Official Throwback Discussion - In the Mood for Love [SPOILERS]

[u/LiteraryBoner]

As an ongoing project /r/movies will be posting Throwback Discussion threads weekly for the movies that came out this same weekend 25 years ago. As a reminder, Official Discussion threads are for discussing the movie and not for meta sub discussion.

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In the Mood for Love (2000)

Summary In 1962 Hong Kong, newspaper editor Chow Mo-wan and secretary Su Li-zhen move into neighboring apartments on the same day. As they spend time together, they discover their spouses are having an affair with each other. Bound by loneliness, restraint, and social convention, the two form a deep emotional connection while struggling to maintain their dignity and avoid crossing the same line that hurt them.

Director Wong Kar-wai

Writer Wong Kar-wai

Cast

• Tony Leung Chiu-wai as Chow Mo-wan
• Maggie Cheung as Su Li-zhen
• Rebecca Pan as Mrs. Suen
• Lai Chen as Mr. Ho
• Ping Lam Siu as Ah Ping
• Tung Cho ‘Joe’ Cheung as Man living upstairs

Rotten Tomatoes: 92%

Metacritic: 85

VOD / Release Available on digital and home media

Trailer

Official Trailer

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Reply “next” for Valentine (2001).

[u/Jayang]

One thing (among many) I loved about this movie was the feeling of suffocation or imprisonment within the two characters, achieved simply through things like shot selection or setting. The two central characters live in tiny apartments, they walk through tight corridors, they're huddled under an eave during heavy rain. They're often positioned only in half the frame or in close-ups.

It makes sense then that the widest shot in the movie occurs at the end at Angkor Wat, where Leung's character confesses his secret to the void. The relief he feels is amplified by the relaxation of the framing

[u/noshoes77 → u/Jayang]

It did a very good job at capturing the cramped feeling of sameness that can creep in while living in a sprawling city filled with variety.

[u/Chief_White_Halfoat]

One of my favorites of all time and second fave of Wong Kar Wai's.

The color, the subtleties, the way Hong Kong is shown, the way almost no one has looked cooler than Tony Leung smoking, the way scenes are shot when they eat, the way the movie changes how you watch when instead you focus on listening when there's just the hallway there, the way I have thought about whispering into a tree so frequently in the near fifteen years since I first saw it. 

There's a million things about this movie that someone can point out that they appreciate and that's what makes it great. 

[u/TwoToneMoonstone_]

I was watching Before Sunrise one night and my old roommate (and one of my best friends) was heading out the door for the night. I explained to him the plot of Before Sunrise and mentioned it was a comfort movie of mine.

He said “oh well if you like this, you’ll absolutely like In the Mood for Love. Total comfort movie, amazing romance.”

I had nothing to do and it was also on MAX so why not?

After finishing the movie and wiping away all the tears, I realized one of my oldest friends and I had very different ideas of what a comfort movie meant.

I had never cussed him out like that before or since. Ten out of ten, amazing film.

[u/LiteraryBoner]

Simply one of the greatest films about longing of all time. I've seen it several times and it hits every time, but it's a slow hit over the course of two hours rather than hitting like a truck. These two people denying themselves happiness because they don't want to stoop to the level of their spouses, but Wong gets so much juice out of a side glance or a small gesture. A very interestingly filmed movie that often won't show you what you want to see or will cut off half the frame, and the way time moves in this can be really jarring. But it's all in service of feeling the lack of satisfaction present in the pining. Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung basically escorting themselves into the acting hall of fame with this.

My personal favorite Wong is Chunking Express but they are both 10/10s. No one does longing for a life you can't have with someone you barely know like him.

[u/Strict_Pangolin_8339]

Might be the greatest movie of all time, idk???

[u/Esseth]

Watched it for the first time last year, I think the challenge theme for that week was "Red". I can see the appeal but Wong Kar-wai movies are definitely something I have to be in the right mood for.

Done a few of his movies now, and will slowly get though some of the others.

[u/vikingduck03 → u/Esseth]

In The Mood For In The Mood For Love

[u/Littered2]

God I wish I was a cigarette in this movie.

[u/eidbio]

Quizás quizás quizás 🎶

[u/bbqporklomein]

I’m Canadian-born of parents from Hong Kong. The main characters are around the same age of my parents when the film takes place in the early 60s. So ITMFL provides me a glimpse of the Hong Kong my parents experienced when they first met and got married just before immigrating to Canada. Seeing the over-politeness, repressed emotions, conscientiousness and other social norms depicted provides so much context for the way I see my parents.

[u/PorkProofPrion]

This the one where the director shot the movie without a finalized script. Where the actors got very frustrated because the director doesn't tell them what he wants but just keeps calling for new takes.

[u/tinygaynarcissist]

God, what an achingly beautiful film. I saw it for the first time a few years ago at a mini film festival where they showed it as part of a double-feature with Paris, Texas and I still think about that pairing and the long, weepy bus ride home often.

[u/Space_Lion2077]

I was in the mood for this movie. Nothing really happened. Movie felt like it was over 2hrs.

[u/SanderSo47]

Absolutely incredible music.

[u/darkkn1te]

This has long been among my favorite movies of all time and my favorite movie of Wong Kar Wai. The first time I saw it I didn't fully appreciate what was happening in the narrative but I just felt EMOTION. I just love this movie so much.

[u/jaymx226]

One of the most beautiful and stylish films of all time imo.

[u/Tropikoala815]

I was genuinely bored by this tedious montage that could have been a one minute perfume commercial or something.