By Thurs. we will see the premier of the long awaited Hong Kong film 2046 at the Cannes Film Festival. The movie took about 4 years to make (on and off) directed by Wong Kar-Wai (one of my favorite film director).

Not a lot is known about the movie except it’s set in the future 2046. Wong also hired some of the best know Asian artists out there for the project, such as Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Takuya Kimura, and Zhang Ziyi.

In typical Wong’s fashion, he shot the film with NO script at all. The stars usually learn their lines when they arrive on the set.

I recently purchased an essay collection about Wong’s film, as one of the writer noted, Wong’s pretty much “telling the same story” through his various films. I don’t think the writer meant it in a bad sort of way, but makes you wonder about the whole creative process.

Wong’s family is Shanghainese and moved to Hong Kong in early 1960s’ (similar to my grandparents), so whenever Wong uses Shanghainese dialogue in certain domestic scenes I feel very connected to his films which I don’t find in most Hong Kong movies.

Why 2046? 1997 + 50 = 2046/7. 1997 was the year Hong Kong handed back to the Chinese after 100 years of British colonial rule. The 50 years came from the famous Dung Shau-Ping line, “50 years of stability” meaning China won’t change the Hong Kong’s way of life for 50 years afterward. I don’t think Wong’s movie will be about politics, but the year 2046 is certainly the year to look forward to. The movie too.