In the Mood for Love (Huayang Nianhua)

by Tony Rayns

Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love (2000) is a film that luxuriates in the feeling of being in love – without ever turning into a love story. Its central characters, Mr Chow and Mrs Chan, are tenants in next-door apartments in Hong Kong who discover that their respective spouses are having an affair. As they try to make sense of their partners' behaviour, they also struggle to control their growing feelings for each other. Hailed by the press as 'the consummate unconsummated love story of the new millennium', this film about desire repressed has become a firmly established classic of the twenty-first century. In his sharp and revealing analysis of In the Mood for Love, Tony Rayns draws on his considerable expertise in East Asian cinema and on his proximity to Wong Kar-wai and his colleagues at production company Jet Tone during the film's long and complicated genesis. He delivers a personal and highly original commentary on the film and its production, complete with insights into Wong's idiosyncratic working methods and influences. He also places the film in the context of Wong's other work, with sidelights on its place in Hong Kong cinema as a whole. This new edition features an afterword by the author, looking back on In the Mood for Love 25 years after its first release.

128 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 12, 2025

Reviews

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

It does not take long for us to identify both the author’s professional and personal relationship with Wong Kar Wai. Through his familiarity with the famed director, we are treated to the ways in which such celebrated works came to be. This path from concept to screen brings not only affirmation of Wong’s creativity and philosophical lens, but also reveals the idiosyncrasies in his creative methodology that, if under a less effective artist, would bring forth a disastrous product. This extends itself to the relationships that the director has throughout his career, how some commit to him while others detach from his orbit. Tony Rayns gives us insight but is never prescriptive; rather he implores consideration of these unseen behind-the-scenes elements, a torturous and fluctuating path that serves greater value to the ways of seeing something so self-assured and effective. Watching In the Mood for Love truly speaks for itself, imploring its audience to bring their own selves to the viewing experience and fill in the gaps that had been left open; whether these gaps were a feature or an oversight truly doesn’t matter, as the effect would still be the same. Reading this, with all that it tells you about the director, helps you to understand why this may have been the creative high point in his career - a towering achievement that, at least from the author’s perspective, his subsequent work has struggled to reach.