Framed Fantasies: an analysis on In The Mood For Love
By: Grant Franzuela
Tags: Film, Writer, Analysis, Film Reviews, Filmmaking

The 2000 Hong Konger classic, In the Mood for Love, remains as one of the most poetic interpretations of romance ever captured in cinema. In his magnum opus, Wong Kar-Wai; in collaboration with Christopher Doyle, has once again visualized a dreamlike rendition of the nuances of love, heartache, and guilt. This paper will discuss the production design of the film, the colors, the structure, and the decisions made by the designer to further enhance the story the director wants to picture.

In the Mood for Love highlighted the use of colors in both production design and cinematography. Yellow, orange, and red were the main colors used in the overall design, while hints of green were spread throughout the set. Even with the picture highlighting warm tones, green captured the most attention, from the kitchenware to the furniture, to the trinkets placed on the set. Not only did it convey the feeling of guilt, jealousy, and envy, it also provided a sense of texture to the picture. With warm tones being the most prominent in the frame, having these green set-pieces enabled the production designer to add in layers to their design, texture, and space. The wardrobe was also significantly aligned to this color scheme. Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk) always wore her traditional Chinese clothing, with its classic silhouette and ornate designs, almost camouflaging in the vividness of her apartment and office. On the other hand, Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) always dressed in an Americana suit ranging from blues to grays, but his tie was mirrored to the design of Su Li-zhen’s dresses. These similarities in color scheme suggest the blurred line between their lives and the chaos their place exudes. Given the film was set in 1962 to 1968 Hong Kong, a time when the country’s geopolitics was complicated, the characters in were also directly influenced. Figuratively, this was pictured in the film, from the chaotic moving-in process to the ever-present mahjong of the landlords–an invisible force directly grasping on the character’s lives. With its romantic nature, warm tones were present in an attempt to provide a sense of comfort and peace for the characters, but they continuously neglected these possibilities as they fear they would become the spouses they loathe. A contrast to an interpretation long-held; where red equates to love, making the translation more sensually poetic.

The film had also pictured the sense of fear from the public eye. The filmmaker achieved this by framing the characters within a frame in almost every scene — as if they were being watched, observed, judged. Set design played a huge role in this, placing foregrounds such as sheer curtains, plants, vases, windows; both glass and steel, and even the natural shape of the corridors. This method of capturing the characters enabled the filmmaker to set the scene with a sense of constriction. How the characters were forced to interact with each other in compromise to their narrow space, and how the audience has no choice but to endure this, cease the awkwardness and watch the relationship blossom. As the story progressed, and the characters revealed the truths upon themselves, they continue to live within this box, understanding why they have been imprisoned, and finding ways on how to escape. And soon when the possibilities of relief began to abrupt from the depths of guilt, they rejected this and continued the fantasy they built for themselves, trapping each other from the perspective of the society and their own.

Twenty years have passed since In the Mood for Love was first released, it remains as one of the most poetic renditions of unrequited love. The pains of living a fantasy you have long hoped to be true, and the buried guilt you forever feared to resurface — only to burst and drown you alive.