In the Mood for Love

We begin the wind down of “In the Mood for Love” — Mr. Chow’s face at the door — with two lines of text: That era has passed. Nothing that belonged to it exists anymore. But then we get a quick glimpse inside that apartment and see that Wong is toying

Mr. Chow arrives in Singapore, but the mysteries have not ended. He looks around his apartment/hotel room for something — then asks the super if someone was in his room. The man denies it. But he sees on an ashtray a cigarette with lipstick. Could it be her? He meets

The previous scene left us with the feeling of ice breaking, even though it carried a mournful tone. We now expect the atmosphere to change between Mr. Chan and Mrs. Chow. And it does, but Wong Kar-Wai is more interested in showing us how the fundamentals between them remain the

They run into each other in a familiar spot, under an awning, near the stairwell that descends to the dumping shop. It’s pouring. They discuss the weather, say a few words about nothing. Mr. Chan asks her to wait, saying he’ll be right back. He returns with a

That discussion with the landlady hit Mrs. Chow hard. When Mr. Chan called her to ask when she could meet again to work on the stories — that the editor is getting antsy for new copy — she told him that the landlady gave her a lecture and that she wouldn’t

I’ve noticed that I am writing about increasingly smaller chunks of this movie at a time. “In The Mood for Love” is constructed like a Chinese meal, with tiny bites of film designed to be picked up with chop sticks. We get another musical interlude. Our protagonists are collaborating