Description
Hong Kong, 1962: Chow Mo-wan and Su Li-zhen move into neighboring apartments on the same day. Their encounters are polite and formal-until a discovery about their respective spouses sparks an intimate bond. At once delicately mannered and visually stunning, Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love is a masterful evocation of romantic longing and fleeting moments in time. Amazon.com
Winner of numerous awards including Best Actor at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, In the Mood for Love confirmed that Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai is a major figure in world cinema. As passionate as it is politely discreet, his film takes place in 1962 Hong Kong, where neighboring apartment dwellers Mr. Chow (Tony Leung) and Mrs. Chan (Maggie Cheung) discover that their oft-absent spouses are having an affair. This realization parallels their own mutual attraction, but fidelity and decency ensure that their intimate bond remains unspoken though deeply understood. With a stealthy, eavesdropping camera style and a screenplay created through spontaneous on-set inspiration, Wong Kar-wai crafts an intricate, finely tuned platonic romance, enhancing its ambience with a kaleidoscope of color (most notably in Cheung's dazzling wardrobe of cheongsam dresses) and careful attention to character detail. Deservedly placed on many critics' top 10 lists, this elegant film should not be missed. --Jeff ShannonAlso Recommended...
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful:
Slim story, fabulous photography1 out of 1 people found this review helpful:
Love it!The visuals are stunning, the actors are great, and its twisted and sadistic and yet still turns out to be a tender love story . Wong Kar-Wai's use of slow mo on So's gloved hand while walking in the street is an image that I could stop and rewind and stop and rewind a thousand times over and never tire of it...
It's simply beautiful...
the music can drown you too...
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful:
WKW's most visually stunning filmUsing graceful slow motion sequences and nostalgic music, Wong Kar-wai juxtaposes the romanticism of a lost era with the unrequited longing of an impossible relationship in In the Mood for Love. Wong's highly stylized camerawork serves as a visual foil to the chaos of the meticulously structured mise-en-scene: the crowded living conditions, overly familiar neighbors, and imposing, uninvited guests reflect the claustrophobic, intrusive nature of traditional society. In contrast, the suffused colors of the empty restaurant and the long, reverse tracking shot of the hallway leading to Mo-Wan's creative retreat reflect the uninhibited freedom of their surfacing emotions. Furthermore, Su Li-zhen's seductively bold and exquisitely tailored high collared dresses manifest her paradoxical character: passionate, yet reserve; sensual, yet conservative. In essence, the visual dichotomy of the film serves as a reflection of the emotional turmoil that results from their innocuous alliance. In the Mood for Love is a subtly intoxicating and hypnotic film on love and longing, fate and destiny, connection, and isolation.
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful:
lacking somethingUp till date, Happy Togetheris the best work of Kar Wai-Wong, believe it or not to!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful:
I'm definitely in the mood for more of this movie...The film tells of Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan, two neighboring tenants in an apartment building in Hong Kong, circa 1962. Though they only meet and or converse in passing they soon uncover that they have a terrible reality in common; their spouses are engaged in an affair. Determined not to fall into the same trap of infidelity, they form a close platonic bond with one another, frequenting the same restaurants and spending a lot of time talking and confiding in one another. There is an apparent chemistry, and it becomes obvious that there is a longing for one another, but they remain at a distance so as not to disrespect their own dignity.
What we are left with then, is a breathtaking look at restrained affections.
I want to just take a minute to talk about director Wong Kar-Wai. I've made statements before in my reviews of `Chung Hing Sam Lam' and `My Blueberry Nights' that I didn't understand what the draw was to this director, and that my experiences with those two particular films made me question whether I should look into his work anymore. This film alone is so incredibly good (seriously, one of the top twenty films I've EVER SEEN) that it makes up for any previous concerns and or notions I've had towards this director and compels me to watch everything he's made. I don't see how he could ever top this (or how any director could really top this) but I am more than willing to give the rest of his films a go.
Why, you ask.
What Wong Kar-Wai does here is effortless transference of emotional connection. In other words; he paints such a vividly captivating picture that he evokes in us an immediate reaction, playing on our own internal feelings and drawing out of us a personal connection to the events unfolding on the screen. With images that linger on the screen for long periods of time; symbolic clouds of smoke lifting to the ceiling; rich expressions of color gracing a dimly lit room and that constant emotional tenseness that just captures the ultimate meaning in it all; `Fa Yeung Nin Wa' is so incredibly detailed that one could watch it multiple times and still catch something new with each sitting (case and point; I've seen in four times this past week and I still feel it has so much more to tell me).
The material is elegantly handled by its two stars, Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung. Both actors have proven themselves time and time again, but this may be their most committed and ultimately most rewarding performances. They each understand their characters, the pain of betrayal, the fear of loneliness, the desire to be complete. They just `get it' and so each scene is elevated by their emotional connection to the material. Cheung is especially captivating, delivering one of the best performances of the year with her smoldering internal struggle to fulfill herself.
I recommend this film without any hesitation and plead with you to see it. There are few films that can achieve what `Fa Yeung Nin Wa' has achieved. This is an emotionally stimulating visual feast that is as thought provoking and intelligent as it is beautiful.
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