In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000)
In the Mood for Love is a 2000 romance film set in 60s Hong Kong made by auteur Wong Kar-wai. It is a film about love and loss and loneliness, as it follows neighbours Mr Chow and Mrs Chan who slowly realise their feelings for each other while discovering their own spouses are having an affair together. As they get closer, more things seem to get in between them such as passive aggressive neighbours and Mrs Chan’s husband returning. Believing she won’t leave her husband, Mr Chow books an impromptu business trip to Singapore and asks her to come with him; she agrees but arrives at to his hotel room too late. A few years later in 1963 she breaks into his apartment in Singapore and calls him at work, but is unable to speak down the line. Then in 1966 Mrs Chow moves back into her original apartment, renting it from Mrs Suen who is emigrating. Mr Chan returns to visit his old neighbours, but is completely unaware that the woman he’s looking for is next door.
The reason this seemingly slow and plotless film works so well is because of Wong Kar-wai’s persistent attention to detail. This is the second time I’ve seen this film (the first being at the cinema) so I decided to take notes on all of the unique filmmaking and storytelling techniques Wong used that could be helpful for my romance short film.
Framing
All of the films I’ve seen by Wong Kar-wai are notably auteur for his interesting framing techniques. Notably many moving shots are shown through doorframes or open windows, intentionally singling out individual/alone characters such as when Mrs Chan is sat in the corner of a room full of people- only the isolating framing compliments the loneliness she feels which could be misunderstood if seen with the others in the room. He also very rarely uses shots of people that aren’t obstructed in some way or other, creating the feeling that the characters in the frame are hiding from something. Notably the scene where Mrs Chan is having dinner with Mr Chow and hiding in his room until the neighbours leave so they won’t gossip, they sit in a very close two shot with a lace curtain covering half of their faces. Instead of lighting (which Wong uses for colour grading) this film uses physical barriers to hide and isolate people; be it a lace curtain, a wall between apartments or a business trip to Japan/Singapore…
This also links into Wong’s use of focus and his ability to captivate the audience with it. Very rarely is there a flat mid shot in this film, but instead it plays on the contrast of very deep focus almost blurry shots to very shallow and personal close ups. This stark difference is used in each scene to mimic the main characters “so close but so far” style relationship, and paired with the framing that hides and isolates it’s arguably the cinematography that builds the emotion in this film more than the brilliant performances. Back to focus, though, the best and most inspiring use of this is in the scene where Mrs Chow leaves he hotel room, at first an extreme close of of just her hand as it brushes the wall and then straight to a low angle wide shot that dolly’s backwards as she walks away down the hallway. Mixed with the red of the room and her coat, this single shot shows every emotion Wong is trying to convey through only cinematography.
Editing (or lack of)
There wasn’t a single shot reverse shot style conversation in this entire film. Instead any conversations at first between the pair are shown with only one speaking quickly with the other’s back to the camera. This changes at the scene in the restaurant, and their conversation and mimicking of each others spouses in that situation is contained in mainly long takes of each character talking individually or crabbing backwards and forward between the pair (which often starts on the next table down because Wong refuses to do a shot that just gets to the point…) Then as the couple get closer and things get more complicated, they are almost always shown in two shots- in the back of the cab, hiding in Mr Chow’s room, through a mirror while they write a comic etc etc. I understand why shot reverse shot wouldn’t be the best option for this type of story; it’s not personal or captivating enough.
Time is the overruling theme of this film, with more shots of the clock in Mrs Chow’s office than any other object. The editing also adds to this through the use of fades between days or scenarios, complimenting the long takes and slow edits that make up the film.
Score
Hand in hand with the cinematography, the two reoccurring songs that are played throughout draw you in more and add another layer to the tension. When something is slightly wrong or confusing about the pairs relationship (usually while Mrs Chan walks away) the passionate but slightly uncanny violin of Yumeji’s Theme plays in the background. This happened about four times during the film, most notably layered over a slow motion montage of the pair going out nightly for noodles and at first just missing each other, then having to dodge past each other on the stairs and then running back in the rain together (Wong is a big fan of using the rain as a romance trope.) Every time this score plays in the film it feels like you stop breathing until it ends; and its incredible how a sudden non-diegetic song with no rising in the mix and the slow motion that accompanies it doesn’t feel jolty or off putting. The second song is Nat King Cole’s Quizas which only plays for the very short time their relationship seems in any way hopeful and possible.
The extremely chaotic notes I made while watching…
In conclusion, I love this film! I’d argue any day that Wong Kar-wai is the greatest romance filmmaker ever (probably to do with his respectful male and un-objectified female characters) so it made perfect sense for me to rewatch it and take inspiration for my short film.