The film mostly takes place against the backdrop of the anti-colonial riots in late 1960s Kowloon, when Tony Leung's writer womanises his way through the guests at his hotel. Philandering is his attempt to recapture a great lost love, depicted in Wong's earlier film In the Mood for Love, which also embodies an unachievable nostalgia for a bygone Hong Kong; this dissatisfaction fuels his writing of a sci-fi story, set on a gleaming train hurtling towards "2046", a mysterious place no one has returned from. Read more
