A Favorite: In the Mood for Love

Director Wong Kar-Wai and DP Christopher Doyle's 21st century magnum opus "In the Mood for Love" is my 46th favorite movie of all-time, my first favorite film from the director, my first favorite film from the 00s, and my first favorite film from the year 2000. That's a lot of firsts! Not only is the film made by one of my favorite directors and one of my favorite cinematographers, but the film is also the film that gave birth to my love for its two leads: Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung. "In the Mood for Love" is the second part in Wong Kar-Wai's 1960s Trilogy, which is bookended by the superbly paced and interestingly structured, "Days of Being Wild," as well as Wong Kar-Wai's crisply photographed pseudo venture into the sci-fi genre, "2046."

The Chinese title for "In the Mood for Love" is a metaphor for fleeting youth, beauty, and love. The metaphor speaks volumes about the themes of the film. But the English title does a good job too. Maggie Cheung plays a wife of a busy business man (never seen) who's always on the road. Tony Leung's character is a husband of a woman (again, never seen) who tends to work overtime. It turns out that the unseen husband and wife are probably seeing each other given some evidence. Both Cheung and Leung's lonely characters, having bumped in to each other alone around the apartment complex, are starved for love and find it innocently in their occasional meetings. These meetings eventually blossom into some of the most affectionate, yet still innocent, times they'll ever experience. But they can not keep it up because they "won't be like them." Years pass and the romance of lost opportunity is elegantly expressed with voice over and lyrical imagery in typical Wong Kar-Wai/Christopher Doyle style.

My breath is being taken away, and I have goose-bumps just thinking about this fantastic film, bathed in gorgeous reds and greens. This is probably the most romantic and intensely sensual film I have ever seen. It will put you in the mood for love despite the fact that the two leads do not so much as hold hands onscreen. I think that missed opportunities from the past are often experienced as very romantic when one thinks back. The film plays like one of these memories that one or both of the two main characters must have. I am a sucker of nostalgia these days, and Wong Kar-Wai drives into the nostalgia of missed romances exquisitely.

Of course, I can't write a review of this film without saying something about Wong Kar-Wai's excellent use of music. I think it's rare that music is so important in film. Often films lazily use music to stir up emotions that aren't set-off visually. And one thing about old Hollywood films, even though I love them, is their incessant use of music that you can basically just ignore. Here neither is the case. Wong Kar-Wai uses music as if it is another character, coming back to remind us of scenes past. The music complements the visuals (together they entrance the viewer like almost no other film can); it does not try to compete with them. And I would be hard pressed to find anyone who thought they could simply ignore the music's power in this film. The cinematography's greatness goes without saying. Christopher Doyle pours color into every scene making everything from Cheung's dresses to dirty side-streets eye-popping. Wong Kar-Wai and Christopher Doyle's use of low lighting and slo-mo adds intimacy to the atmosphere. If you haven't thought of missed or lost romances in a while, Cheung, Leung, the music, and the cinematography will force you to during and long after you witness this fantastic film.

*As of the publishing of this review, "In the Mood for Love" is Netflix Leaving on October 1st, 2013. A sad day indeed.