Film: In The Mood For Love
Release date: 29th October 2001
Release date: 29th October 2001
Certificate: PG
Running time: 94 mins
Director: Wong Kar-waiStarring: Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Ping Lam Siu, Tung Cho 'Joe' Cheung, Rebecca Pan
Genre: Drama/RomanceStudio: Tartan
Format: DVD
Country: Hong Kong
Time Out New York recently put this film in the fifth spot of the best films of the previous decade, with the addend that it was the "consummate unconsummated love story of the new millennium." Consummate really is the word to describe it.
The film takes place in Hong Kong in 1962, and charts the blossoming friendship between two neighbours whose spouses’ are having an affair. Distraught at the mutual infidelities of their partners’, the pair, Chow Mo-Wan (Tony Leung) and So Lai-Zhen (Maggie Cheung), find solace in one another’s company. Unanimously deciding to maintain a wholly platonic relationship, not wanting to stoop to the level of their ex-lovers, they go about dining together at a local noodle stand and later working on a martial arts novel. The sexual tension between the two is palpable, to the credit of sympathetic, powerful performances from Leung and Cheung, yet, due in part to the constrictive society they are a part of but perhaps more importantly due to their confused feelings, their love is never consummated.
As time passes, they are forced away from one another by jobs, age and So’s husband’s return, and but for a few brief encounters they end up losing all contact.
In the background are a Dickensian cast of sub characters; Mahjong-playing neighbours, drinkers, wheeler dealers, gambling friends, and the ever reproachful local gossips but, as if a calm in the eye of the storm, So and Chow maintain their intense relationship with a quiet stoicism. The obvious potential for a fulfilled, loving and, critically, sexual affair however never comes to fruition…
Whilst there is much narrative in the film, that is to say many events occur, the plot is rather staid - nothing much actually happens. Interest in the film is maintained through the veritable visual feast provided by Doyle and the slow, serpentine, unravelling of the relationships documented.
What is instantly noticeable is despite Wong Kar Wai’s distinctive writing style, the film is shot in a very different way to many of his other movies. Gone are the blurs and hyper kinetic camera work of earlier films, say Chungking Express, in favour of static cameras that often pick out objects in the foreground rather than the characters and action which blend into the background. This static stylistic choice sets the period of In The Mood For Love effectively, and lends the air of the Kubrick or Hitchcock classics that it seems to be influenced by. Further it mirrors perfectly the characters’ static state of mind and the rut they have worked their inter-personal relationships into. This demure camera work gives space for each individual shot being artfully composed with flashes of lush colour bursting through the otherwise greyscale palette, again mirroring Chow and So’s heart-breaking failure of an affair.
The film’s relationship and use of music is as thoughtful and successful as its use of the camera. Music is often used repetitiously or with small variation, for example different versions of the same song are commonly employed to establish a consistent mood. This roots certain themes to certain sounds, and even specific settings seem to have their own sound colours much like in the best opera (The film‘s use of diegetic sound is very reminiscent of Mozart‘s use of various flute motifs in The Magic Flute). The soundtrack is also elemental in establishing the historical setting (there is extensive use of ‘50s and ‘60s Chinese pop hits, often rearranged western or Latin orchestral numbers) but, more subtly, at hinting at the historical context the film situates itself in. 1962 was a tumultuous period in Hong Kong’s history and other places that the film visits, such as Singapore (which gained its independence from the UK that year, and is probably a major motivation for Chow’s relocation there though this is not obviously stated). Whilst the film invites us to see parallels between context and the disintegration of the characters’ relationships on screen, it does not foist these upon us in simple allegorical or metaphorical terms, more it allows us to view them as two strands weaving together. It raises the point that whilst monumental events are happening around these characters, they themselves are far more concerned about what is happening in their world rather than the world at large.
Few movies explore their subjects with the kind of deft and subtlety as In The Mood For Love. In The Mood For Love cannot be considered as anything other than a masterpiece of modern cinema and stands proud as one of the finest films of the new millennium. JR
The film takes place in Hong Kong in 1962, and charts the blossoming friendship between two neighbours whose spouses’ are having an affair. Distraught at the mutual infidelities of their partners’, the pair, Chow Mo-Wan (Tony Leung) and So Lai-Zhen (Maggie Cheung), find solace in one another’s company. Unanimously deciding to maintain a wholly platonic relationship, not wanting to stoop to the level of their ex-lovers, they go about dining together at a local noodle stand and later working on a martial arts novel. The sexual tension between the two is palpable, to the credit of sympathetic, powerful performances from Leung and Cheung, yet, due in part to the constrictive society they are a part of but perhaps more importantly due to their confused feelings, their love is never consummated.
As time passes, they are forced away from one another by jobs, age and So’s husband’s return, and but for a few brief encounters they end up losing all contact.
In the background are a Dickensian cast of sub characters; Mahjong-playing neighbours, drinkers, wheeler dealers, gambling friends, and the ever reproachful local gossips but, as if a calm in the eye of the storm, So and Chow maintain their intense relationship with a quiet stoicism. The obvious potential for a fulfilled, loving and, critically, sexual affair however never comes to fruition…
Whilst there is much narrative in the film, that is to say many events occur, the plot is rather staid - nothing much actually happens. Interest in the film is maintained through the veritable visual feast provided by Doyle and the slow, serpentine, unravelling of the relationships documented.
What is instantly noticeable is despite Wong Kar Wai’s distinctive writing style, the film is shot in a very different way to many of his other movies. Gone are the blurs and hyper kinetic camera work of earlier films, say Chungking Express, in favour of static cameras that often pick out objects in the foreground rather than the characters and action which blend into the background. This static stylistic choice sets the period of In The Mood For Love effectively, and lends the air of the Kubrick or Hitchcock classics that it seems to be influenced by. Further it mirrors perfectly the characters’ static state of mind and the rut they have worked their inter-personal relationships into. This demure camera work gives space for each individual shot being artfully composed with flashes of lush colour bursting through the otherwise greyscale palette, again mirroring Chow and So’s heart-breaking failure of an affair.
The film’s relationship and use of music is as thoughtful and successful as its use of the camera. Music is often used repetitiously or with small variation, for example different versions of the same song are commonly employed to establish a consistent mood. This roots certain themes to certain sounds, and even specific settings seem to have their own sound colours much like in the best opera (The film‘s use of diegetic sound is very reminiscent of Mozart‘s use of various flute motifs in The Magic Flute). The soundtrack is also elemental in establishing the historical setting (there is extensive use of ‘50s and ‘60s Chinese pop hits, often rearranged western or Latin orchestral numbers) but, more subtly, at hinting at the historical context the film situates itself in. 1962 was a tumultuous period in Hong Kong’s history and other places that the film visits, such as Singapore (which gained its independence from the UK that year, and is probably a major motivation for Chow’s relocation there though this is not obviously stated). Whilst the film invites us to see parallels between context and the disintegration of the characters’ relationships on screen, it does not foist these upon us in simple allegorical or metaphorical terms, more it allows us to view them as two strands weaving together. It raises the point that whilst monumental events are happening around these characters, they themselves are far more concerned about what is happening in their world rather than the world at large.
Few movies explore their subjects with the kind of deft and subtlety as In The Mood For Love. In The Mood For Love cannot be considered as anything other than a masterpiece of modern cinema and stands proud as one of the finest films of the new millennium. JR
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