IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
Year: 2000
USA: USA Films
UK: Metro Tartan
Cast: Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Maggie Cheung, Lai Chen, Rebecca Pan, Paulyn Sun
Director: Wong Kar-Wai
Countries: Hong Kong / France
Language: Cantonese
USA & UK: 97 mins
USA Rated: PG for thematic elements and brief language
UK Certificate: PG contains infrequent mild sexual references
USA Release Date: 16 February 2001 (Limited Release)
USA Release Date: 9 February 2001 (Limited Release - Los Angeles)
USA Release Date: 2 February 2001(Limited Release - New York)
UK Release Date: 27 October 2000
Synopsis
Hong Kong, 1962. The city is tranquil and courteous. The population is divided between indigenous Cantonese Chinese and immigrants from mainland China. The mood is cautiously optimistic as the economy (following the example set by nearby Japan) is beginning to take off.
Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), a journalist, rents a room in an apartment in a building mainly inhabited by the Shanghainese community. It's sheer coincidence that he moves in the same day that Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk) moves in next door, to a room in Mrs. Suen's (Rebecca Pan) place. Li-zhen works as a secretary to Mr. Ho (Lai Chin), the boss of a shipping company. It's also a coincidence that both of them are moving in without help from their spouses. Chow's wife, a hotel receptionist, is working her shift at the hotel at the time of the move. Li-zhen's husband, Mr. Chan, is away on a business trip: he works for a Japanese company, and is often abroad. Despite having convivial and neighbourly landlords, Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan often find themselves alone and lonely in their respective rooms.
They never have a real conversation until Mr. Chow realizes that their respective spouses are having an affair. This discovery shocks both of them. Mr. Chow, feeling hurt and wishing to understand how the affair happened, begins finding excuses to spend time with Mrs. Chan. First, they rehearse what they will say to their spouses when they confront them with what they know; then, Mr. Chow invites Mrs. Chan to collaborate with him on a martial-arts story that he is writing for his newspaper. Their meetings are discreet, but people begin to notice. There seems no possibility that they, too, will have an affair. But Mrs. Chan's emotional reticence begins to haunt Mr. Chow, and he finds his feelings changing. It's almost like being in love...
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE is the winner of the Best Actor award and the Grand Prix de la Technique (for its editing, cinematography, and production design) at the 2000 Cannes International Film Festival, and is the new film from globally acclaimed writer/director Wong Kar-Wai. A romantic drama, it marks the fifth film that both Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung, two of Hong Kong's most renowned movie stars, have appeared in.