Favorite Films: 'In the Mood for Love'

The 2000 film, In the Mood for Love, from esteemed Hong Kong Second Wave director Kar Wai Wong, is one of the most elegant, decorous, modern romance films. With its melancholic undertones and extraordinarily artful cinematography, the Cantonese film moves past what a typical romantic drama covers, and delivers a poignant storyline that contains simplistic beauty in every shot.

The film (set in 1960s Hong Kong) is about two neighbors, Mrs. Chan and Mr. Chow, who form a strong bond after they become suspicious of extramarital activities between their spouses. The two vow to keep their bond platonic as to not commit the same wrongs of their spouses. Maggie Cheung is breathtaking as the regal, fiercely ladylike Mrs. Chan, flawlessly emoting the cognitive dissonance caused by her feelings of rejection from her husband, and the comfort she finds in Mr. Chow. Tony Chiu-Wai Leung is phenomenal as the self-deprecating, hard-working Mr. Chow.

While the film revolves around the basis of adulterous spouses, the spouses are never actually seen, and the film is very modest in content. Kar Wai Wong uses vivid colors, ingenious framing, and the aesthetics of the large, bustling city to aid the display of restricted passion and questionable companionship. The movie is visually stunning and will leave you thinking for days on end. The two main characters are very likable and relatable as they are kind and humble, but the premise of the entire plot is each character’s displacement of emotions. The primary emotion is longing, whether it is for their spouses, each other, or liberation from their mundane routines.

The film is very strategic and leaves the audience wondering what will be in sight with the camera next. Wong has many scenes shot as frames within frames, which lead the viewer to focus on exactly what Wong intended those watching to focus on. The spouses are never shown so that there is no chance that the audience will sympathize less with Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan, and from personal experience, it is very difficult to not feel for the two when watching them surrounded by the remarkably striking setting. A lot of the film was improvised which makes it fraught and episodic, but in the best way possible.

The characters are found stranded and clinging to each other in the absence of their spouses, but too afraid to show their simultaneous feelings of devotion and rejection. The characters lean heavily on each other to elicit a movement in the audience’s emotions. Kar Wai Wong is an artist generous in creating inventive, visually pleasing masterpieces—In the Mood for Love is definitely one of these.