2046 — Main characters
Special note: Don't miss the chart at the bottom of this page.
Special note: We are studying layering in this film. Please notice how characters from the past, present and future are amalgamated. Many roles are played by the same actors or actresses, which increases this effect. It is not easy to keep track of everyone, however, you need to learn the below individuals (listed more or less of importance to the romantic story line, not order of appearance or screen time; however, some are listed in a location that helps categorize the characters):
Chow Mo-wan, the main character and narrator. A journalist and writer, he is the same character, played by the same actor as in In the Mood for Love. He also appears, as Chow Mo-wan, in a silent cameo at the very end of Days of Being Wild (very puzzling, see: Final Scene of Days of Being Wild - Wong Kar-Wai, Tony Leung [YouTube]). Given that Days of Being Wild is a full nine years before In the Mood for Love, I find it intriguing that the character Chow Mo-wan already exists, and is introduced.
Su Li-Zhen, the woman Chow Mo-wan loved most. She appears primarily in narrative flashback, and only briefly, twice, towards the end of the movie. (She is also a character, with the same name, in the first two films of the trilogy.)
Another Su Li-Zhen. Presented as a "professional gambler" and nicknamed "Black Spider", she said that she was from Phnom Penh. Chow Mo-wan met her in Singapore.
Bai Ling. A beautiful cabaret girl who lived in room 2046 in the Oriental Hotel, and a lover of Chow Mo-wan.
Wang Jing Wen, the first daughter of Mr. Wang, the hotel owner. She was in love with a Japanese man, a relationship that her father opposed strongly.
An unnamed Japanese man (or simply the real actor's name Takuya Kimura), sent to Hong Kong for a while by his company. He is Wang Jing Wen's boyfriend.
Tak, a passenger of the train to (or from) 2046.
Female androids that are the equivalent of other female characters (see chart).
- Wang Jing Wen as android
- Lulu as android
- Lulu. Mimi from Days of Being Wild (the first film of the trilogy)
- Wang Jie Wen. The second daughter of Mr. Wang, the hotel owner (minor story).
(list modified from the descriptions on this film's wiki site)
Chart of the main women of this film, from the perspective of romantic interests of Chow
