Filmstelle

Hong Kong 1962. Chow Mo-Wan and his wife move into the same house at the same time as Su Li-Zhen and her husband. However, their spouses are rarely present: Li-Zhen’s husband is often on business trips and Mo-Wan’s wife often works late at the hotel. The two couples grow apart and over time Chow and Su become closer. Especially when they find out that their partners are probably having an affair with each other. A melancholic love story is about to unfold.
In the Mood for Love shows more than just a typical love story riddled with clichés. Wong Kar-Wai, one of the most important filmmakers of the 90s, immerses the film in a color palette that gives the film an incomparable look. The desire of the two characters, which grows stronger over the course of the running time, can be felt in the looks and small gestures of the two magnificent main actors, even in the most everyday encounters. The decision to never show the spouses completely gives the film a mystical atmosphere, which unfolds its full effect especially when the element of time becomes even more noticeable towards the end of the film. The story of a love that can never be realized, but will also never be forgotten. A perfectly formed film about an unfulfilled desire.
Jérôme Bewersdorff