In the Mood for Love (Cantonese)

Movie: In the Mood for Love

Year: 2000

Director: Wong Kar-wai

Language: Cantonese

Synopsis: Chow and So become next door neighbours in an apartment in Hong Kong. Each has a spouse who is working and often leaves them alone on overtime shift. Despite the presence of a friendly landlady, Mrs Suen, and bustling, mahjong-playing neighbours, Chow and So often find themselves alone in their rooms, and they begin to strike up a friendship. Very soon they find out that their spouses are having an affair and all their long absence is actually because they spend time together. Chow insists that they re-enact the scenes that they might have had. Very soon its obvious to casual onlookers that Chow and So are more than friends. Chow and So are however convinced that they are no more than friends and will not end up like their spouses. However, as time passes, Chow falls in love with So. Firm in his moral convictions that forbid adultery, he leaves Hong Kong for a job offered by his old friend in Singapore. Watch it to know if they meet

My own take: The biggest dilemma which sets the movie apart is the simple fact that does your partners adultery makes yours legitimate? And more importantly does it give you a higher plane? Does this plane actually give you a sense of self righteousness and does it make you feel good because people will feel you did well. Too many questions but that’s what the movie is about. After a point in time you feel the same feeling that Samsara left you with. The dilemma remains on if the desire should be fulfilled or conquered. The other strong point of the movie is the excellent way the story is told. The treatment is very subtle and is shot in dim light for most of the time. Finally I think the last part of the movie takes the cake. Very different way of approaching the subject.