In the Mood for Love (Kar Wai Wong, 2000)

In the Mood for Love (Kar Wai Wong, 2000)
Rating: 10

This is the first film I have seen from Kar Wai Wong, despite the fact that I took an Asian film class last semester. The text, my professor, scholars, and critics alike gave him much praise, but we tended to watch less accessible films in the class, in hopes that we would be inspired to watch the more popular Asian films on our own. After viewing "In the Mood for Love" I have to concede that writer, director, producer, Kar Wai Wong lived up to all the hype. The story is simple, but intricately told through Wong's unconventional style consisting of elliptical editing techniques, and unique composition. The audiences view is often obstructed by objects in the foreground, or blocked by doorways and cramped spacing, lending an element of entrapment. Wong also prevents the audience from participating in the story with many third person observer shots rather than first person point of view shots. For example there are several times in the film when we can hear the spouses of the two main characters talking, but we never see their faces on screen. The two main characters played by Tong Leung and Maggie Cheung are neighbors who form a bond with each other after discovering that their spouses are being unfaithful. This emotional film was masterfully constructed, beautifully scored, and the acting by both Leung and Cheung is magnificent. I look forward to watching the follow-up film "2046" and seeing more from Kar Wai Wong in the future.