In the Mood for Love: A Film Analysis

Sergei Eisenstein begins his text "The Dramaturgy of Film Form" with the claim that art is conflict. (161). He proposes three reasons for this: art's inherent social mission, its nature, and its methodology (Eisenstein 161). Of the three characteristics he enumerates, one stood out for me. Indeed, the social mission of art, as Eisenstein explains it, is to expose the "contradictions of being" (Eisenstein 161), and Wong Kar-Wai's In the Mood for Love (2000) does exactly that. Through its use of patterns—particularly the repeating soundtrack and usage of slow-motion— mise-en-scène, cinematography, camera movements, and editing, In the Mood for Love explores the conflict between eloping out of love and respecting social norms. Indeed, not only does the movie's cinematic qualities set it apart from other forms of art (Carroll 151), but it also portrays the playful and longing romantic feelings between Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan, as well as the dream-like quality and fleetness of the moments they share in a critique on the fickleness of love.

In the Mood for Love uses repeating patterns such as its soundtrack and its use of slow-motion to emphasize certain scenes, clueing in the audience on their importance to create suspense. For example, the first time the violin music plays from 0:05:00 to 0:06:00, it marks the beginning of Mrs. Chow and Mr. Chan's love affair. The sudden music and slow-motion had a strong impact on me when I first watched it; it marked the scene as a crucial moment in the story. Although the audience doesn't know yet that they'll get together, the viewer suspects something is up by the shift in the style of the scene. Indeed, it is only revealed later in the movie that Mrs. Chow and Mr. Chan are in a love affair, and even then, it isn't even plainly stated. Instead, Mrs. Chan asks, "I wonder when it began" (In the Mood for Love, 0:31:04). From then on, the movie shifts from hinting at the love affair to focusing more on Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan's blossoming relationship. This process is shown using a particular song in the soundtrack along with slow-motion to mark the important beats in the evolution of their relationship, and thus giving form to the movie and providing a "structured experience" for the viewer (Bordwell et al 51). For instance, the music plays again from 1:03:13 to 1:05:25. The scene begins the same way as the one at 0:05:00, with the same framing through the doorway and lighting, showing Mrs. Chan having supper with her neighbours. However, compared to the first scene, Mrs. Chan is alone. She stands a few feet away from her neighbours—she never really got close to them—and the camera slowly pans up on her, isolating her. This not only emphasizes her loneliness—even in the presence of so many people, she remains to the side—but it also highlights the fact that neither her husband nor Mr. Chow is beside her like in the scene at 0:05:00. Mrs. Chan then looks out the window with a pensive look on her face and the scene cuts to show Mr. Chow at work, looking out into the distance in the same manner as Mrs. Chan, as if both are reminiscing about the past and thinking about what could have been, which seems to be a main theme in the story. Because of all their time spent together, they never end up doing anything. The slow-motion also adds a sense of dreaminess to the scene, a "lyrical rhythm," to illustrate the fleetness of their love (Bordwell et al 167).

The style of In the Mood for Love, its mise-en-scène and its cinematography, all serve to immerse the viewer in the story and to attain realism (Bordwell et al 113) but also to evoke the underlying stifling aspect that permeates the story. Indeed, the scenes are often shot through doorways to create a sense of deep space (Bordwell et al 173), but this framing around doorways and hallways also makes the scenes look narrow and tight. For instance, right at the beginning, when the characters are moving, from 0:02:42 to 0:3:50, the shots are all taken from the hallway connecting both apartments. It gives each shot a deep sense of space, but the way multiple movers are carrying things, the way Mrs. Chan and Mr. Chow need to plaster themselves against the hallway to let people pass, and the overall chaotic feeling of the scene all serve to narrow and tighten the space. It feels stifling, and that emotion is carried throughout the movie. For example, when Mrs. Chan visits Mr. Chow's apartment and meets Mr. Chow's wife from 0:20:47 to 0:21:42, all the shots are taken in angle from a hallway. Not only does it add to the narrowness and tightness of the space, but the scene never reveals Mrs. Chow's face. Indeed, due to the framing of the shots, the faces of Mrs. Chow and Mr. Chan are never shown. This artistic choice serves to confirm that In the Mood for Love is a film focused on Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan's relationship, and it also represents how a love affair is supposed to be invisible. Furthermore, the narrowness and stifling aspect of the shots adds a new layer to the story. Instead of just being a fleeting love story that feels more like a dream than a reality, In the Mood for Love also portrays the negative feelings associated with a love affair. The characters are conscious of the social norms and expectations around them, Mrs. Chan in particular, and it is untimely that which prevents Mrs. Chan and Mr. Chow to get serious in their relationship. They "wake up" from their dream and bury their feelings forever, represented by Mr. Chow whispering his feelings into a nook in the stone brick of a temple at 1:30:20. Incidentally, the shots following that scene are all medium to wide shots of the temple, illustrating how the characters are now free of their feelings and one another.

The use of camera movement and editing in In the Mood for Love portray the playfulness of the friendship between Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan. During most of the film, the shots are stable, taken from a tripod, but in a few instances the camera moves abruptly, such is the case for the restaurant scene when Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan realize their respective partners are having an affair together. During the scene from 0:29:20 to 0:30:40, the camera moves back and forth between the two Although the subject of their conversation is serious, the quick movements of the camera quick a dramatical, almost comedic quality to the scene. Far from being resentful of their partners, Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan decide instead to let bygones be bygones, and they become friends. It keeps the tone of the movie light. The camera movements, which would have seemed dramatic in another circumstance, now seem playful as if Wong KarWai is having just as much fun as his audience. In a way, the camera movement also represents the movement the audience is making as if they are moving their heads from left to right, eagerly listening to Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan's conversation: "What’s more, we tend to see camera movement as a substitute for our movement. When we see a forward tracking shot, we feel that we’re approaching something or backing away" (Bordwell et al 199). Moreover, the editing of certain scenes also conveys the overall playfulness of the movie. For example, when Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan try to guess who made the first move from 0:31:16 to 0:33:12, or when they rehearse Mrs. Chan confronting her husband about the affair from 0:57:44 to 1:01:00, the scene abruptly cuts when either breaks out of characters, and it restarts from the exact shot at the beginning of the scene. The characters then deliver the same lines in the same manner while wit and humour, turning the otherwise sad situation into a funny one once more. And it is the particular nature of film that makes those scenes so impactful. If one is not careful enough while watching the film, one will feel as though they haven't even missed a scene, since the editing makes the restart of those scenes so seamless. In addition, it (Bordwell et al 321) also "breaks the fourth wall" in a way because it looks as though the actors are practicing their lines, rehearsing again and again.

In conclusion, In the Mood for Love explores the fleetness and dreamy quality of forbidden love, of emotions, never consumed, through its masterful use of form—precisely its patterns and rememberable soundtrack—mise-en-scène, cinematography, camera movements, and editing. The movie maintains a fun, light tone with its witty dialogue as well as maintaining a level of suspense, never saying anything quite outright. It's also interesting to note that in the title In the Mood for Love, "mood" is written with intertwined o's as if symbolizing wedding rings.

Works Cited:

Bordwell, David, et al. Film Art: An Introduction Twelfth Edition. McGraw-Hill

Education, 2020.

Carroll, Noel. Engaging the Movie Image. Yale University Press, 2003.

Eisenstein, Sergei. "The Dramaturgy of Film Form (The Dialectical Approach to Film

Form)." S.M. Eisenstein: Selected Works, vol. 1, 1988, pp. 160-81.

In the Mood for Love. Directed by Wong Kar-Wai, performances by Tony Leung and

Maggie Cheung, Block 2 Pictures, 2000.