In the mood for lovesickness: the AV Club reappraises Wong Kar-wai's MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS

I thought this recent installment of Nathan Rabin's excellent "My Year of Flops" series might interest folks here, particularly if they haven't seen the film under the 'scope. He doesn't let it off the hook, but he doesn't write it off entirely, either, which seems fair in light of so much of the expectations-laced criticism it received during its brief theatrical run. I have the DVD, but haven't watched it yet, so I might revisit this piece when I do, as I had a feeling someone would write about this way sooner or later. I mean, it is a Wong Kar-wai film after all. Time is usually kind to them . . .
http://www.avclub.com/articles/in-the-mood-for-lovesickness-case-file-191-my-blue,57896/

Nathan Rabin wrote:"Perhaps My Blueberry Nights got the reception it deserved. It feels not so much like a major statement from an important filmmaker as it does a sprightly aperitif before a heavy meal. It’s the kind of agreeable trifle a genius makes between big movies. In that respect, it’s similar in conception, if not execution, to Chungking Express, which Wong originally conceived as a silly little project to distract him from the daunting task of completing his kung-fu epic Ashes Of Time. The big difference is that no one had huge expectations for Chungking Express (or its companion piece, Fallen Angels), while critics and audiences understandably expected something at least substantial from the maker of In The Mood For Love and 2046. A lovely, sweet little wisp of a movie would not suffice from a grandmaster like Wong Kar-Wai. Here at My Year Of Flops, we’re a little more accepting."

Interesting piece. Thanks for that.

MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS is the only Wong Kar-wai film I have not seen. As with Brian I also have the DVD (two of them). I thought the critics were overall too nice to As Tears Go By (1988) as it was a case of "his later output is sagacious so his earlier output must be." But when critics get dissapointed sometimes they swing too far in the other direction.* Of course, I may or may not agree when I get to the film. I have been apprehensive about it mainly because of the overly negative critical reviews on the movie.

* One thing that I have noticed is that when a director does a different language/country sometimes he/she gets negative reviews/press just because of it (time can and does change these reviews by-the-way). But this is nothing new (Bob Dylan going electric, John Woo going English )

On a side-note: I tend to dislike binary critics (love or hate). Most of the time I feel that a movie has merit and/or there will be faults. I rarely give something one star (though I definitely give more one stars on a four-star basis versus a ten-star basis) and generally I am a bit higher than the average on IMDB as well (of course the idiots giving one star to classics do not help).

I quite liked the film. But then, I hated In the Mood for Love, so what do I know?

Admin wrote:I quite liked the film. But then, I hated In the Mood for Love, so what do I know?

I'm quite familiar that you are indeed not In the Mood for Love. I think the first review I do of a Wong Kar-wai film will be Chungking Express. I'm still not the biggest fan of Ashes of Time (though I have only seen the redux).