The 25 Best Movies of the Century: No. 7 - 'In The Mood for Love’

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• 'In The Mood for Love' is considered one of the most influential films ever made, significantly impacting arthouse filmmakers and advertising/fashion aesthetics due to its beautiful composition and color theory.  Copied to clipboard!
• The film's power lies in its restraint, lack of explicit dialogue, and emphasis on unspoken longing and repressed emotion, making the feeling of unrequited desire highly resonant in contemporary culture.  Copied to clipboard!
• The movie's unique production involved a long, intentional, and somewhat improvised shooting process over 15 months, resulting in exacting, painterly visuals that contrast with the kinetic style of Wong Kar-wai's earlier works.  Copied to clipboard!

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Introduction and Difficulty of Discussion

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(00:00:12)

• Key Takeaway: Wong Kar-wai’s ‘In The Mood for Love’ is challenging to discuss because it is not word-based, relying heavily on imagined conversations and unspoken feelings.
• Summary: The film is identified as number seven on the ‘25 for 25’ list. Its narrative relies on characters saying things other than what they truly mean. The conversations present are often imagined or not in the immediate present moment.

Film’s Influence and Aesthetics

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(00:03:24)

• Key Takeaway: The film is highly influential on contemporary arthouse filmmakers and advertising, particularly noted for its out-of-this-world color theory and beautiful composition.
• Summary: Filmmakers like Sofia Coppola and Barry Jenkins show admiration for Wong Kar-wai’s style. The movie’s composition frequently frames characters within transitional spaces like doorways or windows. Its visual tonality has heavily influenced watch and perfume commercials.

Color, Composition, and Tone

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(00:04:36)

• Key Takeaway: The color theory in ‘In The Mood for Love’ is so potent it creates a physical feeling akin to synesthesia, comparable to fine art like Matisse or Ellsworth Kelly.
• Summary: The color study and color theory are central to the film’s aesthetic achievement. The visual elements, including color, are seen as having made a huge imprint on culture, influencing fashion and advertising. The film achieves an ecstatic tone piece quality.

Romance, Longing, and Contemporary Resonance

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(00:07:38)

• Key Takeaway: As the great romantic movie of the century, its unconsummated nature creates a sense of longing that deeply resonates with modern experiences of being unable to have what one wants.
• Summary: The film is set in Hong Kong in 1962, featuring two married neighbors whose spouses are having an affair with each other. The characters are in their mid-30s, reflecting on happiness and desire. The lack of consummation fuels the central theme of longing.

Narrative Quirks and Emotional Depth

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(00:09:23)

• Key Takeaway: Despite its period setting, the film contains strange, Hitchcockian elements, such as the male lead wanting to write a serial about their unconsummated affair.
• Summary: The characters engage in role-playing conversations about confronting their spouses, which contains an element of kink. The film captures boiling, repressed emotions often seen in Victorian/Edwardian dramas but in a 1960s setting. The characters are deeply cut off from the world, emphasizing their loneliness.

Cinematic Techniques and Production

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(00:13:02)

• Key Takeaway: The film prioritizes quiet, recessed contemplation over dialogue, using color, electrifying costumes by William Chang, and the recurring motif of ‘Yumeji’s Theme’ to convey emotion.
• Summary: The movie features minimal dialogue, contrasting sharply with typical Hollywood productions that focus on reactions. William Chang Sook Ping is highlighted as an undersung hero for his work as editor, production designer, and costume designer. The film’s 98-minute runtime is intentionally paced to force the audience to sit inside the characters’ feelings of unfulfilled need.

Filmmaking Methodology and Intentionality

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(00:17:51)

• Key Takeaway: Wong Kar-wai’s methodology involved running scenes many times to find unstudied yet revealing gestures, demonstrating an exacting, fine-artist level of intentionality often absent in high-budget Hollywood films.
• Summary: The process involved finding the perfect gesture or tilt of the head that communicated the necessary emotion. This contrasts with Hollywood’s focus on meeting daily production quotas. This level of intentionality combined with looseness creates a unique paradox in the filmmaking.

Actors and Cultural Legacy

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(00:24:03)

• Key Takeaway: Lead actors Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung, known primarily for action and comedy, delivered career-defining performances of restraint, though they have not achieved the same level of American crossover as contemporaries like Michelle Yeoh.
• Summary: Maggie Cheung has largely stepped away from acting in the last decade. Tony Leung was last seen by many American audiences in ‘Shang-Chi.’ Their mastery of stillness and restraint in this film contrasts with the expressive acting required in their typical action roles.

Magnificent Ending Sequence

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(00:30:38)

• Key Takeaway: The film concludes with a bold, contrasting sequence where the male lead whispers his secret into a tree at an open, sunlit monument, breaking the established visual pattern of distance and darkness.
• Summary: The ending contrasts sharply with the film’s typical darkened, rainy, and obstructed visuals, symbolizing a moment of openness. The exact nature of the secret whispered remains ambiguous, avoiding psychological closure. This ending has been widely memed and referenced in culture.

Critical Reception and Comparisons

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(00:37:16)

• Key Takeaway: Despite being highly ranked by critics (No. 4 on the New York Times list), Roger Ebert only gave the film three out of four stars, suggesting its non-plot-driven nature was outside his typical preference.
• Summary: Tony Leung won Best Actor at Cannes, but the film was not selected by the Academy for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. The film shares thematic DNA with other romance classics like ‘Brief Encounter’ and ‘The English Patient,’ both dealing with thwarted love in historical contexts.