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AC
Team interviews the stars
| Tony
Leung Chiu-wai | Maggie
Cheung Man-yuk | Wong
Kar-wai
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In the Mood for Love, a new
film by Wong Kar-wai (Chung King Express, Ashes of Time)
is a brooding, rhythmic and vivid journey through the lives of a man
and a woman grappling with the fact that their respective spouses
are having an affair with each other. In the Mood for Love
stars two of Hong Kong�s most popular actors, Tony Leung Chiu-wai
as Chow Mo-wan, a lonely journalist who dreams of writing martial-arts
stories and Maggie Cheung Man-yuk as Su Li-zhen, an equally lonely
secretary who struggles with the truth about her marriage.
These two characters first meet while moving into rooms in
apartments directly next door to each other in a small crowded apartment
in Hong Kong in 1962. Chow's wife is in Japan on business, as is,
ironically, Su's husband. Su and her husband, and Chow and his wife
each rent literally one room in an apartment and must share
their kitchen and living space with another couple. These two older
couples enjoy loud jovial dinners and games, and live in a communal
world that sharply contrasts with Chow's and Su's quieter and individually
alienated existences.
While neither Chow's wife nor Su's husband are ever seen,
their presence hangs over the film with an oppressive force that
hinders both Chow and Su from experiencing any sort of peace or
fulfillment. This shared betrayal eventually brings Chow and Su
together, as each yearns for the other to make sense of the circumstances
and of their lives. Alone, Chow and Su wander through the streets
of Hong Kong and the cramped hallways of their building like lost
wounded animals, unable to take part in their world.
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photo
credit: 2000 USA Films
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However, just when one begins to imagine that this relationship will
turn into a neatly spun love story, the film, like life, enters the
complicated and ambivalent terrain of complex human relationships.
Wong Kar-wai refuses to see marriages as such fragile crumbling entities
and instead uses the relationship between Chow and Su to explore the
loss of relationships, dreams and of the moments in life that never
seem to reach fulfillment.
Chow and Su share a secret in their knowledge of their mates'
affair and in their relationship with each other. However, while
their neighbors remain unsuspecting of the duplicity of Chow�s wife
and Su's husband, they display suspicion of the agonizingly innocent
relationship between Chow and Su. Neither Chow nor Su manages to
invoke a step towards passion or love within their friendship, but
use the platonic relationship to move forward in their understanding
of their own lives. Su helps Chow write a martial-arts story and
Chow acts as a stand-in for Su's husband while Su rehearses how
she will confront him upon his return.
Ultimately, this very innocent, tenuous and hesitant relationship
remains unconsumated and each character moves forward with his or
her life with the aching memory of what never was.
Wong Kar-wai beautifully recreates 1962 Hong Kong with elegant
dresses filled with all the shameless bright colors of the early
60's and a medley of American songs, including Nat King Cole's rendition
of "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps." However, one of the biggest
treats of the soundtrack is the mysterious, edgy and stylized music
created by Michael Galasso. The violin sounds work to create a sense
of tension and suspense that one might associate with a detective
story. However, in this film the music assists in highlighting the
mystery of Chow's and Su's very ambiguous relationship.
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photo
credit: 2000 USA Films
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Wong Kar-wai admits to not writing a script, but shooting the film
straight from his imagination. Although there is no doubt that Wong
Kar-wai creates powerful images and complex characters, the lack of
structure of In the Mood for Love sometimes hindered my interest
in the story. Perhaps my mind has been polluted by too many pat Hollywood
three-act-structured movies, but at the same time I believe there�s
a lot to be said for a tight script. While Wong Kar-wai, a Hong Kong
native, has created a masterful and sometimes beautiful visual journey
through the lives of two characters, audiences will not find a very
clear nor simple telling, of a very unclear relationship.
AC Team's
Solange Castro Belcher
moved to Hollywood to pursue a career as a stand-up comic after
graduating from Yale University with a degree in English. Today
she has turned her pursuits from comedy to film reviewing and screenwriting.
Solange is managing editor at University of California at Los Angeles'
groundbreaking Teaching
to Change LA, an online journal for teachers, students and parents
in the Los Angeles schools. In addition to her film reviews for
AsianConnections.com, and AC's Hollywood site StudioLA.com, she
is a contributing film reviewer for the Santa Monica Film Festival
(smff.com). Email: solange@asianconnections.com
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Related:
AC
Interviews Actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai
AC Interviews
Actress Maggie Cheung Man-yuk
AC Interviews
Director Wong Kar-wai
In the Mood for Love (Movie Review by AC Team's Solange Castro Belcher)
About In the Mood for Love
Official Site
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