In The Mood For Love

It’s hard to talk about this film without any spoilers, but I would love to take up this challenge.

You know when you see that one film, where you don’t completely understand it, but you still keep watching? Even when it ends, it doesn’t make any clear sense, but you are left with something — a curiosity to know more, sometimes a little emptiness, and sometimes a weird feeling that something has changed.

I felt curiosity when I watched My Neighbor Totoro, I felt a weird feeling when I watched Taxi Driver, and after watching In The Mood For Love, all I felt was a little emptiness.

You will go into this movie and take your time to adjust to the whole setting, as it is set in 1962 Hong Kong. You won’t see every character, but you will know a lot of them without even seeing them. Then the story will unfold — one moment you will know what’s happening, and in the next, you won’t. The curiosity will peak until the end, and at last, all you will feel is both pity and emptiness.

This movie is also a beautiful experience in how it’s shot; every frame is a literal music album cover. An uneasiness will also creep in because you haven’t seen this type of camerawork anywhere else. The music will heighten the tension of each scene as you try to make sense of what’s happening and what will happen.

I don’t want to give the impression that this is some complex film and you need to be pretentious to watch it. It’s a simple story, but the creativity with which the director chose to tell it makes all the difference.

Now that we are talking about the director, I should mention that he has shown Hong Kong culture with all its accuracy mixed with his experience. I don’t think I have seen anything like that in India, the exception being Tumbbad, which again tells a simple story in a creative manner while staying true to the culture.

In The Mood For Love has been my introduction to Hong Kong cinema, and I hope after reading this, it becomes yours too.

Thanks for reading and cut!

As the movie is not available anywhere, you can always ask me to send it over to you.

If you liked the movie, make sure you share this piece and make others watch it. I will bring a spoiler version of this movie as well soon.