In the Mood for Love - Beca G.

In the Mood for Love is easily one of my favorite films from the semester. Between the beautiful shots and the simple story line, it seemed an act of simplicity and grace; a story that unfolded quite wonderfully. The visual drama was stunning, as Wong played off of the grittiness of the streets, the softness of Mrs. Chan and her beautiful clothes, and the juxtaposition of the darkness where Mrs. Chan and Mr. Mo-Wan cloak their seeing of each other.

In the still of Mr. Mo-Wan looking in the mirror, there are tons of gorgeous elements in the shot that help to reflect a complexity in feeling that the story itself does not have. In the mirror, the viewer gets two versions of a similar feeling. Mr. Mo-Wan looks confused and a bit pained – his wife is having an affair, and he is finding himself falling for his wife’s lover’s wife. It’s all so complicated – especially since the two live next door to one another, an easy way to get caught by the respective apartment owners that they are renting from. Everything else in the shot is blurred except for the very clear view of his reflection, and it mirrors the theme that while everything seems very complicated and fuzzy regarding he and Mrs. Chan’s relationship.

One of the other shots that I thought was particularly beautiful was the one where Mrs. Chan is standing in the window. Clearly, the actress is a beautiful woman, yet the simplicity of her standing in the window, drinking a glass of water, while contemplating is also in focus against the contrast of all the fuzzy greenery. The same them is reiterated – the personal struggles of the two main characters, not only in coming to grips with the betrayal of their spouses, but also coming to terms with their strange relationship with each other.

*PS – Can I also say that the costuming in this film was beautiful? Mrs. Chan’s dresses were very emulative of her character – gorgeous, yet still uptight and formal all the time. She was always dressed and made up, and I thought this said a lot about her character – not only in a prissy way, but also in the fact that she seemed a little austere and cold. It wasn’t until the last fourth of the film that she cried, and in the next few scenes her hair was looser, and we see her take off her shoes – a gradual sense of letting go.