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

Director:

Kar Wai Wong

Writer:

Kar Wai Wong (written by)

Release Date:

29 September 2000 (Hong Kong)

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 extramarital activities.

Plot Keywords:

Hong Kong | Newspaper | Coincidence | Apartment | Moving In

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 35 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
Julien Carbon	...	French tourist (uncredited)
Laurent Courtiaud	...	French reporter (uncredited)
Charles de Gaulle	...	Himself (1966 visit to Cambodia) (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Kar Wai Wong

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kar Wai Wong		written by

Produced by
Ye-cheng Chan	....	executive producer
William Chang	....	associate producer
Gilles Ciment	....	co-executive producer
Jacky Pang Yee Wah	....	associate producer (as Jacky Pang Yee-Wah)
Kar Wai Wong	....	producer

Original Music by
Michael Galasso		(as Mike Galasso)
Shigeru Umebayashi

Cinematography by
Christopher Doyle
Pung-Leung Kwan
Ping Bin Lee		(as Mark Lee Ping-bin)

Film Editing by
William Chang

Production Design by
William Chang

Costume Design by
William Chang

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Johnnie Kong	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Ping Lam Siu	....	property master

Other crew
Tony Rayns	....	subtitler: english

Production Companies

• Block 2 Pictures
• Jet Tone Production
• Paradis Films

Distributors

• Artistas Argentinos Asociados (AAA) (2001) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• C-Films (2001) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Cinema Mondo (2001) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Filmcoopi Zürich (2000-2001) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Océan Films (2000) (France) (theatrical)
• Prokino Filmverleih (2000) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Solar Films (2004) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• Triangelfilm (2001) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• USA Films (2001) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Amboto Audiovisual S.L. (Spain)
• C-sales Arthouse Video (2001) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Film Corp. (DVD)
• Divisa Home Video (2004-2006) (Spain) (DVD)
• Mei Ah Entertainment (2001) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Nederlandse Programma Stichting (NPS) (2002) (Netherlands) (TV)
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (UK) (all media)
• Shôchiku Eiga
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2005) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2005) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• Videoimpulse (2004) (Russia) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Asia Legend  opening title design
• Kantana Animation Co. Ltd.  film processing
• Kodak (Hong Kong) Ltd.  film supplied by
• Oriental Post Co. Ltd.  telecine
• Ramindra Sound Recording Studios  Dolby Digital sound mix
• Salon Films  equipment provided by
• True Technic Ltd.  sound re-recording

Also Known As:

"Fa yeung nin wa" - Hong Kong (original title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements and brief language

Runtime:

98 min | Poland:94 min

Country:

Hong Kong | France

Language:

Cantonese | Shanghainese | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

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 | Iceland:L | Malaysia:U | South Korea:15 | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Cambodia

Company:

Block 2 Pictures

Trivia:

Filming took 15 months.

Goofs:

Continuity: At around 10:00, while they are using the rice cooker that Mr. Chan brought from his trip, Mrs. Chan's newspaper is inconsistently open/closed between shots

Quotes:

Chow Mo-wan:In the old days, if someone had a secret they didn't want to share... you know what they did?
Ah Ping:Have no idea.
Chow Mo-wan:They went up a mountain, found a tree, carved a hole in it, and whispered the secret into the hole. Then they covered it with mud. And leave the secret there forever.
Ah Ping:What a pain! I'd just go to get laid.
Chow Mo-wan:Not everyone's like you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in My Wife Is 18 (2002)

Soundtrack:

Te Quiero Dijiste

Wonderful Hong Kong Art-house.

Two people living in the same flat complex find their partners are having an affair with each other. As they try and piece together how it happened, they also embark on an emotional journey that aches for a resolution…

Building on his previous success with Happy Together and Chungking Express, Wong Kar Wai gives us this rather old fashioned and marvellous story of reawakened passions, yearning and unrequited love.

Possibly, In the Mood for Love is not to everyone's taste. It wanders in rather lazily at 98mins: not particularly long for a film, but it appears longer because not a lot really happens. But this lazy feel conceals a quite tightly constructed film. Most of the story is cunningly woven around a series of set piece role plays, where the characters act out presumed scenarios between their respective spouses, trying to work out how the affair started. I say cunning because, of course, this makes it difficult for the audience (and the characters) to tell what is "in-role" and what is genuine.

If all this sounds rather arty and self-conscience, that's because it is. Unashamedly so. And it is played to perfection by two of Hong Kong's finest, Maggie Cheung and Leung Chui Wai, with some excellent support from Ping Lam Siu and Rebecca Pan.

It is also a virtuoso performance by Wong Kar Wai, who treats the audience to a sensory, and sensual, overload. Bringing together Christopher Doyle (who later deployed his lush, over-ripe style on Hero) and Pin Bing Lee (whose beautifully understated style can be seen on Springtime in a Small Town) was cinematographic genius. It has all the bold beauty of Doyle, without, frankly, the Athena-poster cheesiness of his work on Hero. The music, as always with Wong, is prominent. From Nat King Cole singing in Spanish, to the haunting strings of the main theme, it perfectly matches the eclectic beauty of the images.

All in all a top film, whether judged on plot, acting, cinematography or soundtrack. Similar to, but more accessible than, Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire, this is a beautiful, old fashioned story about love lost and regained.

And watch out for Tony Leung's hotel room 2046, which presaged Wong's recent film of the same name.