2008 Woodie Awards
Movie makes viewers ponder 'Love'
Tanya Ludlow
Issue date: 9/12/07 Section: Features
It is hard to describe a stylistic masterpiece like Wong Kar-Wai's "In the Mood for Love" without invoking tired terms such as, well, stylistic and masterpiece for one.
Every frame evokes an incredible lushness from the rain-slicked narrow streets to the vibrant and moody colors of the interior scenes.
The soundtrack is unbelievable - The blend of Nat King Cole and moody string instrumentals that combine with the dreamy visuals to completely transport the viewer to 1960's Hong Kong, and at the same time to an emotional plane that is everywhere and nowhere.
Su Li-zhen (played by the underrated Maggie Cheung) and Chow Mo-wan are neighbors in a crowded apartment who discover their respective spouses are having an affair.
They begin to secretly meet and imagine confronting their spouses, play-acting that both heightens the sexual tension between them, and at the same time exposes their emotional torment.
Although they both vow to never be like their spouses, there is a clear line of emotional intimacy being crossed even though neither character works up the nerve to take the leap.
Although not a lot "happens" plot-wise, the languid yearning of unrequited love will be enough to keep all but the most incorrigible dullards riveted.
There are no scenes of lovers leaping into each other's arms in rain drenched fields a la "The Notebook," but how much more wrenching is a moment where Li-zhen and Mo-wan pause under a shared umbrella, unable or unwilling to give voice to their desires?
There is a line of poetry in the film that captures the quiet ache of unrequited love: "That era has passed. Nothing that belonged to it exists anymore."
Every frame evokes an incredible lushness from the rain-slicked narrow streets to the vibrant and moody colors of the interior scenes.
The soundtrack is unbelievable - The blend of Nat King Cole and moody string instrumentals that combine with the dreamy visuals to completely transport the viewer to 1960's Hong Kong, and at the same time to an emotional plane that is everywhere and nowhere.
Su Li-zhen (played by the underrated Maggie Cheung) and Chow Mo-wan are neighbors in a crowded apartment who discover their respective spouses are having an affair.
They begin to secretly meet and imagine confronting their spouses, play-acting that both heightens the sexual tension between them, and at the same time exposes their emotional torment.
Although they both vow to never be like their spouses, there is a clear line of emotional intimacy being crossed even though neither character works up the nerve to take the leap.
Although not a lot "happens" plot-wise, the languid yearning of unrequited love will be enough to keep all but the most incorrigible dullards riveted.
There are no scenes of lovers leaping into each other's arms in rain drenched fields a la "The Notebook," but how much more wrenching is a moment where Li-zhen and Mo-wan pause under a shared umbrella, unable or unwilling to give voice to their desires?
There is a line of poetry in the film that captures the quiet ache of unrequited love: "That era has passed. Nothing that belonged to it exists anymore."
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