French cinema magazines

InThe Mood For Love

Wong Kar waï: He was born the 15th of July 1956 in Shanghai. He left Shanghaï with his mother at 5 years old. Wong Kar waï dropped out of an art school and joined a sceenwritter’s program in 1980. He directed his first film in 1988: As Tears Go By In 1997 he became the first chinese to win the best director award at Cannes film festival with his movie Happy Together.In 2000 with In The Mood For Love Wong Kar waï obtained the cesar of best foreign movie. Then  2004 he directed 2046.The film by many points remind me In The Mood For Love. He also directed several music videos. Finnaly in 2007 this director left Hong Kong to shoot a movie in the USA with Judd Law and Norah Jones. Wong Kar waï admited that he has been very influenced by Andreï Tarkovski, Stanley Kubrick, Igmar Bergman...


The movie takes place in Hong Kong, 1962. Chow Mo-Wan (Tony Leung), a journalist,  rents a room in an apartment the same day as Maggie Cheung (So), a secretary from a shipping company. They become neighbours.Chow and So often find themselves alone in their rooms, and they begin a friendship.Chow invites So to help him to write a martial arts novel. They started to be very close, people begin to notice that they are in love.However, as time passes, Chow falls in love with So. Firm in his moral convictions that forbid adultery, he leaves Hong Kong for a job offered by a friend in Singapore. Chow asks So to let him go. They spend one night together.The next year, So goes to Singapour and visit Chow. She calls Chow, who is working for a  newspaper. When Chow picks up, So remains silent...Three years later, So goes back to Hong Kong. She decide to rent the whole appartment. Few months later Chow also comes back he  finds out that So has a son and leave in the apartment. He leaves without visiting So.The final scene takes place in Cambodia, Chow is seen visiting a temple and whispers words  into a hole in a wall.
Wong admited that he was very influenced by one Hitchcock’s film:  Vertigo during the shot of this film, and compares Tony Leung's movie character to Jimmy Stewart's. They are both nice guys in appearance but he is sick. The rythm of the movie is based on the music composed by Zhou Xuang. People meet them each other but they are alone. This movie is actually about the loneliness of life.