My Blueberry Nights

Development

The idea for My Blueberry Nights originated from an anthology film that Wong planned to make under the title Three Stories About Food; one of the film's chapters was ultimately released as its own film, In the Mood for Love (2000), while My Blueberry Nights originated from another short film titled In the Mood for Love 2001, which had only been screened once, at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001. Wong expanded the idea into a road movie that would take place in other locations besides New York, as filming entirely in the state would have been too expensive. Wong chose to make the film in 2005, after the postponement of another film.^[2]

Pre-production

Crew members went on three location scouting trips across the United States. Darius Khondji, the film's cinematographer, accompanied the crew on two trips, while Wong accompanied them for one; both of them took extensive photographs of diners, highways, and motels during their trips. Ely, Nevada was discovered by Wong while traveling along U.S. Route 50, and was chosen as a filming location.^[2] Ely's Hotel Nevada and Gambling Hall, as well as its Liberty Club bar, were scouted as possible filming locations.^[3][4] New Orleans was also considered as a filming location, but ultimately was not chosen because of logistical reasons; Memphis, Tennessee was chosen instead.^[2]

In Making My Blueberry Nights, a bonus on the DVD release of the film, Wong reveals his first choice for Elizabeth was singer Norah Jones despite her lack of prior acting experience. Wong called Norah Jones "a natural" and instructed that she not take acting lessons.^[2] Prior to filming, poker expert Peter Alson was hired to coach Natalie Portman for scenes that involved her playing poker.^[5]

Filming

Production began in New York on June 21, 2006.^[6] By June 27, 2006,^[6] production had moved to Ely, Nevada, after filming concluded in New York.^[5][7] Wong had Alson come along to Ely for further advice on the film's poker scenes.^[5] Filming locations in Ely included the Hotel Nevada and Gambling Hall.^[3][8] Other scenes in Ely were to be shot at a bar. Wong, known for last-minute decisions, chose a different bar on the day of filming, after concluding with Alson the night before that the bar in Ely was too small.^[5]

Filming in Las Vegas was set to begin on June 27, 2006, and was expected to last five days.^[9][10][11] Poker scenes set in Ely were instead filmed inside a poker room that had been constructed inside the Art Bar in downtown Las Vegas,^[12] as no suitable locations for the poker scenes could be found in Ely.^[5] Scenes involving Jones and Portman at the Art Bar were filmed over the course of a week.^[12] Other filming locations in Las Vegas included a diner, a car lot, a medical clinic, and the Blue Angel and La Palm motels, all located on East Fremont Street. Scenes were also shot in a hallway at Desert Springs Hospital.^[10]

Scenes in Memphis were scheduled to be filmed from July 17 to July 21, at the Blues City Café and at the Arcade Restaurant.^[6] Wong said that the film's Memphis segment was a tribute to Tennessee Williams.^[2] Wong originally intended to shoot the film in sequence, but when he discovered Rachel Weisz, whom he wanted to cast as Sue Lynne, was pregnant, he agreed to film the Memphis scenes last to allow her time to give birth and recuperate before beginning work. Wong consistently revised existing scenes and added new scenes to the script, usually at the last minute. Jude Law called it "a living story that's still being decided."^[2]

In August 2006, filming took place at the Palacinka café on Grand Street in SoHo, Manhattan. Scenes shot at the cafe – the primary filming location in New York – included a kissing scene between Law and Jones that was re-shot 150 times, with different speeds and from various angles, over the course of three days. Law, speaking about Wong, said, "I've never worked with someone who's put so much emphasis on a single moment. It's extraordinary how he'll take a moment and replay it and slice it up."^[2]

Filming was completed in seven weeks. Wong returned to Hong Kong in September 2006, with most of the film finished. The Weinstein Company acquired the American distribution rights in November 2006, while the film was being edited by Wong and William Chang. Wong said he would probably return to the United States to conclude filming in the winter, but stated that he would not make a decision about additional filming until he had a first cut. The film's ending had not been decided at that time.^[2]

Box office

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $74,146 in 6 theaters in the United States, ranking #43 at the box office. By the end of its run, My Blueberry Nights grossed $867,275 domestically and $21,101,602 internationally, totaling $21,968,877 worldwide.^[14]

Critical reception

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 47% based on 123 reviews and an average score of 5.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads "Though well filmed, My Blueberry Nights is a mixed bag of dedicated performers working with thin material."^[15] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 based on reviews from mainstream critics, the film has a score of 52 based on 27 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[16]

Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle observed, "The movie's overall story is modest, and if it were any longer the film might start to drag. But at 90 minutes, it's short enough to be carried along on the drama of its individual scenes and the strength of its performances . . . The nice thing about Wong is that, like a good gambler, he knows when to bet the farm and when to hold back. Most of the time, he plays it straight, and other times he will speed up the action into a kind of blur, to indicate time passing; or he'll fade out and back into the same shot, as though to indicate renewed focus. Everything he does re-creates a state of mind. It's such a relief to realize he's doing everything for a reason and not to show off."^[17]

Meghan Keane of the New York Sun said the film "keenly displays Wong Kar Wai's aptitude for relationship drama and showcasing the female form, but the Chinese director's American debut often makes the earnest miscalculation of a dubbed foreign film . . . [I]n translating his fascination with the distances between two people into American vernacular, Mr. Wong betrays an unfamiliarity with his subject matter that often undermines his story . . . Sadly, [his] interpretation of American lives and landscapes has an alien quality to it. He fetishizes the American countryside, drowns his characters' sorrows in whiskey, and makes plot-oriented decisions based on aesthetics rather than continuity or logic. The image of beautiful women in oversize sunglasses leaning against convertibles is not an accurate depiction of Americana – but it doesn't make for a bad visual."^[18]

In Hong Kong, critical reception was generally mixed. Perry Lam of Muse Magazine compared the film to Wong's earlier work, Chungking Express, and found My Blueberry Nights "a much lesser, more ordinary affair."^[19]