Jung Chau Jit and 2046

Click on the picture above to see a video from the Tai Hang Fire Dragon Celebration.

Last night was both the Mid-Autumn Festival (Jung Chau Jit) and the opening of 2046-- the Mid-Autumn festival being a time to appreciate the beauty of the moon and eat mooncakes, and the release of 2046 being, well... let's just say I haven't been this excited for the release of a movie since Jurassic Park opened when I was 11.

First Rachel, Yomei and I went to Tai Hang, near the Tin Hau temple. For 125 years, on the Mid-Autumn Festival, this neighborhood has put on a Fire Dragon dance, in which a 50-foot-long straw dragon bristling with burning incense "dances" through the streets (with the help of a lot of burly men) to safeguard the region against plague and bad luck. We pressed in with the crowd, snacking on cha siu bao (barbecue pork buns) and sipping iced milk tea (and then Asahi) until the dragon made its appearance. Little girls in yellow silk costumes ran around the blocked-off road, their hair pinned up into beribboned buns and curlicues, positively glowing with the excitement of staying up late with their friends and being the center of attention. I'm not sure what their official "role" was, but they kept skipping up and down the street, pointing up at the moon and oohing and aahing (but it ended up being more like screeching), as I think they had been coached to do. Probably something to do with the traditional Jung Chau Jit legend, about the maiden in the moon who owns a rabbit or something (every young Hong Konger I talk to seems to be fuzzy on the details). There was also a group of older kids on a rolling platform with one of those huge loud drums-- I think it's taiko in Japan, not sure what the Cantonese name is. They rotated the strenuous drumming duty, and crashed cymbals as well-- a fantastically chaotic noise, I think the very definition of the word "clamor", in the best possible way. Finally the dragon arrived, spewing incense and glowing with fire. Quite exciting. Of course my camera battery died right as he came into view. Maybe it's better that way.

Next we made our way through the teeming streets towards Victoria Park, where even more people were congregated to admire the moon, play with lanterns, and eat mooncakes. This just happened to be the most direct route to the Windsor Cinema, where I had booked 18 tickets for myself and assorted friends to see 2046. The movie was frustrating and beautiful. It's hard to make a judgement that lands on one side of the coin. Is it worth seeing? Definitely. Is it incredible? Definitely. Is it disappointing in certain ways? Yes. Because that's bound to happen when you anticipate something too much. And in a funny way, that's part of what the movie itself is about. The sadness of giving too much to someone who will never give anything back. The paralyzing idealization of the past. The realization of loss. The loneliness of telling your secrets to the air.

After the film, we walked to a nearby bar where we commandeered a whole room to continue the mid-autumn, post-cinematic, celebration. Strangely enough they were playing "In the Mood for Love" on a TV in the corner-- a film that is altogether more complete and "satisfying" than "2046". But the latter also has something that keeps pulling me back, like a weighted magnet. See it and decide for yourself.