In the Mood for Love (2000)

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In the Mood for Love Movie Review

In the Mood for Love is a 2000 Chinese romance film directed by Wong Kar-wai and starring Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung. It is such an amazing, truly beautiful piece of cinema.

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“He remembers those vanished years.

As though looking through a dusty window pane,

the past is something he could see, but not touch.

And everything he sees is blurred and indistinct“

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The plot is simplistic, but excellent in its simplicity. I actually loved how simple it was and that subtler and less convoluted structure worked wonders for me as it led to a creation of such a timeless picture. And it truly is a one of a kind experience and a film for ages. It is so well told and so tender and heartwarming that I don’t know how anyone can dislike it.

I loved the time period and how it was brought to live wonderfully and with a great eye for detail. Everything here looks gorgeous, but I will talk about those technical aspects later. Now, let’s deal with the romance. What is there to say that hasn’t already been said? In the Mood for Love gives us a romance that lacks in energy, excitement and fireworks, but that is what I liked about it as it gave us a slower, more subtle, but still passionate relationship that was breathtaking to follow.

The movie works wonders as a romance, but it also succeeds as a tragedy and melodrama because its third act is so poignant, but again beautiful. Yes, beautiful is a perfect word for almost everything about this movie as it truly is like that. I just loved that final scene at the ruined monastery site. In fact, it is one of the best endings I’ve seen in quite a while. It perfectly utilized the ancient tradition into its storytelling and consequently contributed to that timeless quality I’ve talked about. It is not only visually arresting, but also poetic in nature as it ends with such beautiful quotes written at the end that just moved me on an emotional level.

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In the Mood for Love starts slower and ends on a heartbreaking note. It unfolds the newfound romantic relationship between the two in such a realistic and absolutely perfect way that I can’t imagine it being better executed. And it succeeds in presenting this relationship as sort of a perversion as it is basically cheating and the filmmakers shows us that really well with the two meeting in secret as the society of the time wouldn’t accept that.

Su and Chow are wonderful to watch together, but also apart, even more so than together as we can see the love they share together on their faces when they aren’t with each other. Those little touches were terrific. But it wouldn’t have succeeded had it not been for the great acting. Wow, these two actors are absolutely magnificent. What Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung did here is nothing short of fantastic as they both gave such pleasantly subtle and natural performance with just superb facial expressions and expressive looks. Watching these two was great as they were so realistic and just amazing. Some of the best acting I’ve seen in a while.

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Wong Kar-wai directed this movie with style and great care. Truly his direction here is top-notch and this is one of the best directed films of its time. It is also the finest film of 2000 that I’ve seen, at least so far. The cinematography is excellent as the film is so well filmed with every shot being spectacular to watch. It also has that artistic vibe to it that never felt pretentious and forced, but rather natural and pleasing.

The tone is great as it shifts from romantic to melodramatic deftly. It has evident emotion and it is eventually heartbreaking while at first being heartwarming and charming. Such a romantic movie. The dialogue is great and the editing is so good. It is so tightly edited and every scene lasts for just the right amount of time. It is visually magnificent as well and some filming choices here were so artistic and authentic with the camera movements being the standout element.

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In the Mood for Love has its problems including the characterization which could have been a bit better, a somewhat inferior first act when compared to the other two and the decision to have many cheating partners is a bit frustrating as the more regular and simpler solution would have been much better overall. But despite those flaws, this film is terrific and one of the best of its time.