Indeed, it seems that the closer contemporary Chinese cinema comes to contemplating China’s future, the more filmmakers are preoccupied with rethinking and renegotiating troubled pockets in its past.

... features a confusion of narrators and a murky timeline and the swirl of flashbacks and remembrances left audiences confused. That elusive quality, however, is also part of its beauty, a film built on emotion more than narrative.

For Wong Kar-wai, action is color, and this film sees the director pushing the boundaries of a template that can hardly contain his style.

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