In The Mood For Love (DVD)

...Maggie Cheung looked absolutely fabulous in a series of exquisitely coloured cheongsams. That pretty much sums up this film. As a story, it is very slow moving with very little action. What holds the attention is the superb acting and cinematography. The choice of patterns and colours are truly sumptuous and it is that that makes this film so good.

The story
It is Hong Kong in 1962. Mrs Chan moves into a new room, having to ...
...Chow moves into a room in the flat next door; again, alone, because his wife is too busy. Both Mrs Chan and Chow are lonely, but they struggle on with their lives, wrapped up in their jobs, occasionally meeting at neighbours' social events and on the way to the noodle stand.

Slowly, they begin to get to know one another as they realise that they have more in common than they first thought. However, their relationship remains platonic, ... more

I first watched this film about two years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, so when I managed to get hold of a free copy with a weekend newspaper, I snatched it up. Having enjoyed it so much the first time around, I was quite surprised to find that I couldn't really remember what happened, although I remember thinking that Maggie Cheung looked absolutely fabulous in a series of exquisitely coloured cheongsams. That pretty much sums up this film. As a story, it is very slow moving with very little action. What holds the attention is the superb acting and cinematography. The choice of patterns and colours are truly sumptuous and it is that that makes this film so good.

The story
It is Hong Kong in 1962. Mrs Chan moves into a new room, having to make the arrangements herself because her husband is away on business. On the same day, Mr Chow moves into a room in the flat next door; again, alone, because his wife is too busy. Both Mrs Chan and Chow are lonely, but they struggle on with their lives, wrapped up in their jobs, occasionally meeting at neighbours' social events and on the way to the noodle stand.

Slowly, they begin to get to know one another as they realise that they have more in common than they first thought. However, their relationship remains platonic, all too aware of the gossip that they will create if anyone realises they are now more than just acquaintances. Yet there is an obvious attraction between the two. Will their relationship develop or will they both end up staying with their partners?

The characters
As I said at the beginning, this is a very visual film with very little action and the characters are perhaps not as well defined as they may otherwise have been. Having said that, the lack of speech and action is made up for by the superb acting on the part of both of the main actors. Maggie Cheung (Cheung Man-Yuk) plays Mrs Chan and does a superb portrayal of a woman who is deeply lonely and unsure of her marriage. Her burgeoning feelings for Mr Chow are very well hidden; certainly, very little is given away verbally, but her desire is given away by her hands, which the camera often zooms in on to show the tension there. Maggie Cheung is a very well-known actress in Hong Kong and mainland China. This is not always the sign of a good actor/actress, but in this case, her fame is well-deserved because this woman is a fantastic and not only looks good, but performs brilliantly.

Mr Chow is played by Tony Leung (Leung Chiu-Wai), another well-known Hong Kong actor. Again, his fame is well-deserved. He is a stunningly attractive man, but he also has strong acting skills that he can present without the need for pulling faces, speaking, or expending much energy. His desire for Mrs Chan is again obvious, but because of his respect for her, he hides his feelings. Tony Leung is always a treat to watch, but even so, he really does excel himself in this film and he fully deserved the best actor award at Cannes in 2000.

We never got to see the faces of Mr Chan and Mrs Chow. They did appear in the film, but were filmed from the back, even when speaking, which added beautifully to the mystery of their relationships with their respective partners.

The direction/cinematography
This film also won an award for best cinematography and editing at Cannes and for me, it is this that makes the film. There are a number of things that make it so superb. The first and most obvious (and really stood out in my mind since the last time I had seen the film) is the range of beautiful cheongsams that Maggie Cheung wears. There is a variety of patterns and fabrics, including two-tone silk, stripes, bold flower patterns and patterns of all varieties and colours. The dresses show off Maggie Cheung's figure to perfection - as always, the Chinese figure is so much neater than the western one - and makes her look very elegant. The unusually high Mandarin collars make her look even more graceful.

Secondly, is the comparison between these beautiful dresses and the fabrics and patterns that surround her; for example, the bedding, the wallpaper, the curtains and the furniture. Wong Kar-Wai and his team clearly have an excellent eye for colour and they use it to a very striking end in this film.

Thirdly, I loved the shots of Maggie Cheung's hands. She doesn't have particularly attractive hands; they are a bit too bony to be elegant, but the way she moved them to express her feelings as the camera zoomed in on them was truly well done. Hands are a very expressive part of the body, but for some reason, are often ignored in films. Not so here, to great effect.

Finally, I liked the shots of both Mrs Chan and Mr Chow walking down alleys and corridors and also through windows. I have always loved Chinese architecture and the beautiful moon-gates and long corridors that are part of this; I felt this was carried over very well into the film and made for extremely effective cinematography.

Technical bits

Classification: PG. There is nothing of a sexual nature in this film. Desire is shown without the need for contact.

Running time: 94 minutes.

Conclusion
This is a film about desire and unrequited love. If you like films where something happens and you don't really need to think, then you will probably hate this. No doubt, it could be seen as too arty farty by some; in fact, without meaning to be patronising, I don't think this is a film for the young, despite the PG guidance. It is a film that I need to be in the mood to see; it requires full attention and is a film that needs to be watched all the way through in one go.

I am not someone who usually pays much attention to soundtracks. I often find myself writing a review and realising I couldn't remember a single song that was played during the course of the film; I tend to find myself too absorbed with the film to notice the music. In this case though, I loved the music and would very much like to buy the CD. The music includes the haunting Yumeiji's theme by Shigeru Umebayashi and three well-known songs by Nat King Cole, including Quizás, Quizás, Quizás, probably most commonly known as Doris Day's English version, Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps, all of which complement the film and the period in which it was set beautifully.

The film is, of course, in Cantonese and is subtitled. The subtitles were absolutely fine; the only problem was that they were quite often shown against a white shirt or other white/cream coloured backdrop, which made them completely unreadable - extremely annoying when there is very little speech in the film in the first place and you really want to understand what is said.

All in all, I can highly recommend this film. It really is visually beautiful and the skills of the main actor and actress are outstanding. If you never watch another Hong Kong film, watch this one.

I watched the film version, but the DVD can be bought for £14.99 from play.com, and cheaper used and new versions can be bought from Amazon.

 

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