed by a Q & A with the elusive director.
[Photo and text by Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE]
Settling in for the screening in an adjacent seat, in the front row, was a young woman from Hong Kong who can only be described as a rabid Wong Kar Wai fan. Despite having met the legendary director a few times, she was literally squealing with anticipation as the screening time approached. When she discovered that indieWIRE had attended an intimate pre-showing reception with the director, the fan sighed heavily many times, opening her bag to show off a Chinese DVD of the film, and a WKW soundtrack collection that she had just purchased off of Ebay. She'd already seen a few different versions of "2046" and couldn't wait to watch it once again.
After the screening, wearing his trademark dark glasses, Wong was asked if this new film is in fact a sequel to "In the Mood For Love". Explaining that he started making the two films at essentially the same time, he said, "I never thought '2046' would be a sequel to 'In the Mood for Love', but in the process (of making it) i realized that the two films were connected in certain ways."
"I dont think '2046' is like a sequel," he told the standing-room only crowd, "Its like a continuation. I think the two films are about two different subjects." He added, making what for many is a fine distinction, "'In The Mood for Love' is a story about two persons, and '2046' is a story about love, a story about the writer Tony Leung himself."
We'll have more from the event closer to the release date of the film, later this summer.
