Faa yeung nin wa
Tags: romantic, depressing, atmospheric, melodrama

Plot synopsis:
The story takes place in Hong Kong in 1962. Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung), a journalist, rents a room in an apartment of a building on the same day as Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung), a secretary from a shipping company. They become next-door neighbours. Each has a spouse who works and often leaves them alone on overtime shifts. Despite the presence of a friendly Shanghainese landlady, Mrs. Suen, and bustling, mahjong-playing neighbours, Chow and Su often find themselves alone in their rooms. Their lives continue to intersect in everyday situations: a recurring motif is the loneliness of eating alone. The film documents the leads' chance encounters, each making their individual trek to the street noodle stall.
Chow and Su each nurse suspicions about their own spouse's fidelity; each comes to the conclusion that their spouses have been seeing each other. Su wonders aloud how their spouses' affair might have begun. Su and Chow re-enact what they imagine might have happened.
Chow soon invites Su to help him write a martial arts serial for the papers. Their neighbours begin to take notice of Su's prolonged absences. In the context of a socially conservative 1960s' Hong Kong, friendships between men and women bear scrutiny. Chow rents a hotel room away from the apartment where he and Su can work together without attracting attention. The relationship between Chow and Su is platonic, as there is the suggestion that they would be degraded if they stooped to the level of their spouses. As time passes, however, they acknowledge that they have developed feelings for each other. Chow leaves Hong Kong for a job in Singapore. He asks Su to go with him; Chow waits for her at the hotel room and then leaves. She can be seen rushing down the stairs of her apartment, only to arrive at the empty hotel room, too late to join Chow.
The next year, Su goes to Singapore and visits Chow's apartment. She calls Chow, who is working for a Singaporean newspaper, but she remains silent when Chow picks up. Later, Chow realises she has visited his apartment after seeing a lipstick-stained cigarette butt in his ashtray. While dining with a friend, Chow relays a story about how in older times, when a person had a secret that could not be shared, they would instead go atop a mountain, make a hollow in a tree, whisper the secret into that hollow and cover it with mud.
Three years later, Su visits her former landlady, Mrs. Suen. Mrs. Suen is about to emigrate to the United States, and Su inquires about whether the apartment is available for rent. Some time later, Chow returns to visit his landlords, the Koos. He finds they have emigrated to the Philippines. He asks about the Suen family next door, and the new owner tells him a woman and her son are now living next door. He leaves without realising Su is the lady living next door.
The film ends at Siem Reap, Cambodia, where Chow is seen visiting the Angkor Wat. At the site of a ruined monastery, he whispers for some time into a hollow in a ruined wall, before plugging the hollow with mud.

Review: I think that New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell wrote the best one line review of In the Mood for Love when he said that it is "dizzy with a romantic spirit that's been missing from the cinema forever." How true those words are!
So, given this cinematic climate, Wong Kar-wai's latest film feels like a much needed breath of fresh air.
In the Mood for Love is about the doomed romance between two neighbors ("Mr. Chow," played by Tony Leung and "Mrs. Chan," played by Maggie Cheung), whose spouses are having an illicit affair, as they try "not to be like them." But after hanging out with each other on lonely nights (while their spouses are away "on business"/"taking care of a sick mother"), they fall madly in love, and must resist the temptation of going too far.Several factors are responsible for making In the Mood for Love a new classic among "romantic melodramas," in the best sense of that term.
(It should also be mentioned that Wong Kar-wai's usual hyper-kinetic visual style is (understandably) toned down for this film, although his pallet remain just as colorful.) Third, there is the haunting score by Michael Galasso, which is accompanied by slow motion sequences of, e.g. Chan walking in her elegant dresses, Chan and Chow "glancing" at each other as they pass one another on the stairs, and other beautiful scenes which etch themselves into one's memory.
The main score--which makes its instruments sound as though they're literally crying--is heard eight times throughout various points in the film and it serves to highlight the sadness and the longing which the two main characters feel.
Fourth, Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung both deliver wonderful performances (Leung won the prize for best actor at Cannes) and they manage to generate real chemistry on screen.The above elements coalesce and work so nicely together to create a film that feels timeless, "dizzyingly romantic," and, in a word, magical.
A strange bond emerges between the man and woman as they cope with their sadness by taking turns playing each other's spouse, before a more complex bond emerges...No summary can do it justice, for Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar-Wai's "In the Mood for Love" is nothing short of a miracle.
At the core of the film are two characters that will ease into your heart and stay there long after the end credits roll: Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung are simply amazing and no language barrier undermines a single fragment of immediacy and truth they display.
The settings and locations are used repeatedly but the film manages to breath new life into them each time they featured, there always seems to be a key prop, light fixture, or set piece to slightly clue the audience as to where we are in the characters world.The acting reminds me of the "The Bicycle Thief", not the style, but the fact that you forget that you are watching two actors engaged in their craft.
It is used in conjunction with the story, and not just a means to put music to action, or to cue the audience to feel a certain way at a certain plot point.I would not recommend this film to anybody, I fear most people would be jaded by the calm flow of the story, but I would recommend it to someone who is looking for an alternative to the romantic schlock that fills the multiplexes on our side of the world.
It's easy to see why many people consider In the Mood for Love to be Wong Kar-Wai's best film.
The erotic displacement of these scenes is both fascinating and frustrating, as two star-crossed lovers reject physical consummation due to their humble fidelity.Other scenes in the film are punctuated with brief slow-motion shots of Cheung erotically moving through her interior surroundings, set to Mike Galasso's hauntingly beautiful score.
Mother Nature even seems to respond to their love lust, often unleashing a soft crest of rain over the characters after their bodies have glided near each other.Kar-Wai's hauntingly atmospheric shots of a waterfall allowed Leung's Lai Yu-Fai to experience a cathartic release in Happy Together, even if Leslie Cheung's Ho Po-wing was not there to enjoy it with him.
When I fist watched the movie, I said to myself, "so a film can be made like this." Wong Kar Wai's gorgeous poetic love story captured me throughout and even after the film.
Also the music defines the sadness of the love which plays along the beautiful slow motion frames and shows the characters in despairing moods.
As they try and piece together how it happened, they also embark on an emotional journey that aches for a resolutionBuilding on his previous success with Happy Together and Chungking Express, Wong Kar Wai gives us this rather old fashioned and marvellous story of reawakened passions, yearning and unrequited love.
And it is played to perfection by two of Hong Kong's finest, Maggie Cheung and Leung Chui Wai, with some excellent support from Ping Lam Siu and Rebecca Pan.It is also a virtuoso performance by Wong Kar Wai, who treats the audience to a sensory, and sensual, overload.
Beautiful film set in 1962 Hong Kong about a man (Mr. Chow) and woman (Mrs. Chan) who become close friends when they suspect their spouses are having an affair.
Wong Kar-Wai  also doesn't allow the audience to see what the spouses look like, suggesting that Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan should be together.
A whiff of smoke from Chow's cigarette tells us his state of mind, the ever-changing tight-fitting cheongsams of Lizhen reflects the constraints of decision-making, the ruins of Angkor Wat ties in with the deteriorating relationship of the two leads.The excellent use of mis-en-scene gives the film just the right amount of feel needed to flesh out the complicated nature of the characters' relationship.
In Hong Kong, 1962, the editor Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) and his wife, and the secretary Su Li-Zhen Chan (Maggie Cheung) and her husband simultaneously move to an old building.
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE - will make you fall in love with Wong Kar Wai, especially, if this is his first film that you are watching.
It always gave into a mystery and mystic feeling about the characters who are in focus yet out of focus - signifying a lot about the many confusions that cluttered their minds: emotions and the natural urge versus the high moral standards they want to uphold to.The film's main narrative is nothing different if one would say it in plain text.
But like an auteur's film, IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE wins you through its screenplay, usage of light, cinematography, acting and music which takes the entire context of adultery and morality deeper with a higher philosophical undertone.
Set in Hongkong of sixties, the film is about two characters - Chow Mo-wan (played by Tony Leung), a journalist and Su Li-zhen (played by Maggie Cheung), a secretary from a shipping company, both of whom rent a room in an apartment of a building on the same day.
Chow's wife and Su's husband are most of the time out of the town on their work assignments thereby leaving their better halves to lead a monotonous life in an otherwise crowded city.There are beautifully shot motifs with lovely background scores showing both these characters carrying forward with their mundane jobs with a smile in their face and hollowness in their heart.
There are so many glowing reviews here I was expecting some kind of masterpiece but for me this was the biggest yawn fest I've seen in some time.For one thing, I absolutely love foreign films and watch world cinema far more than Hollywood movies...
In "In the Mood for Love", the director Wong Kar wai uses the only kind of lens movement pattern: shift shot.
It breaks my heart to say it, but 'In the Mood for Love' disappointed me really.Let me start by saying that I am a major fan of Wang Kar Wai - he's my favourite Chinese director and Maggie Cheung is my favourite Chinese actress.
the quintessential romance of Wong Kar Wai. In the Mood for Love, a film shot in an improvisational style with the actors and, frankly, the most mature and least feverish lensed and edited work of Wong Kar Wai's career, is about two people who know exactly what is right and what is wrong, but have the feeling, the emotion, to possibly cross the line.
We want these two characters, Chow (Tony Leung) and Chan (Maggie Cheung) to be together not simply as friends, or even playing their 'game' of acting out like they're married, but fully invested in each other's ever growing affection and companionship.
Towards the end (i.e. Cambodia) it gets strange anyway, but for a while it's sublime.And lest not forget stars Leung and Cheung, both regulars of WKW's films, who inhabit these characters as opposed to playing specific parts; they're people sort of stuck where they are in life, one at a printing press the other a secretary, and they both have possible dreams for themselves (mostlty for Chow as a serial novelist).
Together, they start acting out the roles of each others spouses, sort of filling in the spaces left behind, and the actors convey the sense of slight hope within this hopeless relationship that few I could imagine ever pulling off period, much less in this setting.It's all a combination of factors, between the subtle experimentation with the direction, the realistic edge of the actors, the music, the clothes, the direct lighting, all of it comes together better than in any other film I've seen from this HK romantic wildman.
In one of the first scenes of "In the Mood," protagonists Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung meet in a narrow hallway as they are both moving into an overcrowded Hong Kong apartment building.
Leung asks her "How shall I address you?"  She responds "My husband's name is Chan."The formality is amazing, especially for Americans who find telemarketeers who they have never met referring to them by their first names during unsolicited phone calls.By this scene is also a little preview of what is to come in the movie itself, for it is the formalized manners and constant displays of mandated respect that restrict these two potential lovers, who quickly discover their spouses are having an affair.It's hard to say too much more about the plot without giving things away and this is a story with one, great big event which may or may not happen and around it the movie revolves.Director Kar-wai Wong has done a remarkable job of conveying the restrictions that the two lead characters undergo as they live out the lives expected of them in 1962 Hong Kong.
SPOILER ALERT!!!You can listen to Wong Kar-wai's movies like a radio play: Invisible vibrations between the characters, the rooms where they stay in, the rhythm that presses them ahead, attraction and dislike - the whole spectrum of the atmosphere is played back by the sound track.
Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung are the two big names in Hong Kong cinema but that does not make this movie the best love story of all time.
There is a very strong belief why the international audiences especially viewers in Europe and America have declared themselves to be the biggest of the besotted admirers of the Hong Kong film "In the mood for love" directed by Wong Kar Wai.According to many critical texts written about modern cinema, American and European cinema have completely lost the notion of feminine beauty.
If one looks closely at this film, it is not only the Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai but also the Australian cinematographer Christopher Doyle who have virtually cashed on this aspect by making the leading actress Maggie Chaung appear as highly sensual,seductive and alluring."In the mood for love" also gives allusions about unrequited love made coherent through maximum use of closed spaces.
'In the Mood for Love' is a quiet movie about a man (Tony Leung) and a woman (Maggie Cheung) who both have cheating spouses.
You can easily identify his trademarks, which the movie is full of them; playing with the time, using elliptical editing, and repeating songs, but they are utilized in a more beneficial and purposeful way, hence more delicate and exquisite way.Even the beauty of the cinematography is different from those of Wong Kar-wai's other works.
But like a real poet, the director manages to tell this story to the viewerSlow, stiff, melancholy frames from his films are framed in beautiful music that complements the characters' feelings and moods.In the mood for love that Karwai creates in his painting seems like an eternal mood.
Christopher Doyle and Wong Kar-Wai made Maggie Cheung look like a goddess in this movie .
It felt to me that I was watching something secretive yet enticing in its own way, and the general mood this technique actuates is simply beautiful.There are a lot more, my words do not do any justice to this movie, the use of colours, slow shots, silhouettes, the soundtrack (Oh how I love the soundtrack)...
The second of an unofficial trilogy by Chinese director Wong-Kar Wai which started with Days of Being Wild (1990) and concluded with 2046 (2004), it would be difficult to describe and appreciate In the Mood for Love without using the words beautiful, sumptuous and erotic.
Continuing with the semi-improvised, free-flowing approach that brought him international success with the likes of Chungking Express (1994) and Happy Together (1997), In the Mood for Love is an achingly romantic experience, and may just be his finest work.Set mostly around a cramped apartment block in 1962 Hong Kong, the central 'love' story is between Mr. Chow (Tony Chiu-Wai Leung) and Mrs. Chan (Maggie Cheung), who, along with their spouses, rent a room in neighbouring flats.
But feelings are developed and suppressed, with things intensifying when they begin work on a martial arts serial, renting a hotel room to escape the gossiping of neighbours.The era in which the film is set not only gives the opportunity for some exquisite costume design (Mrs. Chan's colourful dresses radiate sensuality), but also offers the chance to reflect on a more conservative, socially-conforming time.
A beautiful relationship blossoms between the two as they spend more time together and attempt to reenact how their partners' affair must have begun but decide to keep their bond platonic.Written, produced & directed by Wong Kar-wai, the movie allows ample space for its characters to breathe and the bond that develops between the two isn't hurried either as Wong establishes their similar predicament first, while little details such as coincidental interactions & fleeting glances on a daily basis give their budding relationship a genuine touch & natural feel.
Camera follows our characters around like a silent observer and is thoroughly focused on their activities, however, what stands out are the brief slow-mo vignettes of their lives which is accompanied by a specific track that makes those particular sequences more memorable while enriching the overall experience.Coming to the performances, In the Mood for Love is steered by compelling inputs from Maggie Cheung & Tony Leung, and the sizzling chemistry between the two is the real highlight that makes their romance work so effortlessly.
It's not unbearably oppressive, however, and a little bit of comic relief is provided by Mr. Chow's coworker Ah Ping, played by Ping Lam Siu. Strikingly, Ping Lam Siu wasn't a professional actor at all, but rather a prop man, but he's a real character and I'm glad Wong Kar-Wai brought him in front of the camera.Besides the memorable acting, another strong point of this film is its exploitation of the medium.
The husband of Mr. Chan is never directly shown, while the face of Mr. Chow's wife is always turned away from the camera, an effect that strengthens the viewer's identification with these protagonists and leads us to sympathize with their feelings of neglect.Wong Kai-Wai shot something like 30 times the amount of footage that ultimately made it into the finished film, and some of this cut footage can be seen on various home media releases.
Wong Kai-Wai filmed a number of directions for the story to go in (like a final meeting between the lovers, scenes of their spouses, etc.), only to cut them out, and the end result is so much stronger for it.
The plot is quiet sad, and the movie slow, but if you can accept that from the start, and enjoy a film for its excellent cinematography, then you will enjoy your time with "In The Mood For Love.".
The two main characters especially are beautifully played; Maggie Cheung the very beautiful, slightly daydreamy wife, across from Tony Chiu Wai Leung, the hopeful, lovely husband...
Having never seen any of Wong Kar Wai's films before, "In the Mood for Love" was a refreshing piece of work that instantly drew me in.
Director Kar Wai Wong uses the most hidden camera placement and graceful camera movement to give the viewer a glimpse into the subtle and sensual love affair that grows between Mr. Chow and Mrs.Chan.
Kar Wai Wong's movie is a period piece, set in Hong Kong in the 1960s, with a strong emphasis on style, elegance and subtlety.
It bears a fascinating auratic - or let's say for the sake of word play - erotic mix of poetry, nostalgia, melancholy, framed by society conventions and daily routines in which an impossible romance against a backdrop of loneliness is quietly thriving, causing longing, desire, hardship and demanding painful decisions."In the Mood for Love" has a couple of artistic touches and cinematic patterns which add considerably to the enjoyment: Kar Wai Wong e.g. intentionally keeps the story of Mrs. Chan and Mr. Chow to themselves.
With In the Mood for Love, Kar Wai Wong makes a comedy about a romance that is not at all a romantic comedy.
Another great film by Wong Kar-wai.
Kar-wai Wong's In the mood for love is a very interesting expression of the beauty of love and relationships that goes beyond standards.