In the Mood for Love

Name: In the Mood for Love
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: February 2, 2001
Duration: 98 min
Rating: 86
Cast: Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu Wai

2001

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 28 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 207 Ratings

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7.9

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7.9	Your Score
7.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 207 Ratings

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In The Mood For Love

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Movie Details & Credits

USA Films | Release Date: February 2, 2001 | PG

Starring: Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu Wai

Summary: Chow Mo-wan rents a room in a Hong Kong apartment building. It's sheer coincidence that he moves in the same day that Su Li-zhen moves in next door. They never have a real conversation until Mr. Chow realizes that their respective spouses are having an affair. This discovery shocks both of them. Mr. Chow, feeling hurt and wishing toChow Mo-wan rents a room in a Hong Kong apartment building. It's sheer coincidence that he moves in the same day that Su Li-zhen moves in next door. They never have a real conversation until Mr. Chow realizes that their respective spouses are having an affair. This discovery shocks both of them. Mr. Chow, feeling hurt and wishing to understand how the affair happened, begins finding excuses to spend time with Mrs. Chan. (USA Films)… Expand

Director: Kar Wai Wong

Genre(s): Drama, Romance

Rating: PG

Runtime: 98 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Desson Thomson

The sexiest movie of the year. Read full review

100

Jonathan Foreman

Rapturously elegant and deeply sexy in a deliciously restrained way. One of the most romantic movies I have ever seen, right up there with "Brief Encounter"and "Casablanca."

100

Ed Gonzalez

In the Mood For Love is ravishing beyond mortal words. Read full review

Film.com Peter Brunette

It's a masterpiece, a sublime tone poem that shows what cinema is capable of when it tries to do more than just tell a story. Read full review

Lisa Schwarzbaum

Although In the Mood for Love isn't in the mood for action, it dazzles with everything but. Read full review

Marjorie Baumgarten

A stylistic tour de force, one that wordlessly emotes and wears its emotions on its literal silk sleeves. Read full review

Mike Clark

A stylistically fastidious, exasperatingly affected package that will put most people in the mood for slumber. Read full review

SEE ALL 28 REVIEWS

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User Reviews

JMH

May 7, 2012

Wong Kar-Wai's 2000 In the Mood for Love may be the best film, thus far, of the 21st Century. In just over 90 minutes, it conveys, through a voyeur-like cameras eye and spot-on, often silent, acting from Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung, an intensity of locked-up longing that's perhaps neverWong Kar-Wai's 2000 In the Mood for Love may be the best film, thus far, of the 21st Century. In just over 90 minutes, it conveys, through a voyeur-like cameras eye and spot-on, often silent, acting from Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung, an intensity of locked-up longing that's perhaps never been so captured on screen. The leads' spouses are having an affair, which brings them together unwittingly, though they too live in neighboring apartments. Initially joined by mutual heartbreak, they become joined by shared desire for one another that, in 1960s Hong Kong, is verboten. The leads are never joined through plain expression, but rather in often tense, mannered, scenes where they share a space (e.g., a cab) and communicate through just a glance or movement. And, in these scenes, the camera latches on to their subtle gestures with a yearning of its own that brings slight, soft acting full circle, giving it clear meaning. The leads encounter one another, repeatedly, in somewhat scripted, yet somehow not contrived, terms. An encounter might involve bumping in to a neighbor running a common daily (or nightly) errand. Indeed, an encounter of this sort becomes a centerpiece of the film, and the subject of perhaps the most entrancing visual sequences put to film in recent decades. In the Mood for Love is about quiet but telling action that, when enveloped by the camera, becomes loud. Wongs rich visuals tug the viewer into a muted world wrought with emotion. A feat many directors aspire toward. A feat Wong executes to perfection.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

May 27, 2007

there is no director like wong kar wai who in every movie explores the stale and done state of love. but somehow he makes this theme more beautiful every movie and this movie is the pinecale of films about love. there is no sure way to describe this movie to someone because of the seemingly there is no director like wong kar wai who in every movie explores the stale and done state of love. but somehow he makes this theme more beautiful every movie and this movie is the pinecale of films about love. there is no sure way to describe this movie to someone because of the seemingly thin plot and its experience. somehow one has to create their own definition to be engaged with it. the details that every shot contains begs multiple viewings and the cinematic response to the repeated settings and music is something of an awe experience. hands down one of the best movies of the new mellenium.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

KSSteve

Nov 14, 2021

A bitter-sweet romance. It's quiet, understated, but ultimately powerful. Beautiful photography and visuals. Brilliant acting. Caveats: not fast paced, and you've got to pay close attention at first to figure out the characters (it does cohere after a bit). I want to watch more from thisA bitter-sweet romance. It's quiet, understated, but ultimately powerful. Beautiful photography and visuals. Brilliant acting. Caveats: not fast paced, and you've got to pay close attention at first to figure out the characters (it does cohere after a bit). I want to watch more from this director.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

amheretojudge

May 28, 2019

With a captivating cinematography and peaceful background score, the moments that the film seeks for is beautifully natural.

In The Mood For Love Kar-Wai Wong's masterpiece is a love story that every filmmaker wishes to embark upon majestically. Personally, I find it not only incrediblyWith a captivating cinematography and peaceful background score, the moments that the film seeks for is beautifully natural.

In The Mood For Love

Kar-Wai Wong's masterpiece is a love story that every filmmaker wishes to embark upon majestically. Personally, I find it not only incredibly difficult to go through but also is left in awe with the structure of the film. Probably, because there isn't any. Dashing across the film, the script tells a story from a third person's perspective. In a sense that the fable is narrated to him or her, as a memory shared in the form of highlights. Now, this sort of writing has always inspired me. Something that you can see majorly in Pawel Pawlikowski's Cold War. Often, while writing such a material, you are under sheer pressure to not boast off about something inessential to the storyline and also not make the events loud enough to give away the trajectory of these characters.

Walking that fine line, comes a nuanced vocab, that the writer and director, Kar-Wai Wong is speaking flamboyantly. Not, for a split second does he give away its essence beforehand. And plus, this format of jumping forward with an uneven pace, helps the maker create a jarring impact on you that is soothing despite of the poignancy that it breathes perpetually, there was always very little window for these characters to peek through and almost impossible to go through.

As Evan Puschak observed so smartly in one of his sort-of-reviews, the film is majorly shot with a frame within a frame tone, that helps us dive into the "observer" theme instantly. Plus, the enactments of these characters for their supposed situations, is just pure fun where later on, the slow-motion montages nail the final nail in the coffin expressively. It would and should provoke everyone to be In The Mood For Love, since it first and foremost is about the evolution of a friendship; innocent I find this world.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

RobertBrogan

Oct 2, 2015

In the Mood for Love is a very slow, moody, and stylized film. If in "Days of Being Wild" you can feel the humidity, in this one the feeling is like coming into an air conditioned room out of a hot day being in the city and the sense of quiet ease and nice refreshment. That is what theIn the Mood for Love is a very slow, moody, and stylized film. If in "Days of Being Wild" you can feel the humidity, in this one the feeling is like coming into an air conditioned room out of a hot day being in the city and the sense of quiet ease and nice refreshment. That is what the relationship between the main characters feels like in the beginning, and through much of the film. The main tension comes from the fact that things will inevitably change and the question is whether these two people, who seem to deserve more out of life, can get it without becoming undeserving themselves. (And on a side note, Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung both look quite beautiful in this film.) Recommended to art lovers and people watchers.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

JLuis_001

May 16, 2020

All the money Netflix gave to Ryan Murphy to produce them brand new content was way too much.

This was a soporific miniseries that believed that putting emphasis on the staging would be more than enough for the public not to pay attention to their narratives shortcomings.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

steamlord

Nov 7, 2015

in the mood for bore, nothing happens in this movie, the director uses slow motion in a scene buyind noodles, is pointless, is an exercise in empty style, emptiness is the theme here, i think people think this movie is art because they don't understand what true cinema is, is about emotions,in the mood for bore, nothing happens in this movie, the director uses slow motion in a scene buyind noodles, is pointless, is an exercise in empty style, emptiness is the theme here, i think people think this movie is art because they don't understand what true cinema is, is about emotions, technique, story, acting, music, this movie fails in all categories, half of the movie is spent showing the protagonist ass in different dresses, shots of a clock in a wall (why?) nothing means anything in this movie, is just stylish for the sake of being stylish but with no context, its repetitive, boring ant should appeal only for people that think they know art but clearly don't have a clue, like the director of this movie, it sucks hard… Expand

0 of 5 users found this helpful05

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8	#8 Best Movie of 2001
53	#53 Most Discussed Movie of 2001
72	#72 Most Shared Movie of 2001