My Blueberry Nights

One of the gem I bought in Jakarta. Well, this trip to Jakarta, lots of gem found! :) And the price is unbelievably cheap. It's 20,000Rp which is less than RM10 (about 28,000Rp) and not only that, 20,000Rp included 2 mp3s too!!!! Freaking cheap and it's good D9 std to boot!!!

A few years ago, I had a dream. It began in the summer and was over by the following spring. In between, there were as many unhappy nights as there were happy days. Most of them took place in this café. And then one night, a door slammed and the dream was over. - utterred by Jude Law, whose ability to portray fragile, sensitive male lead in scruffy mode is unbeatable.

Wong Kar Wai (WKW) first English feature was not received well indeed but I found it to be a joy to watch. Fans who expected his cryptic dialogue and mysterious frame and camera take will be disappointed as he didn't completely copy what he did in his Chinese features. Having said that, if you are detail and pay enough attention, you will find that he's WKW anyway. The movie is filled with WKW-ness from the setting (still William Chang) to the music score usage. In fact, he used back the score from In The Mood for Love.

Those who's familiar with WKW's movies will notice some similarity here, the names, plots, characters etc. Chung King Express's Tony Leung's cop, Faye Wong's cafe, keys etc...

Casting is the core of the movie. Norah Jones being the title character Elizabeth exudes no master-class acting chops but she's very natural in her role and it's a joy to watch, especially when her soothing vocal serenading the flow of the plot and this made the soundtrack something to get your hands to. Jude Law is effective and his English accent is as attractive as ever.

But the Brit that sizzles here is definitely Rachel Weisz. She's just gorgeous and lighten up the scene! Pairing with David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck) in one of the sub-plot, Weisz is hot hot hot! And Natalie Portman also shines. I really amazed by her versatility especially seeing her award winning performance in Closer.

Notable Quotes :
Elizabeth: Why do you keep them? You should just throw them out.
Jeremy: No. No, I couldn't do that.
Elizabeth: Why not?
Jeremy: If I threw these keys away then those doors would be closed forever and that shouldn't be up to me to decide, should it?
Elizabeth: I guess I'm just looking for a reason.
Jeremy: From my observations, sometimes it's better off not knowing, and other times there's no reason to be found.
Elizabeth: Everything has a reason.
Jeremy: Hmm. It's like these pies and cakes. At the end of every night, the cheesecake and the apple pie are always completely gone. The peach cobbler and the chocolate mousse cake are nearly finished... but there's always a whole blueberry pie left untouched.
Elizabeth: So what's wrong with the blueberry pie?
Jeremy: There's nothing wrong with the blueberry pie. Just... people make other choices. You can't blame the blueberry pie, just... no one wants it.
and continuation to.........
Katya: Sometimes, even if you have the keys those doors still can't be opened. Can they?
Jeremy: Even if the door is open, the person you're looking for may not be there, Katya.

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Elizabeth : It took me nearly a year to get here. It wasn't so hard to cross that street after all, it all depends on who's waiting for you on the other side

Yeah, the blueberry pie was not unwanted. With or without the keys, sometimes it doesn't matter. At the end of the day, it depends on who's waiting on the other side of the door.