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Scott McCulloch Distribution Editor For all of the carping about the sad state of films these days, it's rare to hear anyone complain that movies are not 'beautiful' enough. A few nights ago, I realized just how deficient most movies are in this respect, as I luxuriated through the 97 minutes of un-matched beauty that is Wong Kar-Wei's latest and best film, In the Mood for Love. Winner of the Best Actor award (Tony Leung) at the Cannes film festival in 2000, In the Mood for Love is, at its heart, a film about loyalty, love, and - above all - longing. It is also an unapologetic paean to early '60s East Asian colonial coolness and style. Set in Hong Kong in 1962, In the Mood is the story of two next-door neighbors in an apartment building. A journalist, Chow Mowan (Leung) and a secretary, Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) come to realize that their frequently absent, workaholic spouses are having an affair. Comforting one another during their daily meeting at a local restaurant, these two characters develop that the director carries to an almost unbearable fever pitch.
The society, and the characters in the film, seem to stand in the midst of the quickly encroaching modern world, and it is against this backdrop of intoxicating materialism that the traditional concept of loyalty stands out in such sharp relief. As in all of Mr. Wong's films, (Chungking Express, Fallen Angels) stylishness and his own filmmaking instincts trump narrative drive, and the director's faith in his own ability to convey moods and advance the story through pictures alone pays off better here than in any of his earlier efforts. The stunning Ms. Cheung, who would be irresistible in a burlap sack, wears a different gorgeous cowl-necked dress in every scene. The director's preoccupation with these dresses is so apparent that one gets the feeling that they came first, and that the simple facts of this story were written around them, almost as an afterthought. Perhaps partially due to this exquisite wardrobe, Cheung suffers from "Paul Newman Syndrome" from time to time - it took a conscious suspension of disbelief on my part to accept that someone as attractive as her could be something as mundane as a secretary. It wasn't just Cheung, though. There were a couple of times when I had to go back and watch scenes again because I had been so distracted by the set design the first time around: the clothes, the curtains, the cars - even the dishes. To give more specific facts about the storyline is difficult and cuts against the spirit of this film, which is more concerned with emotion and ambience. The Criterion Collection version of this movie comes with a second DVD that contains interviews with the director and principal actors, features on the music and clothes, and a documentary about the making of the movie. These clips showed me just how much devotion and how many talented artists it took to create a film as beautiful and rare as this one. © 2003 Shoreline Community College™ |
