In the Mood for Love (2000)

A great movie with a music background that sticks like glue, a steamy wet season and love story matching. This movie is one that is remembered vividly. Its the third time I have watched it over the years and each time more detail leaps out and reveals itself.

Very stylish/stylised film and a pleasure to watch although a little difficult to follow at times.

They may have been in the mood, but that's as far as it goes. Nothing much happens for the entire movie. The interview with the director on the DVD helps to make some sense of it all. Apparently, there are a lots of nuances around Mandarin-speaking Shanghainese living in Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong. The incongruity of Nat King Cole songs in Spanish is also explained.

Average movie.

This movie started off with so much promise - then half way through it appears that the Producers sacked the Director and bought someone else in and... Bingo!! - the movie went off in another tangent - end result can be best described as woeful.

Can't understand why this got a 3 1/2 star rating. I couldn't even see it to the end. Too slow for me and no character development.

Recommend..an Asian look at marriage affairs...sensitively portrayed with no sex unlike the Western World's movies..a refreshing change..8/10 from me

Set in Hong Kong in ’62, two attractive and lonely people move into the same apartment building. Each is married but they slowly drift closer to each other after learning that their respective spouses are having an affair. However, each is reticent and they maintain an emotional distance from each other; viewers must wonder whether they will or won’t. The vibrant cinematography and sound track are the best parts, especially Nat King Cole singing in Spanish and Michael Galasson’s evocative pizzicato strings with a mournful cello melody. This unusual film about repressed love left me rather frustrated; the leads aren’t fleshed out enough and, like unrequited love, it doesn’t add up to a fulfilling experience. Two and a half stars.

Mr Chow (Tony Leung) and his wife move into a small apartment block, in a rather rundown district of Hong Kong, on the same day as attractive Li-zhen Chan (Maggie Cheung) moves in with her husband. Mr Chan goes to Japan on business and Mrs Chow is a shadowy figure, away much of the time, but often seen making secret phone calls which are, in fact, to Li-zhen's husband. Mr Chow and Li-zhen, left very much on their own, lead solitary lives. Being on the same floor they inevitably meet in the corridor and on the stairs. A nodding acquaintance turns into short conversations and soon leads to their dining out together. When Mr Chow reveals that he is writing a martial arts' serial, Li-zhen starts visiting his apartment to help him write the stories. There is no impropriety between them, but one night Li-zhen is confronted by her rather nosey landlady over her going out so much. Not wanting people to think they are conducting a sordid affair, as their partners are doing, they meet secretly, putting considerable strain on an already fragile relationship. A simple story, told in simple language, of two people wanting to be together, yet trapped in the claustrophobic atmosphere of close living, is wonderfully captured by Christopher Doyle's cinematography. Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung exhibit an on-screen presence which can only be described as hypnotic.

A stunningly beautiful and haunting movie. Art direction is first rate, as are sets, costumes and lighting....however this movie is not so much "slow" as "stationary". More or less nothing happens. Its more like looking at a painting than watching a movie, but quietly compelling for all that.

Beautifully shot love story - slow moving but very, very beautiful. Great score. I'll possibly buy it.

Extremely romantic and sensual. It has a sad undercurrent all the way through and a very satisfying finale. To say that it wasnt scripted is an amazing achievement in itself. Highly recommended.

A little bit too slow but worth watching if you like foreign movies. My husband left the room :-(

A Chinese film,[I think]nice light entertainment,to my taste when I am not looking for tense drama.Some funny scenes and some sad scenes ,leave it on the subtitles to get a real feel for the dialogue.Made a pleasant nights entetainment

A Chinese film,[I think]nice light entertainment,to my taste when I am not looking for tense drama.Some funny scenes and some sad scenes ,leave it on the subtitles to get a real feel for the dialogue.Made a pleasant nights entetainment

A beautiful film. Superb acting and visually brilliant. For those who appreciate the subtleties in movies.

Brilliant. Superb acting and a visual delight, for those that appreciate the subtleties in movies.

Very strange film, interesting, I think I will have to watch it again to catch the gist of it. Two people meet because they move into the same building on the same day. Their spouses we virtually never see - just the backs of their heads or the sides or just their voices. We see the couple interract and develop their relationship as we realise that their spouses are having an affair. A bit complicated.

Extraordinary, slow-paced film made up of moments, details, excerpts, bits and pieces. Perfect performances. Longing without fulfilment played out with great intensity. Performances always understated and Lesley and Maggie gorgeous as ever. Very little happens. Everything happens.

I was tempted to watch this with the fast forward button on - really!

Good Arthouse Movie

A melancholy haunting beautiful original movie. Well worth a look.

Beautifully nostalgic, especially for Chinese audiences.

Very slow movie, good art direction but storywise it's a bit boring.