Page 119 - Metropolis Megazine No.120 International

WHEN MEMORY BECOMES A CITY
FILMIN

Although «Blossoms Shanghai» of atmospheres, encounters, and tructs about their own past.
can be considered a historical missed encounters. He is simul-
drama or a character study, it is, taneously a self-made man and With its poetic cadence, fragmen-
above all, a meditation on identi- a tragic survivor, a manipulator ted structure, and obsession with
ty (individual and collective) and and a victim, the protagonist of the past, «Blossoms of Shanghai»
how places become ingrained in an impossible rise, and a symbol will especially appeal to fans of
people. Shanghai is portrayed of a city that no longer recognises auteur cinema, introspective dra-
here not just as a backdrop but itself. mas, and historical portraits that
as a protagonist in its own right: prioritise atmosphere over action.
changeable, seductive, and full of If «In the Mood for Love» (2000)
secrets. Wong Kar-Wai films it as was a study of restrained desi- More than a series, «Blossoms
one would film an old love: with re and the impossibility of con- Shanghai» is a visual elegy on the
reverence, heartbreak, and a cer- summating love at the wrong transience of memory, identity,
tain distance. time, and if «2046» (2004) stood and desire. Wong Kar-Wai, true
as a futuristic lament where to his unique language, creates a
Wong Kar-Wai's direction remains memory became a prison, then monumental work that is deeply
faithful to his aesthetic univer- «Blossoms Shanghai» operates emotional and formally rigorous.
se, while the fragmented editing as a kind of synthesis and ex- In an increasingly fast-paced wor-
reinforces the wandering nature pansion: affection is no longer ld, this series invites us to pause,
of the narrative. Instead of a tra- just personal but intertwines listen to what has been lost, and
ditional rise and fall arc, Ah Bao's with the city, with the promise recognise that sometimes the tru-
contradictory layers are gradually of a better future, and with the th lies less in the facts and more in
revealed through an accumulation fiction that each person cons- how we remember it.

METROPOLIS JULY 2025 119