IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
by Maria G. Diaz
Love is perhaps one of the hardest feelings to explain. In the case of romantic love, specifically, the complexity goes even further. It can sometimes be lived to it’s fullest and become a joyful experience for both people involved; it can sometimes be felt by only one person and produce heartbreak and sorrow; or it can sometimes be felt by both people but be impossible to experience due to external circumstances. This last scenario is what Wong Kar-Wai presents in his film “In the Mood for Love”. A beautiful but painful story of love and loss. A clear representation of the anxiety of an impossible love and the eternal longing of “what could had been”.
The film takes place during the early 1960’s in Hong Kong and tells the story of Mrs. Chan (Maggie Cheung) and Mr. Chow (Tony Leung) two people who become next door neighbors and discover a number of similarities in circumstances between them that bring them to a special connection. They are both married, but both their respective spouses are constantly away in Japan on business. Through constant (unintentional- at first) encounters they start to discover an inevitable attraction between them and eventually fall in love. A love which they vehemently fight in order to follow their moral principles which especially Mrs. Chan wants to respect even though she has discovered that her husband is having an affair with Mr. Chow’s wife. The irony of the story is magisterial.
The slow but intense pace in which the story is presented, holds every single moment with a magnetic suspense. Not even the director’s camera dares to look straight into the eyes of the protagonists. Perhaps, it fears to break the exquisite tension that every look, every breath, every word creates between them. Passion flows through their blood and the audience can feel it as their own.
The focus on the details is remarkable. Each scene looks like a work of art itself. The use of lighting, the use of colors, and even the beauty of the dresses used by Maggie Cheung’s character, Mrs. Chan, create the beautiful and sensual atmosphere. In the same way, the use of music is exquisite, accompanying the movements and sensations of the characters at all times.
The film puts the audience “in the mood for love”! Wong Kar-Wai introduces us into a world of delicate and impossible desires that keeps us glued to our chairs with expectation until the very end.
No comments:
Post a Comment