Vitals

Tony Leung as Chow Mo-wan, sensitive journalist

Hong Kong, Spring 1962

Film: In the Mood for Love
(Chinese title: 花樣年華)
Release Date: September 29, 2000
Director: Wong Kar-wai
Costume Designer: William Chang

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Valentine’s Day feels like the appropriate time to discuss In the Mood for Love, Wong Kar-wai’s lush and compelling exploration of loneliness, loss, and love set in Hong Kong’s Shanghainese community in 1962. Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung) and Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung), live with their respective spouses in neighboring apartments but each often find themselves alone in their rooms, venturing out only for noodles from a street stall where they occasionally make contact. As the two connect over their oft-absent spouses, Chow and Su slowly come to the realization that his wife and her husband are engaged in an affair. Continue reading →