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 In The Mood For Love 2000, written and directed by Wong Kar-Wai Directors of Photography: Christopher Doyle, Kwan Pung-Leung, Mark Lee Ping-Bing Music by Michael Galasso , Umebayashi Shigeru In The Mood For Love is a film about two neighbors, Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung) and Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) who move into the same apartment building in British Hong Kong on the same day in 1962. They are both married to partners who are often away. They each find themselves alone and lonely. Their lives intersect randomly as they go about their daily routines. As time passes, they share their various interests, talk about their neighbors, eat dinners together, they talk about their absent spouses, and a friendship grows despite the pressures of Hong Kong's conservative culture.  Chow and Su's relationship is one of my all-time favorites. I was introduced to this film a few years ago by goon FancyMike, who is an avid Wong Kar-Wai fan. I was hungry for an emotionally fulfilling film, and FancyMike told me to finally watch this film. It blew me away with it's beauty, and has stuck with me for years. To this day, when people discuss what films shake someone to their core, this one is top of the list. What makes this film more remarkable than it's simple premise lets on is the culmination of film's possibilities. At it's core, this is a film of two characters; their time alone, and their time with each other. The situation is simple, but the emotions and the performances are complex. There are moments of sensuality, romance, loneliness, happiness... It feels like we are voyeurs of a beautiful love story instead of an audience watching a film... Carrying this story are the mesmerizing colors, the melancholic music, the genius camera choices, the setting... Equally as effective is the unseen story, the details in the negative space that are just as powerful as what's currently on the screen. Each of these presents a powerful sense of longing, of love, of craving human interaction...This is a film about finding your soul mate. But that's never as easy as saying that you love someone. In fact, sometimes love is seemingly an insurmountable force, akin more to a curse than a blessing. Don't believe that this is all depressing, or sad, or melancholic. There is a lot of joy in this feeling, there is a yearning for hope, a silent screaming for optimism that is embedded in the viewer.  When I think of Valentine's Day movies, I really think of three films: first, of course, is the obvious choice of Linklater's Before Trilogy. And I almost picked one (or all) of those. 2nd is Demme's Something Wild, a counter-culture love story set on the road, but I chose that last year. But In The Mood For Love is a tragically underseen film. With Bong Joon-Ho's thriller Parasite showing American audiences that Korean cinema (Eastern cinema in general!) is worth watching, and with the Bi Gan's film from China, Long Day's Journey Into Night, making top 10 lists with it's mesmerizing and dreamy atmosphere, I thought it was time for Wong Kar-Wai's Hong Kong love story to get a new chance at appreciation. I can't wait to rewatch this film. It's an all-time favorite of mine, an easy representation for the coveted Perfect Film. Where to watch it:  In The Mood For Love is currently available on the Criterion Channel, and also includes extra features like interviews with the cast and crew, and many interviews with the film's fans. If you haven't subscribed to Criterion Channel, you can get a two week long free trial! Because it is in the Criterion Collection, it is also available on Kanopy for free. Kanopy is a streaming service that requires a library card. Also, because it is the Criterion Collection, your local library probably has a copy to rent for free! Or you can purchase it on Amazon for a little over $25.Currently these are the only ways to watch this film. There aren't currently places for a paid rental. I'm sure clever individuals can find a way to watch this film. It is worth it. Previously featured films of CineD's Movie of the Month Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 06:13 on Feb 4, 2020 |
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Feb 4, 2020 01:45
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In The Mood For Love is actually one part of a loose tetralogy of films by Wong Kar-Wai. They are, in order: Days of Being Wild (1990) In The Mood For Love (2000) 2046 (2004) and the upcoming film Blossoms(2020) While they are all stand-alone films and can be watched in any order, 2046 is mostly a direct continuation following Chow Mo-wan, played again by the incredible Tony Leung Chiu-wai, after the events of this film. There isn't much known about Blossoms, other than Wong Kar-Wai hinting in press releases that this is thematically linked to In The Mood For Love and 2046 moreso than Days of Being Wild. It is based on a novel by Jin Yucheng, and will cover events from Hong Kong in 1963(ish) to the 1990s. He has teased that it is his most personal work to date. 2020 will also be a big year for Wong Kar-Wai, because 10 of his films are getting 4k restorations with the intention of revival runs throughout theaters internationally, including In The Mood For Love, Chungking Express, and others.
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Feb 4, 2020 02:05
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Franchescanado posted:
This does not appear to be the case, for me at least. Just says "This video is not available." I don't know if different libraries have access to different things and I just have a lovely one or what. At any rate, I'll probably just do the Criterion Channel free trial because I've really been meaning to get in to Wong Kar-Wai. Everything I've seen about this makes it seem super gorgeous.
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Feb 4, 2020 02:27
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A beautiful film. Just power through the first 30 minutes which are confusing. It just throws you right into it.
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Feb 4, 2020 14:30
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Ok, time to finally watch this. I haven't signed up for the Criterion Channel yet because I have so much to watch on other streaming services, but I'll do the trial at least so I can watch this.
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Feb 4, 2020 15:50
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I remember watching this last year and it's an absolutely beautiful film. It's got the colour palette of Almodóvar but tinged with a darkness and a sadness that keeps it from being overwhelming. I really love the muted but bright and contrasting colour use. That said, the story is a bit melodramatic, which I find in a lot of the popular Hong Kong amd Taiwanese cinema, or really any popular cinema, I just tend to avoid English/Western Europe ones because they're less interesting coming from my own societal understanding. But it does complement the melodrama of the cinematography well. It reminds me of classic Hollywood film that is just so stylish and has that love story bound by societal norms, but updated to a different place and time and stretching with an adventurousness of composition and less repression than the coded winks of classic American cinema. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this movie is all that is good about a broad, classic love story, stylishly told and is a classic for a reason and I need to rewatch it and post more.
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Feb 4, 2020 16:52
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I blind bought the Criterion last year and have only seen the movie once, so I'm due for a rewatch. I'm not sure I properly absorbed the characters the first time around but yea the cinematography and costumes are fantastic.
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Feb 4, 2020 16:58
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Franchescanado posted:In The Mood For Love is actually one part of a loose tetralogy of films by Wong Kar-Wai. They are, in order: I can confirm it's alright to watch these out of order. Seeing Chungking Express in a class first year of college is what kicked off my interest in film. That was around the time 2046 came out so I went to see the new Wong Kar-wai movie with no context at all and loved it.
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Feb 4, 2020 19:06
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Still funny that Carina Lau got Tony Leung out of Wong's production company and put him on the first plane to Hollywood, before Wong could elope her husband to Shanghai for 5 years. As for the film, it rules and gets better everytime I re watch it. Chungking Express will always be my favourite from Wong, cause it's just fun to watch, but In the Mood for Love is a staggering achievement. Also here's Leung and Cheung doing a little dance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szvRRy8Lkz4
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Feb 4, 2020 20:12
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Gun to my head, this is my pick for best movie of the 21st Century. I also find it surprisingly hard to talk about, so I'm just going to post random brief thoughts when I can. Nostalgia: This is the first thing I think about when I remember the movie (after the amazing art direction and god drat those clothes and the hair and . . . ). I consider the two main characters enacting a love story with their past love, not with each other. I know Wong has said that Vertigo is a huge influence, so this isn't an original thought or anything, but really both characters are using each other to try and relive their respective lost loves with their respective spouses, when in reality that love they have with their spouses has long sailed. I think this morphs over time, with them starting to grow romantic for their prior, more respectable forms of friendship with each other as well. My favorite scene is the slap. When Su slaps Chow, to me, is not a slap she wants to give her husband, but rather a slap out of anger that Chow has morphed from a mannequin portrayal of her prior love to a potential current love interest, with all the messiness and realness and other issues that surround real love as opposed to nostalgic ideal love (or something more profound, use your imagination) - hence that slap, out of nowhere, as a last try to maintain her hold on the fantasy. I know some people think its ambiguous about whether anything physical happens with them off-screen that we aren't made aware of, but for me that slap makes it clear: they aren't in love with each other so much as they are in love with their idealized notions of what love used to feel like, and neither is willing to cheat on their idealized love from the past. I think this helps tie into the ending, where both have realized what they lost, but have also probably idealized that relationship as well. In love with a ghost, whispering secrets into trees hoping for an answer that never exists. I have nowhere near enough knowledge about the actual history of Hong Kong and Wong's relationship to it, or nostalgia for it, but it sure feels like this movie is also him coming to terms with the conflicting nostalgia for his boyhood home and what that home was probably like at the time. But I've said enough bullshit navel-gazing nonesense for one post. Edit: going to spoiler just to be safe Voodoofly fucked around with this message at 22:54 on Feb 4, 2020 |
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Feb 4, 2020 22:01
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My take on it is that the relationship definitely gets physical. Evidence is the second to last scene where it's four years later and we see her with a child about that age. It feels pretty clearly implied that's Tony Leung's kid.
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Feb 4, 2020 22:28
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FancyMike posted:My take on it is that the relationship definitely gets physical. Evidence is the second to last scene where it's four years later and we see her with a child about that age. It feels pretty clearly implied that's Tony Leung's kid. I think that's a valid interpretation, but I think its just as likely it was a child she had with her husband in the normal course of life. Again, the movie to me plays out like idealized memories, excluding all of the real life complications that actually happened (like having a child with your spouse, or maybe having a messy real life relationship with your neighbor, having a child out of wedlock, being shunned, the other moving away to save face, whatever). It just my personal view that, in the relationship we get to see on screen, they never crossed over that platonic line, for better and probably for a lot worse. Figure I should ask, but do we want to use spoiler tags in the thread? Edit: let's also be fair, I change my view on this movie every time I see it. Voodoofly fucked around with this message at 22:42 on Feb 4, 2020 |
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Feb 4, 2020 22:40
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Voodoofly posted:Figure I should ask, but do we want to use spoiler tags in the thread? Even though this is the film's 20th anniversary, it's still not a commonly seen film. Since the whole thing is a giant "Will They / Won't They?", I have intentionally left my write-up vague and would appreciate spoilers where most appropriate.
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Feb 4, 2020 22:49
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Voodoofly posted:I think that's a valid interpretation, but I think its just as likely it was a child she had with her husband in the normal course of life. Again, the movie to me plays out like idealized memories, excluding all of the real life complications that actually happened (like having a child with your spouse, or maybe having a messy real life relationship with your neighbor, having a child out of wedlock, being shunned, the other moving away to save face, whatever). It just my personal view that, in the relationship we get to see on screen, they never crossed over that platonic line, for better and probably for a lot worse. That's fair. It's definitely left ambiguous and Wong does not want to give a clear answer. And really, while I kind of like talking about it, what's great about the movie is that the answer to a kind of big question doesn't actually feel that important. The details are there but really I'm watching to feel things and all the emotions are played perfectly. I guess I'll be rewatching these movies soon. Probably start with Days of Being Wild tonight
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Feb 5, 2020 00:19
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I saw this movie years and years ago and have mostly forgotten all about it, will have to rewatch it now. Also it just hit me that both the leads also play lovers in Hero.
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Feb 5, 2020 14:42
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FancyMike posted:I guess I'll be rewatching these movies soon. Probably start with Days of Being Wild tonight I'm going to (try and) do the same. If anyone watches other Wong Kar-Wai films for this, especially the films in the loose series related to ITMFL, feel free to post about them in this thread.
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Feb 5, 2020 15:17
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This is one of my absolute favorite films, thanks for the reminder to rewatch it. What always sticks in my mind is what a sensuous film this is, it stimulates every sense as much as a film can. The booming score, slow motion shots of cigarette smoke, the dinner scenes, incredible shot composition and color palette, loving shots of fabric curtains and stone walls, etc etc. All of that combined with a gentle sense of humor creates such a concrete sense of place and time that I find myself feeling nostalgia for an era and culture I have no real connection to
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Feb 5, 2020 23:02
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This film is strangely hard to come by over here. I've been wanting to see it for years, but it's never on any streaming service, not available for digital rent or purchase anywhere and the DVD is super expensive. I tried to get it from the library since this thread popped up but it hasn't been available. Now I paid 12€ for a used DVD on ebay.
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Feb 7, 2020 12:42
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I adore this film. It’s so emotionally fraught for such a subdued and chaste movie, and one of my absolute favourite romances. However, is it really little-known? It’s one of the most acclaimed films of the 21st century, it’s in the top 50 on the TSP all-time list, was second on BBC’s best films of the century so far list, etc. It’s one of the first films I heard of when I first got majorly into world cinema over a decade ago.
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Feb 7, 2020 20:36
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Escobarbarian posted:I adore this film. It’s so emotionally fraught for such a subdued and chaste movie, and one of my absolute favourite romances. Depends on what you're talking about. In films circles, yea it's an iconic film that is regarded as a clear contender for best of the 21st century. But if you just go out on the street and did a poll with random people, very few would even have heard of it. At least in America.
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Feb 7, 2020 21:12
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Watched this earlier today and enjoyed it a lot. Like everyone has said, beautiful cinematography and costumes and colors. I didn't know what to expect going in so it took me a while to get used to the style. I feels a bit like someone remembering significant moments from their relationship (or insignificant ones that stuck in their minds, like passing each other in the hallway), rather than the full story of a romance. I'll write some more thoughts once I digest it a bit.
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Feb 9, 2020 00:29
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In the Mood for Love is such a perfect title because the best way to watch the film is to just soak it all up. While I'm going to wait to rewatch it for the Wong Kar-Wai box set Criterion is releasing later this year, a lot of it is still fresh in memory. There's these beautiful, slow motion shots underscored with music that seem too real to be a dream, but too unreal to be reality. You really get into their heads for the emotion. There's also one shot that stuck with me, I think with Leung discovering something about Cheung's character and it's punctuated with a quick pan. I think it's the only time in the film there's such a fast movement, as everything else seems so graceful. I don't recall as much plot or dialogue, but I do recall the sort of mood it set with the visuals.
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Feb 16, 2020 07:32
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I think it's when they're in the restaurant and acknowledge that they both know about the affair.
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Feb 17, 2020 04:41
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Baron von Eevl posted:I think it's when they're in the restaurant and acknowledge that they both know about the affair. One of the greatest scenes in cinema
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Feb 19, 2020 06:45
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Jenny Agutter posted:One of the greatest scenes in cinema Followed up by another one of the greatest scenes in cinema, when they roleplay each other's significant other, trying to understand the moment the affair began.
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Feb 19, 2020 13:58
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Did anyone actually watch this on Valentine’s Day?
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Feb 19, 2020 15:28
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What a gorgeous movie this is! It really feels like a true instantiation of forties and fifties Hollywood, only in color. One stylistic choice I thought was especially interesting was using the exact same camera angles for every scene in one of the offices. I thought it really sold the repetitiveness and anonymity of daily office life.
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Feb 19, 2020 23:14
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Basebf555 posted:I blind bought the Criterion last year and have only seen the movie once, so I'm due for a rewatch. I'm not sure I properly absorbed the characters the first time around but yea the cinematography and costumes are fantastic. This is how I feel about In The Mood for Love, I watched it last week and let it stew in my brain, but I felt like the movie slid right over me because of how ADHD my brain can be at times. There are little bits and pieces that have stuck in my brain, like the almost ritualistic purchase of noodles and the last scene, but I would need a rewatch to fully understand how I feel about it. Jenny Agutter posted:Did anyone actually watch this on Valentine’s Day? I did!
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Feb 21, 2020 20:01
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Just finished watching. What a beautifully shot film! The color composition in scenes is fantastic and works great to set the mood. I can’t really articulate why, but some of my favorite shots where close-up shots of the clock we’d get sometimes with dialogue. I’ve only ever seen Chungking Express from Wong Kar-wai and I’m definitely becoming a fan!
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Feb 28, 2020 05:33
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