Wong Kar-Wai's visual seduction just about saves his latest

My Blueberry Nights - 3,5 stars

Never has a kiss been filmed so deliciously and seductively, yet Kar-Wai's latest film falls short when it comes to its screenplay. Images of ice cream melting slowly over a slice of fresh blueberry pie accompany a lateral shot of Jude Law kissing the ice cream off Norah Jones' full lips. My Blueberry Nights continues Kar-Wai's visual tradition that defined his auteur seal for his previous films such as In the Mood for Love, 2046 and Chungking Express. The sliding, slow camera movements, full exposed colors, highly-stylized mise-en-scène and overall visual polish are the prominent features of this film. His signature slow-motion treatment of real-time film is still around and used to full effect. However, all the prettiness can't save the script.

I must say that the actors have done their best, and their performances are pretty good, even Norah Jones', though Natalie Portman leads the main honors. The casting of Norah Jones isn't that surprising either as Kar-Wai likes to star popular artists in his films such as Faye Wong, a pop singer in Hong Kong, who starred in Chungking Express after which she continued to work with him. However, the script feels empty, under-developed and too indie, to such an extent that there were times when I chuckled at certain voice-over comments about life or love in general. They felt a bit too tired and forced. This might be the result of Kar-Wai working with a language other than his native tongue.

In my opinion, Kar-Wai did not deliver what he should have shown the world as his next film after 2046. The material isn't well developed and the script feels too forced. But it's still a beautiful film and I would recommend watching it just for the visuals and the cinematography. I won't be buying the DVD any time soon though.