What Are The Barriers In The Mood For Love

Vince Dominic C. Gapit
Associate Professor Nerisa del Carmen Guevarra
HUM1
23 March 2014
Beyond Barriers: The Limits of Love In the Mood for Love by Wong Kar-Wai is a heartwarming and at the same time depressing film about love that blossomed, love that has been, and love that cannot be. It perfectly exudes the chains people are shackled to because of the norms ideals, and constructs the society has created and boxed us into. This film produced by Wong Kar-Wai is considered a film because it is made up of the basic elements that comprise what can be considered a movie according to David Bordwell & Kristin Thompson in Film Art: An Introduction. It has (1) mise-en-scene, (2) it employed cinematography, (3) it went through the editing
Its scope covers planned elements in the view such as the props, lighting, costume, make-up, rehearsed or staged body actions, facial expressions, the actors, and as well as computer-generated images. Moreover, the mise-en-scene also includes accidental and unintended details that are seen the frame while filming. Also, In the Mood for Love can be considered a film because it undergo rigid and carefully planned cinematography – which comprises of all the manipulations in the camera during the shooting phase. Included in the cinematography are the various camera angles employed, the proximity and the camera distance utilized, and the diverse camera movements that were applied to produce the film. In the film, the director heavily relied on pans when it comes to camera movements and catered primarily on medium to close-up shots since most of the time the primary focus was on the dialogues and the movements of the actors. The third element that was apparent and makes this film a film is the element of editing. It is the process of linking two different pieces of film or shots that follow a logical and well thought off sequence and development to create a story. It’s like the weaving process of the various shots taken to interrelate these separate films into one and create a bigger story. The last and final element that would prove
An example would be the presence of the recurring clock. It symbolized the passing time and possibly the remaining time left for the love that blossomed between Mrs. Chan and Mr. Chow. In the end, it was inevitable that they would not end up together. Another notable symbolism employed was the lonely trip by both Mrs. Chan and Mr. Chow as they passed by each other on a dark alley on the way to the noodle house. It was a juxtaposition of the similarities they had – both living a melancholic life because of the infidelity of their spouses. The various colorful, elegant dresses of Mrs. Chan also symbolized the passage of time and the changes in the mood of the story. The dim light radiated by the lamppost also is a metaphor of a vanishing hope in their relationships. The last symbolic action presented in the film was when Mr. Chow went to Cambodia and stood beside a wall and whispered his secrets and left those secrets there. It was a metaphor for the love that was barricaded by the forces of society that has deemed their love to be something that should be