Fa yeung nin wa (2000)

Director:

Kar Wai Wong

Writer:

Kar Wai Wong (written by)

Release Date:

26 February 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Feel the heat, keep the feeling burning, let the sensation explode.

Plot:

A man and a woman move in to neighboring Hong Kong apartments and form a bond when they both suspect their spouses of extra-marital activities.

Plot Keywords:

Chapter Headings | Episodic | Melodrama | Cult Director | Famous Score

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 31 wins & 23 nominations

Cast

Maggie Cheung	...	Su Li-zhen - Mrs. Chan
Tony Leung Chiu Wai	...	Chow Mo-wan
Ping Lam Siu	...	Ah Ping
Tung Cho 'Joe' Cheung	...	Man living in Mr. Koo's apartment
Rebecca Pan	...	Mrs. Suen
Kelly Lai Chen	...	Mr. Ho (as Lai Chen)
Man-Lei Chan	...	Mr. Koo
Tsi-Ang Chin	...	Amah
Roy Cheung	...	Mr. Chan (voice)
Paulyn Sun	...	Mrs. Chow (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Po-chun Chow
Kam-wah Koo
Hsien Yu

Also Known As:

In the Mood for Love (France) (Hong Kong: English title) (USA)
Beijing Summer (Hong Kong: English title) (working title)
Flower Like Years (Hong Kong: English title) (working title)
Hua yang nian hua (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements and brief language.

Runtime:

98 min | Poland:94 min

Country:

Hong Kong | France

Language:

Cantonese | Shanghainese | French

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Malaysia:U | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:6 | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:PG | Netherlands:AL | Norway:A | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:Btl | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Bangkok, Thailand

Company:

Block 2 Pictures

Trivia:

Director Kar Wai Wong found the English title for "In the Mood for Love" while listening to a song from a Brian Ferry CD with a similar title, "I'm in the Mood for Love". It is a cover of a 1930s song with the same title, Kar Wai Wong used the title and the song in an early Hong Kong trailer of the film, and it was also used in the USA trailer of the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: Before Su Li-zhen bestowed her landlady with a electric rice cooker, there already was one sitting on the kitchen counter in an earlier scene.

Quotes:

Su Li-zhen Chan: Why did you call me at the office today?
Chow Mo-wan: I had nothing to do. I wanted to hear your voice.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Soundtrack:

Aquellos Ojos Verdes

The most disarming romance ever filmed.

In 60s Hong Kong, a man and woman move in the same day into adjacent apartments with their respective spouses. Soon they suspect their ever absent spouses of having an affair with one-another. A strange bond emerges between the man and woman as they cope with their sadness by taking turns playing each other's spouse, before a more complex bond emerges...

No summary can do it justice, for Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar-Wai's "In the Mood for Love" is nothing short of a miracle. A story about sadness that manages to be touching and at times funny. A romance that never feels forced or fake. No doubt the director's method has a lot to do with that.

Directed from an inexistent screenplay (though the concept largely flows from a Japanese short story) to favor improvisation, the film is immediately set apart by the freshness of it's performances. All the film revolves around that and the rest is pure enhancement. At the core of the film are two characters that will ease into your heart and stay there long after the end credits roll: Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung are simply amazing and no language barrier undermines a single fragment of immediacy and truth they display. The additional material is also top-notch: the films is magnificent to behold (in part lensed by "Hero"'s Christopher Doyle) and the music is heartbreaking.

This is something everybody must see, if only because it is by far the most heartfelt, mature and authentic "love story" out there. Unmissable.