In the mood for love- Wong Kar Wai’s masterpiece- is a charming addition to a long list of painful yet beautifully tragic narratives of love across world cinema. There is romance in the stunning visuals, impeccable lighting, and colours, and memorable montages set against sultry musical pieces instead of the heartbreaking storyline even though the title will lead you to believe otherwise. These 90 odd minutes can enchant you and sweep you off your feet like no other film.
Introduction
Movie’s Name: In the Mood for Love
Director’s Name: Wong Kar Wai
Genre: Romance, Drama
Language: Cantonese
Release Date: September 29, 2000
Synopsis
It’s the 1960s. Hong Kong. Mrs Chan and Mr Chow along with their spouses move into neighbouring apartments in a cramped building with people all around. Initially, their relationship is limited to exchanging pleasantries and neighbourly chit-chat. They usually find themselves alone at home since their spouses are either working late or are on long business trips. They follow a mundane routine visiting the same places every day- home, work, a nearby noodle stall, and then home again. Loneliness creeps upon them.
Gradually, they realize that their spouses are cheating on them with each other. Their reaction to this shocking news is absurd. Instead of confronting their spouses, they try to understand how the affair must have begun. A whole world of fantasy is built thereon with each of them pretending to be their spouses and re-enacting how they must have seduced each other.
This goes on for while all in secret lest their landlords find out that they are spending too much time together and start gossiping and suspecting them. They eat meals together, spend all night in the same room, make meals if one falls sick, and so on. This “rehearsal” as they call it becomes a way to deny that they are falling for each other and avoid the fact that they are just as bad as their spouses. Reality comes knocking on the door when Mr Chow confesses and decides to end their already doomed relationship and moves to Singapore.
The coda of the film (final scenes) shows them missing each other through the years. A belief that telling a hole in the tree your secret and then filling it with mud can rid someone’s guilty conscience leads Mr Chow to the Angkor Wat Temple in Cambodia. The last scenes are long shots of the temple and Mr Chow walked out of it.
About the Director
Source: Wikipedia
Wong Kar Wai is a pivotal figure of Hong Kong cinema. He has proved his versatility by making films belonging to a variety of genres like crime (As Tears Go By, Fallen Angels), romance (Happy Together, In The Mood for Love), sci-fi (2046), and wuxia/martial arts (Ashes of Time, The Grandmaster). Despite this wide palate of genres, the themes he uses are common and therefore make his idiosyncrasies visible.
He uses mesmerizing frames and visuals with vivid cinematography and bases his narratives on atmospheric music. His characters are melancholic, isolated, and lonely. Longing and yearning for love is also an overarching theme in many of his films.
Fun Fact: The director is known for always appearing in sunglasses, which James Mottram of The Independent says “adds to the alluring sense of mystery that swirls around the man and his movies.”
Analysis
When Mr Chow confesses his illicit affection for Mrs Chan, he says, “feelings can creep up just like that”. That is how the film makes you feel. You’d watch it with a certain kind of detachment but you won’t be able to stop thinking about the connection between the characters and the inherent sadness and longing of the film till long after. It certainly gave me a heartache I couldn’t recover from.
A technique that has been used repeatedly in the film is that of frames within frames. In this, the frame is formed not only by the camera but also with another object like a window or a wall. This can have many interpretations. One is that it creates a sort of confinement that restricts movement.
Both characters were constantly under scrutiny by their neighbours’ gossip, social norms and conventions, and their marriages. This technique conveys a kind of oppression that the characters are subject to. This is also corroborated by scenes that show the characters behind grills like they are caged, and by the fact that there is not much action or dialogue like they are paralyzed with fear and caution.
The last scene where Mr Chow walks out of the temple (given below) also shows a frame within a frame. But this time, it is him walking out of it like he is breaking free from the confinement. He finally has let the secret out and has gotten rid of his guilty conscience.
Besides this, it also creates a sense of voyeurism, like you are the neighbour watching them and intruding on their intimacy. It adds to the feeling that every step the characters take is being carefully watched.
Time also flows strangely through the film. Even if you watch carefully, you won’t be able to tell how much time has passed between the scenes. Also, sometimes the camera shifts rapidly between the characters and at others, which slows down their movement. This playing with time makes sense if you consider the narrative as being a memory. Memories are like that, after all.
There is something very sinister and human about the characters at the same time. The fact that they create this world of fantasy by acting as their spouses and seducing each other just to avoid admitting that they are, in fact, just like their spouses is dark. But aren’t all relationships driven by fantasy to a certain extent, by lying about yourself or trying to avoid a certain truth.
There is always a sense of falling in love with a phantom or image of a person rather than with that person. The brilliant performances by Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung of course help in humanizing the characters.
At last, not talking about the colour scheme of the film would be doing it an injustice. The staggering visuals and frames are only enhanced and made more sensuous by the use of red colour that represents passion. There is also the use of cooler tones like blue-greens representing guilt and jealousy when required.
Still cuts
Mr Chow walking out of the frame at Angkor Wat Temple
An example of just how stunning the frames are
Frames within frames
Famous Dialogues
“ I can’t waste time wondering if I made mistakes. Life’s too short for that. Something must change.” - Mr Chow on his failed marriage
“ I was only curious to know how it started. Feelings can creep up just like that.”- Mr Chow when he confesses his feelings to Mrs Chan
Mr Chow: I sometimes wonder what I'd be if I hadn't married. Have you ever thought of that?
Mrs Chan: Maybe happier! I didn't know married life would be so complicated! When you're single, you are only responsible for yourself. Once you're married, doing well on your own is not enough.
Bottom Line
It is remarkable that Wong Kar Wai made one of the most sensuous films about romance by depicting only holding hands, touching fingers, stolen glances, and postures. Don’t mistake this for an “art house” film or something just for film buffs. If so, you’ll be missing out on an iconic classic that has something for all.
Rating- 5/5
You can watch it on MUBI and Amazon Prime Video
Written by - Anika Sharma
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