Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai may be the master of unrequited love. Think of the cop with a crush on a femme fatale in Chungking Express (1994) or the hitman whose handler admires him from afar in Fallen Angels (1995). However, In the Mood for Love (2000) is his masterpiece – a rich, atmospheric ode to romantic longing and yearning. Inspired by the short story “Intersection” by celebrated Chinese writer Liu Yi-chang and Wong’s own memories of growing up in the 1960s, his film depicts the friendship that develops between two lonely people in Hong Kong, 1962.
Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung) is a newspaperman who has just moved into an apartment with his wife. Next door, Si Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung), an executive secretary, has also moved into a place with her husband. It just so happens that their respective spouses are constantly out of town at the same time and are having an affair. Initially, Chow and Su are unaware of their spouses cheating ways and contact with each other is brief and fleeting, kind and courteous. Chow and Su being to flirt with having one of their own. Interestingly, we never get a good look at the faces of the cheating spouses and they get very little screen-time with the focus on Chow and Su.
Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung make for a fascinating almost-couple and over the course of the film we want so badly for them to give in to their feelings for each other, but, of course, common sense and the cultural decorum of the day prevents them from acting on their impulses. It is what their characters don’t say to each other, but is conveyed through longing glances, that says so much. Speaking of which, there are incredible moments of longing, like the sequence where Chow and Su, caught out in the rain at night, take refuge at different spots on the street. Their respective body language conveys their loneliness, while how they are framed in a shot relates to their isolation.
Wong has a fantastic eye for detail, not just the period clothes and furniture (which are incredible), but also in showing the everyday minutia of Chow and Su’s lives, like showing them at work. It is these bits of business that inform us about their characters. What they do and say tells us a lot about them. So does what they wear, from Su’s stunning, form-fitting floral print dresses to Chow’s impeccably-tailored business suits.
There are beautiful, almost hypnotic slow motion shots of Chow and Su going to and from work through dimly-lit streets at night or up and down the stairs of their building to the repeated strains of a waltz. Thanks to Christopher Doyle and Mark Lee Ping-bin’s breathtaking atmospheric cinematography, Wong immerses us in this cinematic world he has created. It’s a place where people dine on green jadeite plates while Nat King Cole plays in the background of a restaurant.
In the Mood for Love has become Wong’s most acclaimed film, just edging out his popular breakthrough, Chungking Express. He has yet to surpass this film, coming close with the admirable effort 2046 (2004), a sequel or sorts to In the Mood, which also features world class cinematography but it is too abstract narratively. It lacks the former film’s passion and soul.
Podcasting Them Softly 