In the Mood for Love (2000)

A couple is dressed elegantly on a red background, with the text "In the Mood for Love" and Chinese characters below.
Cover art for Wong Kar-Wai's 2000 movie In the Mood for Love.
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This was a beautiful movie. There is a lot of hype surrounding this and the director, Wong Kar-Wai. This was my first Wong Kar-Wai movie, and it was a tremendous start. The look is stunning; the lighting makes so much work; the 75% speed shots looked great, along with the strobed, or low frame rate shots; the way the editing was cut differently in different moods. All of it comes together to make what I think is a masterpiece.

Then, you get the story. Holy smokes. This simply did not go where I thought it was going. The relationship Maggie Cheung’s Mrs. Chan and Tony Leung Chou-wai’s Chow evolves so well early on, only leading to what is probably the worst type of sadness—loneliness. Perhaps not loneliness in the literal sense, but that of missing something you were meant to have done. In this case, that’s a relationship that moves further down the road.

I had a hard time early on in this. It was chosen for me as part of Letterboxd Roulette in the VHS Village Cinema Club, and I almost winced when I saw the pick. I had been prepared to rework my watchlist in the coming week or so to remove some things and add many more. This was on the chopping block, mainly because I just wasn’t ready to wake into Wong Kar-Wai. But, I had a commitment, and, well, perhaps some other things might be on hold for a bit while I explore this arena.

I wasn’t quite prepared for the pace and had to leave and come back to finish. I’m glad I did when I was prepared for it. I found myself appreciating the look and pace as two pieces combined into one inseparable chunk of the aesthetic that made this movie so special.

I highly recommend this.

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December 07, 2024
Tags: Wong Kar-Wai | Maggie cheung | Tony Leung