In the Mood for LoveCan a broken heart be mended by another broken heart? In the Mood for Love is a romantic drama set in Hong Kong in the early Sixties, and is about two married people--Mr. Chow (Tony Leung) and Mrs. Chan (Maggie Cheung)--who discover that their spouses are having an affair with each other. Chow and Chan begin a platonic relationship that emulates certain aspects of an affair, looking for clarity in each other instead of from their absentee partners, and begin to understand how swiftly companionship can subtly morph into affection.
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Written and directed by Wong Kar-wai, In the Mood for Love is deliberately framed to imply an impending affair between Chan and Chow, who become neighbors in a house run by their landlady, Mrs. Suen (Rebecca Pan). The film teases moments that would be a cliche opening for a romantic encounter between these two in any other film--from the movers mixing up their furniture and articles, to crossing paths as they visit a local noodle stand. Their spouses both travel for business, and it only becomes evident later that they likely moved into adjacent apartments to make their extramarital affairs easier--a bold move considering they also live with their own spouses. Hong Kong in 1962 is feeling the first touches of globalization, including emergent Western fashions and conveniences like an electric rice cooker, which Mr. Chan brought back from one of his many business trips to Japan. Mrs. Chan wears patterned sleeveless dresses like a uniform, along with her bouffant hairstyle, and Mr. Chow's hair is slicked to a glossy sheen--erstwhile popular styles from the West adopted second-hand in the East. The incursion of Western fashion into Eastern tradition implies a kind of identity crisis for the Chinese living in Hong Kong, and with it the difficulties in balancing traditional values with modern ones; this speaks to the ubiquitous presence of adultery in the film. Chow and Chan maintain conservative--almost puritanical--values in their behavior. Both are teased by Mrs. Suen that they are "too polite", and when Mrs. Chan introduces herself, she points out that her "husband's name is Chan", instead of using her own name. Their spouses are both involved in international commerce, and they are exposed to global influences, implied to be part of what led to their unfaithfulness. Each of them imports gifts for their spouses--Mr. Chan brings purses and Mrs. Chow brings ties; these Western symbols for femininity and masculinity also become symbols of their shame. When Chow and Chan go out for dinner for the first time, Mrs. Chan observes that Mr. Chow has the same tie that Mr. Chan wears, and it becomes clear that Mrs. Chow gave it to them both. Mrs. Chan works as a secretary for Mr. Ho (Kelly Lai Chen), who has her pick up gifts for both his wife and his mistress, including the desirable foreign purses Mr. Chan brings from Japan...which Mrs. Chow also possesses. This adds to the sting of Mr. Chan's unfaithfulness, because she realizes that she has enabled Mr. Ho's cheating, and someone else likely did the same for her husband.
Even after confessing to one another that they are aware of their spouses' infidelity, Chow and Chan cannot quite cross the threshold into physical romance themselves. Chan recoils at Chow's suggestion of it, despite flirting with him a moment ago--as if she realized what she was doing and was appalled at the thought of being unfaithful herself. Both of them hold the covenant of marriage as sacred, making their mutual betrayal all the more poignant, because it keeps them from experiencing what their spouses have for themselves, regardless of their attraction for one another. The pair of would-be lovers act out the subterfuge instead and sneak around like a couple having an affair, albeit without the fornication; this ironically arouses more suspicion from people like Mrs. Suen. Rather than finding a sense of liberation or empowerment from it, Chow and Chan feel even more imprisoned by their pseudo-affair, emulating the behaviors and preferences of their companion's spouse instead of just being themselves. Consider when they go out for steak dinner one night, and Mrs. Chan asks Mr. Chow to order for her because she doesn't know what Mrs. Chow likes to eat; Mr. Chow also begins to call Mrs. Chan at work like her husband used to do. Their time together takes on an increasingly oppressive tone, symbolized by their wedding rings, which take on all of the warmth of a pair of handcuffs. Their desires are stifled, torn between feelings of betrayal in marriages that have become travesties, and the self-reproach that fills them for considering betraying it themselves. Similar to Wong Kar-wai's kung fu biopic, The Grandmaster, the romance between the protagonists is not consummated in a physical sense, but on an emotional level. Chan and Chow spend time with one another in ways absent from their marriages, like when Chan joins Chow in his hotel room, and gives him suggestions for a martial arts screenplay he is writing. Just being in one another's company leads to self-discovery for both Chow and Chan, discovering what they want out of life, even if they do not act on it with one another. Chow eventually relocates to Singapore--which he confesses is partially because Chan will not leave her husband. His travels later bring him to Cambodia, where he fulfills an old tradition of whispering his secret desires for Chan into a nook in one of the temple walls of Angkor Wat before filling it with mud. The end titles speak of how we recall former lovers with fond nostalgia, and that memories of the past are remembered as though staring through a murky window pane--enlightenment that molds our future and shapes our hearts.
Recommended for: Fans of a wistful romance and period piece of 1960s-era Hong Kong, combining a mellow and jazzy musical score with a gorgeous, dreamlike aesthetic, courtesy of cinematographer Christopher Doyle. In the Mood for Love challenges perceptions about what it means to be faithful to a spouse, but deftly avoids justifying adultery, and highlights the psychological damage that comes from it.
Even after confessing to one another that they are aware of their spouses' infidelity, Chow and Chan cannot quite cross the threshold into physical romance themselves. Chan recoils at Chow's suggestion of it, despite flirting with him a moment ago--as if she realized what she was doing and was appalled at the thought of being unfaithful herself. Both of them hold the covenant of marriage as sacred, making their mutual betrayal all the more poignant, because it keeps them from experiencing what their spouses have for themselves, regardless of their attraction for one another. The pair of would-be lovers act out the subterfuge instead and sneak around like a couple having an affair, albeit without the fornication; this ironically arouses more suspicion from people like Mrs. Suen. Rather than finding a sense of liberation or empowerment from it, Chow and Chan feel even more imprisoned by their pseudo-affair, emulating the behaviors and preferences of their companion's spouse instead of just being themselves. Consider when they go out for steak dinner one night, and Mrs. Chan asks Mr. Chow to order for her because she doesn't know what Mrs. Chow likes to eat; Mr. Chow also begins to call Mrs. Chan at work like her husband used to do. Their time together takes on an increasingly oppressive tone, symbolized by their wedding rings, which take on all of the warmth of a pair of handcuffs. Their desires are stifled, torn between feelings of betrayal in marriages that have become travesties, and the self-reproach that fills them for considering betraying it themselves. Similar to Wong Kar-wai's kung fu biopic, The Grandmaster, the romance between the protagonists is not consummated in a physical sense, but on an emotional level. Chan and Chow spend time with one another in ways absent from their marriages, like when Chan joins Chow in his hotel room, and gives him suggestions for a martial arts screenplay he is writing. Just being in one another's company leads to self-discovery for both Chow and Chan, discovering what they want out of life, even if they do not act on it with one another. Chow eventually relocates to Singapore--which he confesses is partially because Chan will not leave her husband. His travels later bring him to Cambodia, where he fulfills an old tradition of whispering his secret desires for Chan into a nook in one of the temple walls of Angkor Wat before filling it with mud. The end titles speak of how we recall former lovers with fond nostalgia, and that memories of the past are remembered as though staring through a murky window pane--enlightenment that molds our future and shapes our hearts.
Recommended for: Fans of a wistful romance and period piece of 1960s-era Hong Kong, combining a mellow and jazzy musical score with a gorgeous, dreamlike aesthetic, courtesy of cinematographer Christopher Doyle. In the Mood for Love challenges perceptions about what it means to be faithful to a spouse, but deftly avoids justifying adultery, and highlights the psychological damage that comes from it.