Weekly Journal - In The Mood For Love 花樣年華

Introduction

In the Mood for Love is not the normal romantic love movie that we usually expect. It certainly is not a simple love to each other and stays with each other happily. The audiences cannot miss every scene in this film because every scene of this film had expressed a great meaning. The meaning of the film is not about whatever we had watched but the meaning is behind their action and interaction with each other. This film is directed and produced by Wong Kar Wai (2000). It adapts French Impressionism, Surrealism and German Expressionism. French Impressionism triggered off due to lack of interests by mass, rising production costs. The characteristic of French Impressionism is it explores psychological causes and it gives narration considerable psychological depth, revealing play of the character’s consciousness, concerns mental states, dreams or fantasies. It also Manipulates plot time and subjectivity or showing flashbacks/memories. Surrealism started 1924, ended 1929. Financial support for avant-garde Films stopped. Surrealism is interested in finding the hidden currents of the unconscious. Germany Expressionism started to fade as 1920s German film industry tries to imitate and compete with Hollywood films, diluting the expressionist tendencies.

Synopsis

The story starts from 1962 in Hong Kong. Chow Mo Wan (Mr. Chow) is a journalist. He rents a room in an apartment of a building. Su Li Zhen (Mrs. Chan) is a secretary of a shipping company. She rents a room in an apartment where is same with Mr. Chow’s building. The spouse of both is always working outside and leave them alone most of the time. Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan had been suspicious of their spouse had seen each other. Mrs. Chan wonders they how to have begun and Chow and Su always act what their spouse would happen. Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan would not stay together at the end of the movie although they love very deeply to each other. Both of them do not willing to do something like to be their spouse that offense the morality.

Recap Scenes

In this movie, there are many scenes that I like because it brings out a lot of the hidden meaning.

For example, Su practices how to ask her husband about an affair with Chow. Due to the sound effect, the ambiance has been changed and make the audience change their feeling too. At the beginning, when Mrs. Chan is practicing asking her “husband” something, Mr. Chow is eating and drinking the soup loudly. After Mrs. Chan crying, Mr. Chow closes his mouth up to prevent making a sound. Due to the loudness of the sound, it brings the audience to enter another sad ambiance.

Besides, another scene that I like is the separation between Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan. Mrs. Chan is a good actor because she can express the exact emotions and feelings through her face and make the audience to feel it too. When Mr. Chow tells her at the corner street, he will go to Singapore for work, Mrs. Chan has expressed a depress and a face of sadness. After hearing the news, she holds her arms tightly. Hence, the audience can know actually she not willing to let him go but she cannot speak it out and persuade him to stay with her because they are not supposed to stay with each other. Lighting, the brightness of the corner street like somewhere is bright but somewhere is dark. It makes audiences pose the feeling of ambiguities love that between Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan

The next scene that I like is the conversation between Mrs. Chan and Mr. Ho (the employer of Mrs. Chan). Someday, Mr. Ho had wore a new tie with some pattern. He thinks nobody will notice but Mrs. Chan does. After Mrs. Chan noticing, Mr. Ho wore the old tie. He tells Mrs. Chan the old tie is more suitable for him rather the new tie. To me, I think Mr. Ho and Mrs. Chan is not talking about the ties but is Mr. Ho’s spouse. After the conversation, Mr. Ho realizes that the old tie is better than the new ties which mean he thinks his wife is more suitable for him. The dialogue is not simply as what we heard. The audience should think about it what does mean.

Furthermore, another scene that I like is Mrs. Chan run to Mr. Chow’s house after she knows Mr. Chow has an accident. At the beginning, she looks like very nervous, she runs to the house quickly. However, before reaching the house, she runs back. The camera follows her movement and move. It can make the audiences confuse will Mrs. Chan visit Mr. Chow? 

Conclusion

To me, I like this kind of film. This is because the movie is not only simply conveying the meaning but it has a hidden meaning for the audience to think about it. This film can make the audience to have curious what is the ending? Will they stay together and be true to themselves? Unfortunately, the story did not tell us the spouse of them have made the “mistake” or not in the end.

那些消失了的岁月，

     仿佛隔着一块

     积着灰尘的玻璃，

     看得到，抓不着。

     他一直在怀念着过去的一切。

     如果他能冲破

     那块积着灰尘的玻璃，

     他会走回早已消失的岁月

然而

那個時代已經過去了。

屬於那個時代的一切

都不存在了。