Cinema
In the Mood for Love
花樣年華
Wong Kar-wai · 2000
Synopsis
In Hong Kong, in 1962, Mr Chow, a journalist, and Mrs Chan, a secretary at a shipping company, move into two neighbouring flats on the same day. Their spouses are often absent, and they eventually realise that the two of them are having an affair. Hurt, the two neighbours grow closer, act out between themselves how the affair may have begun, and promise not to behave like them. Chow soon asks her to help him write a swashbuckling serial.
Context
The shoot lasted fifteen months, on a barely sketched screenplay, and much of the footage was cut to tighten the story around the couple. Christopher Doyle, who left the shoot, and Mark Lee Ping-bin are credited with the photography; Maggie Cheung wears fitted Chinese dresses. The Chinese title comes from a 1946 song by Zhou Xuan, the English title from a song covered by Bryan Ferry. Presented in competition at Cannes in 2000, it was released in France on 8 November 2000 and re-released on 11 March 2026.
Who it is for
A ninety-eight-minute film, in Cantonese, of great restraint; released in France in 2000.
Prizes and reception
Tony Leung won the acting prize there, the first Hong Kong actor so distinguished, and the film the technical grand prize.
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