2046 (film)

2046 is a 2004 Hong Kong film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. It is a loose sequel to Days of Being Wild and In the Mood for Love. It follows the aftermath of Chow Mo-wan's unconsummated affair with Su Li-Zhen in 1960s Hong Kong but also includes some science fiction elements.

Chow Mo-wan

• When you don't take "no" for an answer, there is still a chance you'll get what you want.
• I have a secret to tell you. Will you leave with me?
• Whenever someone asked why I left 2046, I always gave them some vague answer. It was easier.
• I once fell in love with someone. I couldn't stop wondering if she loved me back. I found an android which looked just like her. I hoped she would give me the answer.
• He didn't turn back. It's as if he boarded a very long train headed for a drowsy future through the unfathomable night.
• Everyone who goes to 2046 has the same intention, they want to recapture lost memories. Because in 2046 nothing ever changes. But, nobody knows if that is true or not because no-one has ever come back.
• Take care. Maybe one day you'll escape your past. If you do, look for me.
• As I recall, that's the very last time we saw each other.
• In love you can't bring on a substitute.
• When the Peony blooms, she stands tall. Does she mean no or yes?
• Do you remember you asked me if there was anything I wouldn't lend? I've given it a lot of thought and now I know there is one thing I'll never lend to anyone.
• Love is all a matter of timing.

It's no good meeting the right person too soon or too late.

If I'd lived in another time or place...

...my story might have had a very different ending.

• I slowly began to doubt myself.

Maybe the reason she didn't answer was not that her reactions were delayed but simply that she didn't love me.

So at last, I got it. It's entirely beyond my control.

The only thing left for me... was to give up.

Bai Ling

• Why can't it be like before? Please don't go. Stay with me tonight. Let me borrow you.

Tak

• I once fell in love with someone. After a while she was gone. I couldn't stop wondering if she loved me or not. I went to 2046 hoping to find her there. But I never found her.
• I want to know how you feel. I'm scared to hear your answer but, I need to know. Do you like me? Or not. Leave with me.
• Let's see each other again. Then, if you think we shouldn't be together, tell me so frankly... That day, six years ago, a rainbow appeared in my heart. It's still there, like a flame burning inside me. But what are your real feelings for me? Are they like a rainbow after the rain? Or did that rainbow fade away long ago?...
• Do you know what people did in the old days when they had secrets they didn't want to share? They'd climb a mountain, find a tree, carve a hole in it, whisper the secret into the hole and cover it up with mud. That way, nobody else would ever learn the secret...

Mr. Wang

• Our cabin attendants are superbly designed... But there's only one problem : when they've served on so many long journeys, fatigue begins to set it. For example, they might want to laugh, but the smile would be slow to come. They might want to cry, but the tear wouldn't well up till the next day...

Dialogues

Bai Ling: I don't get it. Where does all that fun get you? If you find the right person, why waste time on the others?

Chow Mo-wan: If I find the right person? A man like me has nothing much except free time. That's why I need company.

Bai Ling: So people are just time fillers to you?

Chow Mo-wan: I wouldn't say that. Other people can borrow my time too.

Bai Ling: And tonight? Are you borrowing me, or am I borrowing you?

Chow Mo-wan: No difference. Maybe I borrowed you earlier, now you're borrowing me.

Bai Ling: Ridiculous.

External links

• 2046 quotes at the Internet Movie Database
• 2046 at Rotten Tomatoes