Fa Yeung Nin Wah / In the Mood for Love (2000) - Lonesome Expatriates Torn between Conventions and Emotions - 7/10 (18/10/24)

In the Mood for Love, originally known as Fa Yeung Nin Wah, is the seventh full length feature film by renowned Chinese director Wong Kar-Wai. This movie has achieved much critical acclaim and is often considered the director's greatest creation along with Chungking Express, originally titled Chung Hing Sam Lam, that was released six years earlier. This movie here can be described as a romantic drama taking place in Hong Kong, Singapore and Cambodia.

The story revolves around journalist Chow Mo-Wan and secretary Su Li-Zhen who movie into the same apartment complex in downtown Hong Kong with their romantic partners. As their respective partners spend more and more time at work, they start to realize that they are having a secret romantic relationship with each other. Chow Mo-Wan and Su Li-Zhen grow closer as they are fighting their loneliness, rejection and sadness. Even though they don't want to act the same way their romantic partners have, they start developing strong feeling for each other. Will their relationship come to an end, will it remain platonic or will they defy expectations and pressures to get romantically involved and separate from their disrespectful and unfaithful romantic partners?

There are several elements that deserve to be praised regarding this movie. The camera work is creative, precise and soothing. The settings are authentic, colourful and portray the emotions of the characters splendidly throughout. The acting performances are excellent as Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung convince entirely as fragile expatriates who are shamelessly abandoned by their partners in an environment they barely know. The smooth soundtrack deserves particular praise as well and is quite memorable as in many other movies by Wong Kar-Wai. The plot is realistic which makes it easy to identify with its fascinating characters.

However, this film isn't without several significant flaws. Its pace is particularly slow, even in comparison to the director's former movies. It takes much attention, dedication and patience to make it through the entire film in one single sitting. Don't watch this movie at all if you feel distracted or tired. Up next, the plot is surprisingly thin and spirals out of control as time and place change frequently by the end of the film. If you are hoping for a proper conclusion, please be aware that Wong Kar-Wai doesn't offer anything close to that and leaves viewers imagining the rest entirely by themselves.

At the end of the day, In the Mood for Love should please fans of Wong Kar-Wai's emotional dramas set in Eastern Asia. This film convinces with excellent acting performances, flawless camera work, moody settings, memorable soundtrack and realistic story. However, the film suffers from particularly slow pace, thin plot developments and unfocused resolutions. While this film ultimately still qualifies as good drama, I personally think this is Wong Kar-Wai's weakest movie up to that point in his career and would rather recommend watching Chungking Express, originally titled Chung Hing Sam Lam, and especially Fallen Angels, originally known as Do Lok Tin Si.