In the Mood for Love (2000)
"Fa yeung nin wa" (original title)

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

Director:

Kar Wai Wong

Writer:

Kar Wai Wong

Stars:

Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Ping Lam Siu

Top 250 #246 | Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 35 wins & 23 nominations.

Cast

Credited 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

Storyline

Set in Hong Kong, 1962, Chow Mo-Wan is a newspaper editor who moves into a new building with his wife. At the same time, Su Li-zhen, a beautiful secretary and her executive husband also move in to the crowded building. With their spouses often away, Chow and Li-zhen spend most of their time together as friends. They have everything in common from noodle shops to martial arts. Soon, they are shocked to discover that their spouses are having an affair. Hurt and angry, they find comfort in their growing friendship even as they resolve not to be like their unfaithful mates.

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Plot Keywords:

hong kong | newspaper | coincidence | apartment | moving in | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Jet Tone Films Ltd [Hong Kong]

Country:

Hong Kong France

Language:

Cantonese Shanghainese French

Release Date:

29 September 2000 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

In the Mood for Love

Filming Locations:

Cambodia

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$113,280 (USA) (2 February 2001)

Gross:

ESP 125,406,499 (Spain) (29 June 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Block 2 Pictures, Jet Tone Production, Paradis Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chosen by "Les Cahiers du cinéma" (France) as one of the 10 best pictures of 2000 (#05).

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Goofs

When the people of the house are using the rice cooker that Mr. Chan brought for the landlady from his trip, Mrs. Chan is reading a newspaper and the newspaper is wide open. When she tells Mr. Chow that she will tell her husband to buy a rice cooker for him, the newspaper is folded but when Mr. Chow walks away at the end of that chat, the newspaper is wide open again.

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Quotes

Chow Mo-wan: That handbag I saw you with this evening... Where did you buy it?
Su Li-zhen Chan: Why do you ask?
Chow Mo-wan: It looked so elegant. I want to get one for my wife.
Su Li-zhen Chan: Mr. Chow, you're so good to your wife!
Chow Mo-wan: Not really! My wife is so fussy. Her birthday is some days away. I don't know what to get her. Could you buy one for me to give her?
Su Li-zhen Chan: Maybe she wouldn't want one just exactly the same.
Chow Mo-wan: You're right, I didn't think of that.
Su Li-zhen Chan: A woman would mind.
Chow Mo-wan: Yes, especially since we're neighbors. Do they come in other colors?
Su Li-zhen Chan: I'd have to ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in My Wife Is 18 (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Aquellos Ojos Verdes"
Written by Adolfo Utrera and Nilo Menendez
Performed by Nat 'King' Cole
Publisher: Peer International corp. (Peermusic (SE Asia) Ltd.) / Campbell Connelly Co. & Ltd. (BMG Music Publishing HK Ltd.)
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under License From EMI - Capitol Music Special Markets

User Reviews

A Beautiful, Melancholic and Romantic Love Story

In Hong Kong, 1962, the editor Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) and his wife, and the secretary Su Li-Zhen Chan (Maggie Cheung) and her husband simultaneously move to an old building. Each couple has just rented a room in apartments on the same floor. Their wife and husband stay most of the time away from home, and Chow and Li-Zhen have the same habits: they like kung-fu stories and noodles and soap from a restaurant nearby the building. Their close contact becomes friendship and a sort of platonic and repressed love. Later they realize that their mates are having an affair, Chow falls in love with Li-Zhen, but her shyness and probably repressed condition of married woman keeps her love in a platonic level. 'In the Mood for Love' is a very slow, beautiful, melancholic and romantic love story, with a wonderful photography and soundtrack and a very unusual edition. The film had not had a screenplay, and the actors were never sure about what they would be shooting. Later, the director edited his story based on the footages. When Chow moves to Singapore, there is a gap of many years in the story until 1966, when its conclusion is intentionally open and not well defined, leaving questions such as who is the boy with Li-Zhen. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): 'Amor À Flor da Pele' ('Love on the Surface of the Skin')