My Blueberry Nights

My Blueberry Nights / My Blueberry Nights. HK /CH / FR 2007. PC: Block 2 Pictures, Jet Tone Production, Lou Yi Ltd., Studio Canal. D: Wong Kar Wai. SC: Wong Kar Wai, Lawrence Block - based on the story by Wong Kar Wai. DP: Darius Khondji - 1:2,35. Starring Norah Jones (Elizabeth), Jude Law (Jeremy), David Strathairn (Arnie), Natalie Portman (Leslie), Hector A. Leguillow (Cafe Cook), Rachel Weisz (Sue Lynne). 111 min. Released by Cinema Mondo, Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Minna Nuutinen / Ditte Kronström. Viewed at Kinopalatsi 7, Helsinki, 19 Jan 2008. This film has not gotten the best reviews, but it is my favourite Wong Kar Wai film so far. Or maybe I just caught up with him first now. He is the poet of urban solitude, and it's his first film in America. There are the bright, warm, and lurid colours, without fear of complementary colours such as green vs. orange. There is the urban noise. There are the traditional romantic ballads. The slow motion. The glass panels, the merciless lights, the reflections. The shots are like paintings or art photographs. There is a fresh look at the familiar American pop images (the highways, the casinos). It starts at the Kljutsh (The Key) Café in New York. It's a multi-story film about broken hearts on the way from New York to Las Vegas. It's based on metaphors: the keys without owners, the blueberry pies without customers, the sobriety chips that are not redeemed, the chips on the gambling table. I like the mixture of the mellow and the bitter in this film.