Mood For Love

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE Set in front of the conservative backdrop of 1960's Hong Kong, Wong Kar Wai's In the Mood for Love tells the intimate tale of two people who, by fate, seem to land themselves in each other's company due to the common bond of the absence of their spouses. The plot of the film is by no means anything original, but it is deeply accentuated by the style in which the film is shot. With unconventional camera angles, an inconsistent musical score, and deep, luscious colors, In the Mood for Love brings a seemingly real perspective to a very personal story. Mr. Chow (Tony Leung) and Mrs. Chang (Maggie Cheung) coincidentally, move in to their small neighboring Hong Kong flats on the same day. Mr. Chow, a newspaper editor with an unseen, but presumably traveling, wife, and Mrs. Chang, a secretary, also with an unseen business executive husband. The two often find their paths crossing as they frequent the same streets, restaurants, and noodle shop. It is when they discover that their spouses are having an affair that they begin to see each other. Unlike very fast paced, show-all, American films, the relationship that blossoms between Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chang is not one of immense passion and love, but more of a deeper unsaid understanding. It is the simple gestures such as the conversations, the gazing into one another's eyes,
We had to retake that scene the next day because I was not very good. I thought I had been good because I had been crying and crying, but Wong Kar Wai said, “It is not about that. It is not about how many tears drop out of your eyes or how emotional you are.” I said, “No? But you ask me to cry and I am crying, why am I doing it wrong?” He said, “But when you cry you should try to hold back. Nobody cries just like that. The minute you feel the sting in your eyes your first reaction should be ‘I don’t want to cry,’ and to hold it