In the Mood For Love

Theatrical Release Date: 2001 02 02 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 715515012928

Studio: Criterion

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Adult Situations, Adult Language]

Summary: For his first film since the 1997 Hong Kong handover, auteur filmmaker Wong Kar-wai directs this moody period drama about unrequited love that, like his earlier work, swoons with romantic melancholy. Set in a Shanghaiese enclave in Hong Kong in 1962, the film centers on two young couples who rent adjacent rooms in a cramped and crowded tenement. Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) works as a secretary in an export company while her husband's job at a Japanese multinational keeps him away on extended business trips. Across the hall, Chow (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) works as a newspaper editor and is married to a woman who is also frequently out of town. Neither respective spouse is ever shown in full, instead they are shot from the back or obscured by walls and furniture. Li-zhen and Chow soon strike up a cordial -- if tenative -- friendship. Chow begins to suspect that his wife's long absences are not entirely business related when he stops in unannounced at her office to discover that she is not there. Later, a colleague tells him that he saw his wife with another man. The icing on the cake comes when Chow notices that Li-zhen's handbag is identical to his wife's while Li-zhen discovers that Chow is wearing a tie that she gave her husband; it doesn't take long for them to realize that their spouses are sleeping together. Drawn together by shame and anger, Chow and Li-zhen reveal nothing of their discoveries to their partners. While working through their guilt by imagining how their adulterous spouses first hooked up and rehearsing interrogations, the pair slowly fall in love in spite of their determination to uphold their end of their marital vows. In the Mood for Love, which was screened in competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, barely made it to the fest's final slot; Wong Kar-wai was reportedly shooting scenes in Cambodia a week prior to the festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Category: Romance

Awards: Screen International Award – European Film Academy Best Foreign Film – French Academy of Cinema Best Foreign Language Film – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Foreign Language Film – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Foreign Language Film – National Society of Film Critics Best Cinematography – National Society of Film Critics Best Cinematography – National Society of Film Critics Best Foreign Language Film – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Cinematography (Runner-up) – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Picture – Hong Kong Film Awards Grand Technical Prize – Cannes Film Festival Best Actor – Cannes Film Festival Grand Technical Prize – Cannes Film Festival Grand Technical Prize – Cannes Film Festival Best Foreign Film – Independent Spirit Awards Best Cinematography – New York Film Critics Circle Best Cinematography – New York Film Critics Circle Best Foreign Film – New York Film Critics Circle

Features: Disc One:
New digital transfer, enhanced for 16?9 televisions
Dolby Digital 5.0 soundtrack
Deleted scenes with director's commentary
The music of "In the Mood for Love," presented in an interactive essay
"Hua Yang De Nian Hua," a short film by Wong Kar-Wai
Optimal image quality: RSDL Dual-layer edition
Disc Two:
"In the Mood for Love," Wong-Kar-Wai's documentary of the making of the film
Interviews with Wong Kar-Wai
Toronto International Film Festival press conference with stars Maggie Cheung Man-yuk and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai
Essay by film scholar Gina Marchetti illuminating the movie's unique setting
Trailers, TV spots, electronic press kit & promotional concepts photo gallery
Biographies of key cast & crew
Optimal image quality: RSDL Dual-layer edition
Plus: A 48-page booklet featuring "Intersection," a short story that influenced the film; an essay by film critic Li Cheuk-to; director's statement

In the Mood For Love

Format: DVD

Release Date: 03/05/2002

Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Vistavision

Audio: DS Dolby Surround (4.0), DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo, 2 Europe, Japan, Middle East, Egypt, South Africa, Greenland

Runtime: 98 Minutes

Sides: 2

Number of Discs: 2

Subtitles: English

Chapters: Side #1 -- Disc One
1. "A Restless Moment" [4:41]
2. Propriety [4:20]
3. "We're Neighbors" [2:02]
4. Excuses [3:23]
5. Won-Ton Mein [2:24]
6. Saving Face [2:04]
7. Deceit [5:15]
8. Lonley Hearts [3:16]
9. Ties & Hangbags [3:27]
10. First Moves [5:04]
11. Cruel Realization [2:29]
12. Sesame Syrup [1:20]
13. Marital Life & Martial Arts [2:33]
14. Shared Interests [2:15]
15. Mahjong Marathon [6:11]
16. Romm 2046 [6:26]
17. Painful Rehearsal [3:32]
18. Distance [4:53]
19. "I Don't Want to Go Home Tonight" [7:44]
20. "Hua Yang De Nian Hua" [2:04]
21. Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps [2:47]
22. Singapore, 1963 [2:38]
23. The Slippers [3:25]
24. Hong Kong, 1966 [4:22]
25. Cambadia, 1966 [:37]
26. Buried Secrets [3:31]
27. "Vanished Years" [5:27]
28. Color Bars [:01]
Side #2 -- Disc Two
1. Ideas & Early Concepts [3:57]
2. Emotional Discovery [6:43]
3. Song & Dance [3:21]
4. Unusual Love Story [4:48]
5. Maturity/Style & Storytelling [5:24]
6. Shanghai & Cheong Sam [4:44]
7. Flower-like Years [3:04]
8. Finding Performances [3:59]
9. Love or Vengeance [4:33]
10. Simpler Times [3:31]
11. The End Is Near [1:32]
12. WKW World Tour [5:26]

Bob Mastrangelo

In the Mood for Love is a lushly romantic, intensely sensual film, even though the two principals rarely so much as hold hands onscreen. The leads are photographed to emphasize their movie star looks, and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Maggie Cheung each give the sort of performance in which a glance or gesture means more than much of the dialogue. Director Wong Kar-wai's use of color, music, and sound is simultaneously nostalgic and refreshingly original. The gorgeous photography pours color through each scene, making everything from Li-Zhen's extraordinary dresses to the drab hallways seem beautiful. One often thinks of great cinematography as being stunning scenery, but the canvas here is of alleys, stairways, cramped offices, and even more cramped apartments and is every bit as breathtaking, perhaps even more so because beauty has been found in the most unexpected of places. Wong's use of tight shots and low lighting adds to the intimate atmosphere, as well as his reliance on a slow-moving camera that takes its time to absorb all that is going on, practically moving in sync with the music. Similarly, there is the continual presence of food. In scene after scene, the characters are either eating or preparing to eat, creating the feeling for the audience that they are peeking in on the characters' quieter, more personal moments. Throughout the film, what is unsaid is almost more important than what is actually said, and there is a sense that the film is a memory of one or both of the leads, looking back with regret at lost opportunities. In the Mood for Love ultimately provides a rare look at a director who is maturing as a cinematic storyteller. ~ Bob Mastrangelo, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Michael Galasso  Composer (Music Score) 
Shigeru Umebayashi  Composer (Music Score) 
Wong Kar-Wai  Director 
Wong Kar-Wai  Producer 
Wong Kar-Wai  Screenwriter 
Chan Ye-Cheng  Executive Producer 
Tony Leung Chiu-Wai  Actor 
Maggie Cheung  Actor 
Lai Chin  Actor 
Rebecca Pan  Actor 
Siu Ping-Lam  Actor 

Country: Hong Kong