In the Mood for Love (2000)

Two attractive people in tight quarters with incredible chemistry spend 90 minutes not fucking, and it’s one of cinema’s greatest romances.

I don’t think I picked up on everything in this movie. There’s a lot going on beneath the surface with very subtle performances that are really impressive. Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung are doing so much with just glances and small gestures - the kind of acting that reveals more on repeat viewings. I suspect I missed entire layers of meaning on this first watch.

The filming locations are incredible. Every frame looks meticulously composed, from the cramped hallways to those gorgeous patterned walls. Wong Kar-wai turns these tiny apartments into entire emotional worlds. The way he uses space and color is just stunning.

I also loved picking up on how much the Daniels reference this movie in Everything Everywhere All at Once - the hallway scenes, the visual composition, even some of the emotional beats. Seeing the source material makes those homages hit different.

It’s a short movie at 90 minutes, but it does feel a bit long in places. The deliberate pacing works for what the film is doing, but I’d be lying if I said my attention didn’t drift occasionally. I’m glad I watched it though, and I suspect it’ll grow on me even more with time.

But mostly, god, the lead performers are so hot. I was genuinely stricken by their beauty the entire time. Maggie Cheung in those qipaos and Tony Leung in those suits - it’s almost unfair how attractive they both are. The film knows it too and uses their beauty as part of the tragedy.

This is a masterpiece of restraint and longing. I need to sit with it more.

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