In the Mood for Blueberries
back of the envelope script-writing
“You can’t eat Gus’s Fried Chicken over the internet!” Norah Jones said passionately at a press conference on Tuesday promoting her big screen debut in Wong Kar Wai’s new film, My Blueberry Nights. “Yeah, you can’t taste the grease,” David Strathairn said. Even though that exchange was only a brisk tangent, it is also somehow very applicable to the film itself—you can’t really talk about it unless you’ve seen it.
Wong has directed eight feature films to date, but his Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love, and 2046, despite wide critical appreciation, only ring a bell to foreign film aficionados. My Blueberry Nights is the first English-language film from the acclaimed Hong Kong director, and it’s bound to introduce him to a wider Western audience, with a star-studded cast that includes Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Norah Jones, Rachel Weisz, and David Strathairn.
Jones plays Elizabeth (or Lizzie, depending on whom she’s talking to), a woman going through a really rough breakup. One night, she wanders into a little diner somewhere in New York and strikes up a casual-yet-profound conversation with owner-waiter-do-it-all Jeremy (mopey-eyed Jude Law). After nights of such tête-à-têtes over luscious blueberry pie, the film takes off in a different direction as soon as something resembling a romantic inclination is born between the two. Lizzie sets out on a journey across America in order to, presumably, learn something about herself and mend her broken heart.
Waitressing and bartending her way through life, she encounters an ensemble of characters whose aches and longings are often much graver than hers. She befriends a troubled cop (David Stathairn) fighting alcohol addiction and his wife’s betrayal, the wife herself (a mesmerizing Rachel Weisz, portraying layers of pain beneath her tarty demeanor), and a down-on-her-luck gambler (Natalie Portman, with heavily bleached hair) who defines living in denial.
This massive story (reflected in the lengthy cast list) is almost too cinematic to be true. With so many roles played by famous faces, Wong Kar Wai at times seems to be providing vehicles for his cast. However, each character does play an essential role—sort of.
All these encounters constitute “chapters,” as Mr. Wong likes to call them, which are parts of the narrative but not crucial for the narrative structure. Mainly because there really is no structure. Characters come and go, without any apparent reason, but in the end all these fleeting moments add up to Lizzie’s emotional journey. Wong’s shooting style reflects this spur-of-the-moment structure, for the director notoriously shoots without having a finished script, relying on improvisation of both the crew and the cast. Even when it comes to writing the script, he says, “I don’t like to have long conversations. I meet up with Lawrence [Block, the screenwriter] in a coffee shop, he gives me an envelope, I go home, read it, write my remarks, meet up with him in a coffee shop again, and give him the envelope,” which might be the reason behind his elliptically plotted films that rely more on moods evoked by picturesque locations, luscious color palette and a soundtrack that never strikes a false note. Such is My Blueberry Nights.
Cinematically, the film is a treat you don’t get to see often and never outside of venues like the Lincoln Center Cinemas. Shot in New York, Memphis, and Las Vegas, the film renders the locations so beautiful, you might opt for eating them over blueberry pie if you had the option. A shallow focus lens is used in many scenes, giving the characters an ambience beyond mesmerizing.
All that being said, Wong places an emphasis on substance a well. “You don’t go for style just for style’s sake. Style goes along with the subject matter, but it’s all about the content,” he says. “The first thing is knowing what you want to say—style is secondary.” When asked about inspiration, he explains that his work is focused on self-expression. “I don’t challenge myself, I express myself. I make a film only because I want it to reflect a certain aspect of my mind-set at a certain time. That’s it.” But surely his inimitable style cannot be accidental, with its spot-on portrayals of the royal reds of Memphis and the neon greens of Vegas? “I’m not really conscious of those things. The film was shot so quickly, and so all the colors are coming from the places we chose to shoot at. But that’s what attracted me to them in the first place.”
Generally, the director won’t take much credit for the visual side of the film at all, emphasizing instead his crew’s invaluable input. “The director frames the shot, but lighting, movement and all that is Darius’ [Khondji, Wong’s Director of Photography] work,” he says.
His explanation behind achieving such stylistic unity is also painfully simple. “Before we started shooting, we went out on several trips around America and took a lot of pictures. That’s how we learned to understand one another,” he says. If only all creative collaborations produced such harmonious results.
These answers might be a little disappointing to Wong buffs, but perhaps David Strathairn has an antidote. “Asking questions like that about films like Kar Wai’s is like being a kid and trying to sneak a peek underneath the circus canopy to understand how the magic is done,” Strathairn says. “But really, when you see beauty, and emotion, that’s all you need to know, there should be no questions. Art should be a one-on-one experience. Don’t be the kid.”
And in the end, you can’t help but agree with him. As the lights in the theater go out and Wong unwinds his magic, accompanied by music personally chosen by Mr. Wong and Norah Jones, you don’t really care “how” anymore. Other questions, like Will Norah Jones make more movies? (“Maybe, but it would have to be something really special to match the My Blueberry Nights experience”), Is she working on a new album? (“No, all I want is a vacation”), and How was working with Jude Law? (“Fabulous. That’s it.”) remain legitimate, but in the end they don’t matter at all. My Blueberry Nights stands for itself.
The film opened on Friday, April 4th, as a somewhat abridged version of what was nominated for a Golden Palm at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. It is definitely one of the best pictures you can see in the relatively dead month of April, at least until the Tribeca Film Festival starts. Depending on your tastes, it might become your favorite film ever, but one thing is certain: Mentioning Wong Kar Wai in a casual conversation will grant an immediate elevation to the status of a cultured film connoisseur. \\\