In the Mood for Love (2000)

Wong Kar-wai is a director that I have wanted to get into for quite some time. He’s frequently name dropped and as a fan of Asian cinema, it seemed strange that I had not yet come across any of his films. The other day at the college library, which owns a fair amount of Criterions, I came across “In the Mood for Love” a film that I had heard much about but new very little of.

In features I’ve read of Wong Kar-wai his unique style especially the way his colors are so vibrant is always remarked upon. Visually, the film is gorgeous. Kar-wai makes colors so vibrant in a way that recalls Technicolor but clearly realistic. Colors pop out but it’s nothing like “Hero” or any of those other wuxias that are powerful now. The colors are realistic but heightened in a way that makes other films look drab.

The film’s narrative follows a man and woman who both move into separate apartments on the same day. Both of their spouses are often away on business trips and the two soon realize their spouses are having an affair together. The two strike up a friendship, imagining and rehearsing how their spouses first got together, how they interact. They begin to fall for each other but the pressures of Chinese society and their desire to not be just like their spouses leave their love unrequited.

“In the Mood for Love” is one of the most honest romance films I’ve ever seen and a lot of its success comes from the filming and the editing. Many of the shots begin focused on an object and slowly pan or tilt to their destination, the camera lingers but always very abruptly with a very fast fade out and then jumping to the next scene. The camera often follows characters from behind gates of windows, panning over walls that block our view of the characters. Interestingly, the spouses if seen on camera are always seen from the back and typically through glass or a mirror. The camera is a voyeur, peering into forbidden love. Wong Kar-wai has said he sees a lot of “Vertigo” in this film and certainly the Hitchcock influences are there. The way cigarettes smoke lingers in the air recalls film noir, the beauty of shadows and light. The scene where Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung pass each other on the stairs is perhaps the most sensuous scene ever filmed and they are only walking on some stairs. Maggie Cheung is absolutely gorgeous in the film; the costume design, my god those dresses, and her hair are both pristine.

Some, even I initially, may not like the direction that the film goes but it seems to be a necessity. The discussions between the two of them over power relationships, the nature of their spouses’ affair, their context in Chinese culture prevents them from being together. The film explores the nature of Chinese society and this undercurrent of their romance. By the end, where Leung is at the Buddhist temple ruins whispering into the crack in the wall and the camera moves freely throughout the film achieves perfection.

10/10