Review of In the Mood for Love (2000) by Skinny T — 01 Oct 2014

Apparent sliding on the surface is something, which gives an opportunity for different reading an interpretations. Watched from a perspective of a regular viewer 'In the mood for love' (2000) may be read as a typical melodrama, a story about two people who will never be together. However, seen closer and approached from a completely different angle the movie is a deep and emotional stadium of human's loneliness and sorrow.

Wong Kar-wai is a visionary. He is a painter amongst contemporary directors, who puts a lot of emphasis on the picture and the frame his story is situated. The plot seems to be less important for the director who makes it very basic and not complicated. Staying on the surface and not going deeper into his protagonists' characteristics, the director does not allow the viewer to get to know them. There is not much that one can say about Mrs. Chen and Mr. Chow - they seem to be more a representatives of a certain type of people than characters itself. It is hard to say what do they like, what is their favorite food or what kind of book they enjoy reading. Trying to pose and become someone they are not, protagonists loose themselves and are more and more alienated form reality.

Fascinated with the visual aspects of the world Wong Kar-wai fills 'In the mood for love' with colors, sounds and meaningful gestures. Every frame seems to be a separate piece of art, where every detail is mastered to perfection. Plot becomes secondary and objects, together with music, start to play the main role. S?awomir Sikora called the movie 'a treaty about the tie and the purse', which not only shows the importance of the obcjects in the film, but also the fact that they are being transformed into another characters. Mrs. Chen and Mr. Chow seem to spend most of their time in the spaces full of things, which are their only companions. They are also the ones which help betrayed partners revel the secret kept by their unfaithfull spouses.

Chow Mo-wan: That handbag I saw you with this evening... Where did you buy it?

Su Li-zhen Chan: Why do you ask?

Chow Mo-wan: It looked so elegant. I want to get one for my wife.

Su Li-zhen Chan: Mr. Chow, you're so good to your wife!

Chow Mo-wan: Not really! My wife is so fussy. Her birthday is some days away. I don't know what to get her. Could you buy one for me to give her?

Su Li-zhen Chan: Maybe she wouldn't want one just exactly the same.

Chow Mo-wan: You're right, I didn't think of that.

Su Li-zhen Chan: A woman would mind.

Chow Mo-wan: Yes, especially since we're neighbors. Do they come in other colors?

Su Li-zhen Chan: I'd have to ask my husband.

Chow Mo-wan: Why?

Su Li-zhen Chan: He bought it for me on a business trip abroad. They aren't on sale here.

Chow Mo-wan: Then never mind.

Su Li-zhen Chan: Actually... I want to ask you something too. Where did you buy your tie?

Chow Mo-wan: I don't know where it came from. My wife buys all my ties.

Su Li-zhen Chan: Really?

Chow Mo-wan: She bought this one on a business trip abroad. It's not on sale here.

Su Li-zhen Chan: What a coincidence!

Chow Mo-wan: Yes.

Su Li-zhen Chan: Actually... My husband has one just like it. He said it was a gift from his boss. So he wears it every day.

Chow Mo-wan: And my wife has a bag just like yours.

Su Li-zhen Chan: I know, I've seen it.

Chow Mo-wan: What are you getting at, actually?

Su Li-zhen Chan: I thought I was the only one who knew.

Narrow corridors, small apartments and claustrophobic spaces. To create an atmosphere of being closed or, better to say, captured, Wong Kar-wai very often shoots hidden behind crate which gives the feeling of a trap and being stuck.

The story created by WKW is truly romantic. Secretly growing feelings, shy gestures, unspoken words. Everything which is not said at loud and communicated verbally is what seems to be the most important and interesting for the director. He is a poet and a metaphor is his sword. By using very subtle and delicate tools, WKW beautifully captures the feeling growing between Mrs. Chen and Mr. Chow. Involved in unhappy marriages protagonists are torn by guilt and conscious which does not allow them to cross the line their partners did and, at the same time, to give themselves a chance for happiness.

'It is a restless moment. She has kept her head lowered...to give him a chance to come closer. But he could not, for lack of courage. She turns and walks away.'.

Their love will never be fulfilled and the emotions will never be released. The fear of being unethical and doing the wrong thing mix with the overcoming fear of being alone seems to be to strong for Wong Kar-Wai's characters who decide to stay by the side of their unfaithful partners.

Loneliness is a very strong element of Wong Kar-wai's movie. Mrs. Chen and Mr.Chow are drown towards each other because of their spouses betrayal but also because of the overwhelming emptiness tearing their souls. Constantly surrounded by loud and talkative people, protagonist are never the ones who ask questions. Quiet and detached form reality seem to exist in their own world. The viewer will never see the face of Mrs. Chen's husband and Mr. Chow's wife - presented as an strange personas, who never take part in theirs spouses life, are more a symbol of the life both protagonists are striving for and the people they need.

Desperate for love and attention Mrs. Chen and Mr. Chow are torn by guilt, which will never allow them to fulfilled their real feelings S. Teo called it a longing for love, a story where unrequited love becomes an obsession for someone who's life does not have any other ambitions. He adds that Wong shows love as a disease which effects can be seen for a very long time. The longing itself determines person's existence which 'In the mood for love' presents as a dreamy slowness. Full of symbols, metaphors and hidden signs, pictures are very poetic and romantic.

There is something nostalgic and romantic which makes the story truly tragic. Unable to fulfill love, which slowly grew between protagonists they decide to go their separate ways and leave all those emotions and feelings behind. From now on it is only a memory, which becomes a part of their every day existence. Living the conversations and situations over and over again Mrs. Chen lets memories become a part of her every day life. Lost in her own world and detached form reality women becomes even more lonely.

'In the mood for love' is a treaty about unfulfilled love and loneliness. Wong Kar-wai presents the story about people who choose to be lonely and build their reality out of memories and dreams. Unable to make a step and change their life decide to live their dreams, transforming them into reality. But maybe, underneath the surface of classic melodrama, it can be read as a status of the modern society and its inability to be happy. Fast and fluid reality does not allow people to stop and build a meaningful and solid relationship with other person. Artificial relations and deafen desires with time become just a dream, a memory of something which never took place.