the director said

Newell 2022-03-25 09:01:07

Wong Kar-wai is a maverick among contemporary Hong Kong directors. The performances of many stars who subvert the previous image in the film are expected. The unscripted shooting method makes the audience even more curious. Until the important role has completely disappeared, the film often presents two extremes after its release, and Western film festivals welcome it again, all of which make Wong Kar-wai an outlier in the Hong Kong film industry.

However, "In the Mood for Love" can be regarded as an exception. Although it has been criticized, it has not caused intense controversy as "Dong Xie Xi Du", and has never been so warmly welcomed by the public. The story of the film is so complete and clear that although it needs to be viewed before and after, it is completely different from his previous piecemeal collages. The form of the film is surprisingly neat, there is no postmodern deconstruction, Haruki Murakami-style language, and no more shaking. Hand-held photography, quick montages, intricate character relationships, black-and-white color images, and anamorphic wide-angle lenses test the audience. However, under the guise of extramarital affairs in the 1960s, Wong Kar-wai was still concerned with themes of choice and escape, memory, human emotions, and the pursuit of lost sentiments. He cleverly used the dizzying cheongsam, the melancholy and charming atmosphere, the default but echoing narrative style, and the emotional music to add to the watchability of the film. As a literary film, it also derives many peripheral products of the film, but not posters, dolls, fan clubs, but buildings, cheongsams, restaurants, food, and soundtracks. Therefore, Wang Jing, who has always been criticized by Hong Kong film critics for his commercial nature, once said that Wong Kar-wai would make more commercial films than him. This is not a lie. "In the Mood for Love" confirms that Wong Kar-Wai understands the public's expectations very well. He just puts his own feelings into the business structure, rather than handing over a stereotyped product. The box office has a good reputation. Isn't it the gospel of Hong Kong movies that were in recession at the end of the century? ?

Putting "In the Mood for Love" among the Hong Kong films of this period, it may be the most gorgeous, delicate and decadent flower that has bloomed in the nostalgic style of Hong Kong films since the 1990s. Compared with many nostalgic films, this film continues. It is the relationship between Hong Kong and Shanghai, as well as the middle-class tradition in the Mandarin films of Hong Kong International Film and Mao Industry Corporation (referred to as "Dianmao"), rather than the grass-roots interest of Cantonese films and ghost films. There have been many incisive discussions on the relationship between Shanghai and Hong Kong. The two cities have similarities in terms of coastal geographical location, ambiguity, modern spirit, and urban civilization. Historically, the sudden increase of immigrants from Shanghai (including Jiangsu and Zhejiang) in Hong Kong after World War II changed the pattern that Hong Kong used to be dominated by Lingnan culture. The style of Shanghai immigrant to Westernize the Western style was very typical in and out of the "Dianmao" company that competed with "Shaw Brothers" in the 1950s and 1960s. The lifestyles and behaviors of "Dianmao" stars and executives, as well as a large number of middle-class themes and sentimental films, all present sadness but not sadness, resentment but anger, which means that Hong Kong was in embarrassment at the time. Looking out of reach. And this calm and elegant, with the end of "Dianmao", the marketing of violent films in the 1970s, the prevalence of utilitarianism and cynicism in the 1980s and 1990s, has become an unrepeatable piece of history in Hong Kong.

In "In the Mood for Love", the hero and heroine are all well-dressed in front of them, smiling and smiling. They don't slack off because of personal circumstances. They are afraid of making mistakes in their actions. Careful maintenance of his image and dignity, delicacy conceals emptiness, and sophistication behind enthusiasm, this is a typical modern urban character. Decent maintenance is painful, but it fulfills the appearance of a gentleman or lady. In order to show this mixed style of Shanghai style and Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai asked Pan Dihua, who became famous in Shanghai, to play the landlady Mrs. Sun, because her old-fashioned Shanghai dialect and temperament were in line with the characteristics of Shanghai women of that era, she was good at speaking, shrewd and prudent. Even the old maid of the Sun family, who did not make many appearances, was also played by Qian Siying, the first-generation martial arts actress who became famous in Shanghai in the 1930s. Qian's Shanghai dialect is the most authentic in the film, vividly showing an elderly maid Enthusiasm, ingratiating and eventful.

The film also clearly pays homage to "Dianmao". Mr. He, the boss of Su Lizhen, was played by the "Dianmao" red boy Lei Zhen, and the surname He intentionally or unintentionally pointed to "Dianmao" business card "Four Thousand Gold" (1957) in Lei Zhen He Yan played. And the seemingly inadvertently mentioned "roasted fish" and "shepherd's purse ravioli", as well as Yue Opera, Peking Opera, Pingtan, Cantonese Opera in the noisy background, Zhou Xuan's period song "The Love of Flowers", Pan Dihua's exotic "Solo River" As well as Latin music, jazz, and waltz, they are all vivid brushstrokes depicting Shanghainese in Hong Kong back then, using extremely economical methods to reproduce an era and a migratory community.

The 1960s was the era of Wong Kar-wai's love. If "The True Story of A Fei" (1990) represented the confusion and madness of the times, then "In the Mood for Love" is more tender than bitter. Memories filter out the pain caused by the common unfreedom of the body and mind, and the close relationship between people is also regarded as the sweet human feeling that is currently lacking. The curiosity and excitement brought by it, the large and small bags carrying fresh and fashionable things to the neighbors from foreign countries... These beautiful human feelings will actually bring about the troubles of short-term and long-lasting, prying on personal privacy and moral pressure. Wong Kar-wai used the 1960s as the background for his films many times, which corresponds to the nostalgic sentiments that permeated the whole city before the 1997 handover. Facing the upcoming major turning point, it is natural to look to the future and look back at the past. However, as a work after the handover in 1997, "In the Mood for Love" is compared with Wong Kar-wai's previous films, and the sense of time has disappeared, although he still has many signature close-ups of the clock, including the 1966 film that has a strong impact on Hong Kong. A turning point year to end the relationship between Zhou Muyun and Su Lizhen. Six works before the comeback - "Mong Kok Carmen" (1988), "A Fei Zheng Zhuan", "Evil in the East" (1994), "Chongqing Forest" (1994), "Fallen Angels" (1995), "Beautiful Spring" Diarrhea" (1997), Wong Kar-wai sensitively captured Hong Kong's anxiety about the return, which is full of pressures that don't wait for me, and there are plots where multiple characters insist on questioning their own identity. In fact, at the end of "Springtime" in the year of his return, the mentality of "this place is my hometown" that Wong Kar-wai has never had before appeared, and in "In the Mood for Love", no matter how the hero and heroine miss it again and again, although the overall mood is depressed, after all There is a religious ruin with compassion to release the repression for a long time. No matter how heavy the past, it will fade with time. Therefore, whether Wong Kar-wai's films are set in the 1960s, or in the stories of martial arts, or even move the stage to Argentina, Hong Kong is the city Wong Kar-wai really loves and expresses. Compared with other Hong Kong films, His work is the most complete and continuous reflection of the emotional shift in Hong Kong over a decade.

Technically, Wong Kar-wai used almost all elements of the film to tell the story in "In the Mood for Love", such as performance, photography, music, and art, so that the film's information capacity is enormous, and there are multiple possibilities for interpretation. Even from a big perspective, Zhou Muyun has different views on whether Su Lizhen's attitude is love or revenge. It can be said that there are many ambiguities in the whole film, and this just gives fans the joy of infinite interpretation. On the surface, it seems that the camera angles and scenes of this film are very simple. The corridors, offices, hotels, narrow alleys, noodle stalls, stairs, restaurants, taxis, and even the music are constantly repeated. How to identify the progress of the story? One is the black field, and the other is the cheongsam that Su Lizhen keeps changing. Cheongsam is not only to show the charm of the actors or the style of the times, another important role is to let the audience pay attention to the progress of the story. For example, Zhou Muyun and Su Lizhen were on a date in a restaurant. They ordered each other's favorite dishes. Su Lizhen ate Zhou Muyun's mustard sauce and said, "Your wife can eat spicy food." The camera then pans back and forth between the duo's dinner plates twice. In the next shot, Su Lizhen wipes her mouth with a napkin after eating, the dishes and the surrounding environment have not changed, but Su Lizhen's cheongsam has changed. Next, the two sat in the taxi, sticking to the above scenario, they probably went home after dinner, but Su Lizhen's cheongsam changed again! The seemingly coherent dining scene implies that the two have dated quite a few times, and love develops over time. The technique is very simple, but leaves a lot of room for imagination. Multiple interpretation possibilities. What can also increase the ambiguity is the composition of the film, such as a large number of characters over the shoulder shots, the setting of occlusions in the foreground, the separation of sound and picture, and the characters living at the edge of the picture, so that the activities and hearts of the characters are in a kind of half-heartedness. It is displayed in front of the audience in a half-concealed or vague way, which on the one hand deepens the layering of the picture, and also causes the effect of alienation and alienation.

Corresponding to the simple technique is the quietness of the lens language of "In the Mood for Love", the only movement is translation. The surface of life under the camera is so calm, but the emotional undercurrent is turbulent, just like Su Lizhen's many high-necked cheongsams. Its strictness seems to constrain the heroine, but it actually reveals the lonely heart. There is only one obvious change in the rhythm of the camera. When Zhou Muyun and Su Lizhen first met in a restaurant, they talked about leather bags and ties, and suddenly there was a quick shift. Although the two of them had already understood it, they finally confirmed the matter through each other's mouths. , the inner pain can be imagined, but the film only uses unusual changes in the rhythm of the shots, but this is more effective than any intense dialogue or body language between the two. Another panning shot shows Zhou Muyun and Su Lizhen sitting against the wall at home. The song "Love in the Mood", which Su Lizhen's husband ordered in Japan for his wife's birthday, came from the radio. In the shot, Su Lizhen was sitting on a stool holding a cup of tea and listening with her head down. , did not notice that the water in the kitchen had been boiled. The camera then pans to the left, and that wall appears to be extra thick, causing the entire frame to go black for 3 seconds. The camera moves to Zhou Muyun again. He has an electric rice cooker in his hand. This rice cooker was bought from Japan by his wife, Su Lizhen, who worked the night shift. The wife gave Su Lizhen money to her husband without his knowledge. The director obviously did not let him hold this prop meaninglessly, and the camera moved back to Su Lizhen through the wall. She was already leaning against the wall weakly, the steam of the water was getting bigger and bigger, and the lyrics also changed from "In the Mood for Love, the Moon in the Mood". The spirit, the intelligence like ice and snow, the beautiful life, the affectionate family members, the perfect family” turned to “Suddenly this lonely island is covered with miserable mist, miserable mist and misery…”

The film also uses a lot of empty shots. For example, Zhou Muyun met Su Lizhen, who was buying noodles. The two passed by on the long and narrow stairs. The camera moved to the dim street lamp by the roadside, and then the picture seemed to stand still, and this little light was bright in the darkness of the large film. It made people a little uneasy and hopeful. Then, it suddenly rained. In the rain, Zhou Muyun was smoking a cigarette on the stairs, as if waiting for something, while Su Lizhen, who was sheltering from the rain, was also unsure. Then, the rain in the slow motion of the empty lens spreads on the ground inch by inch, the light and shade are uncertain, and there is a certain sense of rhythm like background music. In the end, Su Lizhen and Zhou Muyun went home from the stairs one after the other. They pretended to ask each other's spouse why they were rare when they opened their doors. From the conversation between Su Lizhen and her neighbors later, she knew that it was a "rainstorm" (thunderstorm), which was big and violent, just like the impact of the spouse's extramarital affairs on their hearts, but also covered up their inner crying. The film also uses a large number of empty shots at the end. The ancient Angkor Wat conveys a distant and heavy sense of history. The low tone of the cello in the soundtrack goes back and forth. Oriental restraint and repression. The inseparable scene is a common technique in oriental films. Empty shots and natural scenes are not simple transitions, but the spokesperson of emotions, creating an artistic conception that is full of words and infinite in meaning, such as the blank space in traditional painting, the "empty" in the "empty". There are things and feelings. It is not because of the wonders of the East that Wong Kar-wai's films have attracted attention in the West, but the characteristics of oriental art are not lacking in his films. .

"In the Mood for Love" is a film that can be watched over and over again. The story is not surprising, but the way of expression. The whole film's ambush, echo and control of a large number of details finally achieves a film that achieves the literary reading interest of "reading a book a hundred times, and its meaning is self-evident".

View more about In the Mood for Love reviews

Extended Reading
  • Madisyn 2022-03-26 09:01:04

    Smoldering men and women, mahjong, cheongsam, Shanghai women

  • Crystel 2022-03-26 09:01:04

    If the most recognized Chinese director in the West should be Wong Kar-wai, and the most eye-catching work is this "In the Mood for Love", the Chinese film with the highest ranking on IMDB, TSPDT, BBC, and Audio-Visual is without exception "In the Mood for Love". Golden years". Director Wong Kar-wai, Du Kefeng Cinematography, Zhang Shuping, Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung starred, and they are indeed an ace combination. Quentin loves to clap his feet, the king of sunglasses loves to clap his hands, Maggie Cheung is really good at acting with his hands. In addition, the "frame and frame" and the composition of the foreground block in the film vividly express the repressed and restrained emotional dilemma in the character's heart. The tune is really perfect. All the emotions were as thick and lingering as the smoke that Zhou Muyun spit out, creating a special feeling of extramarital affairs. In the end, Cantonese and Shanghai dialect are put together without any sense of disobedience. It's amazing.

In the Mood for Love quotes

  • Chow Mo-wan: It's me. If there's an extra ticket... would you go with me?

    Su Li-zhen Chan: It's me. If there's an extra ticket... would you go with me?

  • Su Li-zhen Chan: Am I hopeless?

    Chow Mo-wan: Not really.