In the Mood for Love

This film takes place in Hong Kong, in 1962, and tells the story of a young man and a young woman who serendipitously enter each other's lives as they both rent new rooms in neighboring apartments on the same day. As the plot develops we find our two lead characters have been left lonely in the wake of their spouses infidelity. Still yet, they come to realize that their spouses are involved with one another, far away, in Japan. From this point forward they are ostensibly linked and profoundly conflicted in their feelings for one another. Their inner turmoil is echoed by the conservative nature of relations between men and women in 1962, Hong Kong. In this vein, the film draws us in to a secret world via brilliant direction and cinematography. We privately witness their time together in slow obscure scenes, shot from behind, through curtains, windows, and mirrors. We are skillfully drawn into a murky world where circumstance, desire, and morality collide.