In the Mood for Love

Infobox Film
name = In the Mood for Love

---

caption =
director = Wong Kar-wai
producer = Wong Kar-wai
writer = Wong Kar-wai
starring = Tony Leung
Maggie Cheung
music = Michael Galasso
Shigeru Umebayashi
cinematography = Christopher Doyle
Pin Bing Lee
editing = William Chang
distributor = USA Films
released = September 29, 2000 (HK)
February 2, 2001 (US)
runtime = 98 min.
94 min. (Poland)
country = Hong Kong, France
language = Cantonese
Shanghainese
French
budget =
preceded_by = "Happy Together" (1997)
followed_by = "2046" (2004)
amg_id = 1:201762
imdb_id = 0118694
website = http://www.wkw-inthemoodforlove.com/eng/homepg/homepg.asp

"In the Mood for Love" (Traditional Chinese: 花樣年華; Simplified Chinese: 花样年华; Pinyin: Huāyàng niánhuá; Jyutping: Faa1joeng6 nin4waa4), literally "Our Glorious Years Have Passed Like Flowers") is a 2000 Hong Kong film directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung.

The film's original Chinese title derives from a song of the same name by Zhou Xuan from a 1946 film. The English title derives from a Bryan Ferry cover of the song "I'm in the Mood for Love" that is also used in the film.

The movie forms the second part of an informal trilogy, together with the first part "Days of Being Wild" (released in 1991) and the last part "2046" (released in 2004).

The film holds the top spot on [http://www.theyshootpictures.com/ They Shoot Pictures Don't They] list of "The 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films" [http://www.theyshootpictures.com/21stcentury_films1-50.htm] and the 317th spot on "The 1,000 Greatest Films" [http://www.theyshootpictures.com/gf1000_year2000s.htm] .

Plot

The movie takes place in Hong Kong, 1962. Chow Mo-Wan (Tony Leung), a journalist, rents a room in an apartment of a Shanghaiese family, on the same day as So Lai-zhen (Maggie Cheung), a secretary from a shipping company. They become next-door neighbours. Each has a spouse who is working and often leaves them alone on overtime shift. Despite the presence of a friendly landlady, Mrs Suen, and bustling, mahjong-playing neighbours, Chow and So often find themselves alone in their rooms, and they begin to strike up a friendship.

Chow and So finally admit their shared suspicions that their spouses are cheating on them with each other. Chow persuades So to re-enact what they imagine might have happened between their partners' and their lovers, and slowly the line between play-acting and real romance blurs.

Chow invites So to help him and write a martial arts series story that he has longed to create for ages. As their relationship draws closer, people begin to notice and suspect they are in love. Meanwhile Chow and So are convinced that they are no more than friends and will not end up like their spouses. However, as time passes, Chow falls in love with So. Firm in his moral convictions that forbid adultery, he leaves Hong Kong for a job offered by his old friend in Singapore. Chow asks So to leave with him, but she turns him down and Chow then leaves on his own. But not before they spend one night together.

The next year, So goes off to Singapore and visits Chow's apartment there. She calls Chow, who is working for a Singaporean newspaper. Yet, when Chow picks up, So remains silent... Later, Chow realises she has visited his apartment after seeing a lipstick-stained cigarette butt left on his ashtray.

Three years later, So goes back to her old landlord, Mrs. Suen's apartment and pays her a visit. Knowing that she is about to emigrate to the USA, she asks to rent her property again, but this time the entire apartment. Later on, Chow also comes back, presumably only for a visit as well. He finds out that his old landlord, Mr. Koo, has emigrated to the Philippines and he then leaves the building without realising So has already re-rented Mrs. Suen's apartment and lives there with her young son.

The setting of the final narration of the story is at Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Chow is seen visiting the Angkor Wat and whispers several years worth of secrets into a hole in a wall, before plugging the hole with mud - a method that he mentions which a secret can be kept whilst dining with his old friend during his stay in Singapore.

tyle and themes

Wong states he was very influenced by Hitchcock's "Vertigo" while making this film, and compares Tony Leung's movie character to Jimmy Stewart's:

:"the role of Tony in the film reminds me of Jimmy Stewart's in "Vertigo". There is a dark side to this character. I think it's very interesting that most of the audience prefers to think that this is a very innocent relationship. These are the good guys, because their spouses are the first ones to be unfaithful and they refuse to be. Nobody sees any darkness in these characters - and yet they are meeting in secret to act out fictitious scenarios of confronting their spouses and of having an affair. I think this happens because the face of Tony Leung is so sympathetic. Just imagine if it was John Malkovich playing this role. You would think, 'This guy is really weird.' It's the same in "Vertigo". Everybody thinks Jimmy Stewart is a nice guy, so nobody thinks that his character is actually very sick."Fact|date=February 2007

Two novel artistic devices are used in this movie. One is the use of seemingly repetitive scenes and the other is that certain sequences which look like one scene are actually a collage of numerous encounters of the two main characters in the movie. These techniques gave the audience the impression that these two characters were doing the same thing over and over again over a very long period of time. However, paying attention to the dresses (cheongsam) that Maggie Cheung wears reveals that she wore a different dress in every single shot in those sequences. They are more likely artistic shots with different costume and makeup for each shot.

Chow and Su's spouses are rarely shown and in those occasions their faces are not seen, resulting in brief one-sided scenes in which Wong uses only the angle showing either Chow or Su.

Title song

The track song "Hua Yang De Nian Hua" is based on a song by famous singer Zhou Xuan from the Solitary Island period. The 1946 song, used in Wong's film, is a peaen to a happy past and an oblique metaphor for the darkness of Japanese-Occupied Shanghai. Wong also set the song to his 2000 short film, named "Hua Yang De Nian Hua" after the track.

:花樣的年華 The years slipped past like flowers...:月樣的精神 the vigorous light of the moon:冰雪樣的聰明 bright, clever as glacier snow:美麗的生活 our beautiful life:多情的眷屬 my affectionate spouse:圓滿的家庭 this happy and fulfilled family...:驀地里這孤島籠罩著慘霧愁云 suddenly gloomy clouds and fog loom across this solitary isle:慘霧愁云 clouds of gloom and melancholy:啊，可愛的祖國 Ah, my lovely native country:几時我能夠投進你的怀抱 when can I go back into your arms:能見那霧消云散 and see these fogs dispel:重見你放出光明 and behold you give off light again:花樣的年華 as in those flower-like years:月樣的精神 and of the moon...

oundtrack

*Shigeru Umebayashi: "Yumeji's Theme" (originally from the soundtrack of Seijun Suzuki's "Yumeji")
*Michael Galasso: "Angkor Wat Theme", "ITMFL", "Casanova/Flute"
*Nat King Cole: "Aquellos Ojos Verdes", "Te Quiero Dijiste", "Quizás, Quizás, Quizás"
*Bryan Ferry: "I'm in the Mood for Love" (the inspiration for the English title, found on e.g. the French 2 CD Soundtrack, not in the film)
*Zhou Xuan: 《花樣的年華》 "Hua Yang De Nian Hua" (the inspiration for the original Chinese title)

Cast and roles

* Tony Leung - Chow Mo-Wan
* Maggie Cheung - So Laizhen/Mrs. Chan
* Siu Ping Lam - Ah Ping
* Cheung Tung Cho 'Joe' - Special appearance
* Rebecca Pan - Mrs. Suen, So Laizhen/Mrs. Chan's landlord
* Lai Chen - Mr. Ho, So Laizhen/Mrs. Chan's employer
* Chan Man-Lei
* Koo Kam-wah
* Roy Cheung - Mr Chan (voice)
* Chin Tsi-ang - The amah (female servant)
* Yu Hsien
* Chow Po-chun
* Paulyn Sun - Mrs Chow (voice)
* Wong Man-lei - Mr. Koo, Chow Mo-Wan's landlord
* Julien Carbon - French tourist (uncredited)

Box office

"In the Mood for Love" made HK $8,663,227 during its Hong Kong run.

On February 2, 2001, the film opened in 6 North American theatres, earning a strong US $113,280 ($18,880 per screen) in its first weekend. It finished its North American run with a respectable US $2,738,980.

The film's total worldwide box office gross is US $12,854,953.

Awards and nominations

* 2000 Cannes Film Festival
** Won: Best Actor (Tony Leung Chiu-wai)
** Won: Technical Grand Prize (Christopher Doyle, Lee Ping-bing, William Chang)
** Nominated: Palme d'Or

* 2001 Hong Kong Film Awards
** Won: Best Actor (Tony Leung Chiu-wai)
** Won: Best Actress (Maggie Cheung)
** Won: Best Art Direction (William Chang)
** Won: Best Costume and Make-up Design (William Chang)
** Won: Best Film Editing (William Chang)
** Nominated: Best Picture
** Nominated: Best Director (Wong Kar-wai)
** Nominated: Best Supporting Actress (Poon Dick-wah)
** Nominated: Best Screenplay (Wong Kar-wai)
** Nominated: Best New Performer (Siu Ping-lam)
** Nominated: Best Cinematography (Christopher Doyle, Lee Pin-bing)
** Nomianted: Best Original Score (Michael Galasso)

* 2001 Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards
** Won: Best Director (Wong Kar-wai)
** Won: Film of merit

* 2002 National Society of Film Critics (USA)
** Won: Best Foreign Language Film
** Won: Best Cinematography (Christopher Doyle, Lee Pin-bing)

* 2001 Cesar Awards
** Won: Best Foreign Film

* 2001 German Film Awards
** Won: Best Foreign Film

* 2001 New York Film Critics Circle Awards
** Won: Best Foreign Language Film
** Won: Best Cinematography (Christopher Doyle, Lee Pin-bing)

* 2001 BAFTA Awards
** Nominated: Best Foreign Language Film

* 2002 Argentinian Film Critics Association Awards
** Won: Best Foreign Language Film

* 2000 Asia-Pacific Film Festival
** Won: Best Cinematography (Christopher Doyle, Lee Pin-bing)
** Won: Best Editing (William Chang)

* 2001 Australian Film Institute Awards
** Nominated: Best Foreign Language Film

* 2001 British Independent Film Awards
** Won: Best Foreign Language Film

* 2002 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
** Nomianted: Best Foreign Language Film

Miscellaneous

While set in Hong Kong, a portion of the filming (like outdoor and hotel scenes) was shot in Bangkok, Thailand. The movie also incorporates footage of Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

ee also

* Cheongsam
* Cinema of Hong Kong
* Christopher Doyle
* List of movies set in Hong Kong

References

External links

* [http://www.wkw-inthemoodforlove.com/eng/homepg/homepg.asp Official site]
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* [http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=147&eid=214&section=essay Criterion Collection essay by Li Cheuk-to]
* [http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue10/reviews/inthemood2/ A review/essay of the DVD set released by Criterion Collection by David Ng.]