My Blueberry Nights (2007)
My Blueberry Nights (2007) 7/10
I could probably spend hours listening to My Blueberry Night’s soundtrack on loop. As always, Wong Kar Wai knows how to pick the most addictive music for his films, and true to form Cat Power’s “The Greatest” is a soothing melody that is great for listening again and again. Actually, this review only needs to state that My Blueberry Nights is directed by Wong Kar Wai. That’s really all you need to know. WKW films are an acquired taste, his trademark moody atmospherics and his love for beguiling shots are hallmarks of this talented auteur. Either you love it, or you hate it. And for someone like me who has watched every single WKW film (including his short “The Hand” in Eros), My Blueberry Nights is a delightfully scrumptious albeit lightweight addition to WKW’s oeuvre.
WKW’s first english language film is probably his most accessible to date, and features a bevy of top stars, including Norah Jones in her first acting appearance. While WKW worked magic by casting singer Faye Wong in Chungking Express, the same cannot be said of Norah Jones, who is clearly out of her league in My Blueberry Nights. Its not that she is bad so much as everyone else is just better. Rachel Weisz overacts a tad but has immense screen charisma, while David Strathairn puts in a nicely understated performance. But it is Natalie Portman who steals the show, as a sassy gambler who befriends Norah Jone’s character. Not only does Portman steal every scene she shares with Norah Jones, she has the natural screen presence that makes her a delight to watch.
One of the things that bug me is that there is way too much dialogue. In one particularly egregious scene, Rachel Weisz has a monologue that basically spills out her feelings in a cathartic, easy to understand format for audiences. That is so not WKW, whose previous works prefer the underlying subtext method. Still, while this isn’t WKW’s best film, it still has that movie magic that WKW fans love. Longtime fans will be rewarded with a reference to In the Mood for Love in the form of a harmonica version of its theme song. Meanwhile, My Blueberry Nights retains much of WKW’s visual and stylistic imprint. Longtime WKW cinematographer Christopher Doyle did not work on this film, which is a pity, but the film still looks great. Not as visually sumptuous as In the Mood for Love or 2046 perhaps but still technically captivating. And i noticed that for the first 2 parts of the movie, WKW likes to shoot scenes where the characters are seen behind a filter: behind the window of the cafe or through the blinds. It is only in the third act when Natalie Portman is introduced that he refrains from doing so. Some kind of symbolism, perhaps? Only WKW knows.
As a film, My Blueberry Nights is WKW-lite. Not his best film, but probably his most accessible one to date. Some sequences are still magic, and the memorable kiss is just so WKW. He is still the expert at brooding soundtracks and beautiful lingering shots of mundane objects: the doorknob, the smoke from the cigarette.
“General audiences will likely be lost, but the film’s cast list may just attract those who were wanting for Wong Kar Wai and had yet to find him. And if the film can win the auteur even more fans, then it can’t really be that bad.”- IGN
“My Blueberry Nights” is a melancholy torch song in three-part harmony.”- Kirk Honeycutt
