My Blueberry Nights

Given that Norah Jones has the lead in “My Blueberry Nights,” it’s not surprising that the movie opens with one of her songs, “The Story.” Jones plays Lizzie, a young woman who, after a bad break-up, takes off on a road trip to find herself and in the process meets a series of people whose stories are even more hopeless than her own. As the lyrics of the opening song suggest, “the stories have all been told before.” However, it’s not the unoriginal plot or the fairly commonplace characters that keep the audience engaged. Rather, director Wong Kar Wai’s attention to detail, artful editing, and the blending of music with images create a film in which sensory appeal outweighs predictability.

Although Jones plays the main character, her static performance serves as a backdrop for the more dynamic characters she meets along her journey. Rachel Weisz, playing a trapped wife who despises her husband, transitions with ease between self-satisfaction, raw rage, and disbelieving grief, while Jones barely registers more than one emotion. She delivers lines such as “I hope you both drop dead!” with nearly the same nonchalance as “Hey, did he pick up the keys?” However, the richness of the world Wong creates prevents Jones’ blandness from detracting too forcefully from the film.

Wong draws out the beauty of the commonplace objects we take for granted. In the opening credits, the close-ups on a blueberry pie not only emphasize the film’s title but also show a thoughtful appreciation for the appealing colors and contrasts created by the mixture of berries, crust, and cream. Wong even creates visual appeal in the remains of a car crash, revealing the dead man’s face through a frame of shattered glass glittering beneath rain and streetlight.

Wong also creatively uses motion, both with the camera and the actions on-screen, to set the tone of each scene. A shaky and restless camera introduces the bartender Jeremy (Jude Law). Even as the focus never strays from Jeremy’s face, the camera motion along with sounds of laughter and chatter create the atmosphere of a busy restaurant. Later in the film, when Jeremy kisses Lizzie as she lies sleeping on the bar, Wong uses characters’ movement to create a moment of dreamlike hesitancy.

Wong frequently accompanies variations in film speed with music that drowns out any other sound effect. Although at times these sequences make the film seem almost like an extended music video, it is enjoyable for any fan of artists such as Cassandra Wilson, Cat Power, and Otis Redding, who dominate the soundtrack. Wong uses music as a focus, rather than an accessory, adding to the effect of sensory satisfaction that he already creates in his images.

The success of “My Blueberry Nights” is, in the end, due to Wong’s embrace of the idea that it’s not the story that’s important, but the manner in which it’s told. The interspersed close-ups, the unusual use of motion, and the well-chosen soundtrack help the audience see depth and beauty in a story that would otherwise be shallow and predictable.

—Staff writer Rachel A Burns can be reached at rburns@fas.harvard.edu.