redshift

He remembers those vanished years. As though looking through a dusty window pane, the past is something he could see, but not touch. And everything he sees is blurred and indistinct.

By special request from Crystal, who takes the blame for this blog existing in the first place, I’m going to talk a little about the Hong Kong film In The Mood For Love, directed by Wong Kar-Wai and starring Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung. I saw it a couple of nights ago, courtesy of my housemate, and though I didn’t think I was going to be awake enough to take in much of anything it’s actually quite a captivating film, in a quiet sort of way.

The film is about a man and a woman who move into neighbouring flats in a crowded block. Both are married, but their partners are often away, and they eventually realise that both their partners are being unfaithful to them. It’s a tangled sort of love story. It’s not particularly happy, but the drama here is mostly played in a low-key sort of way, and where I think I was expecting something overtly depressing what I actually got was more of a thoughtful, gently sad sort of piece. I think that ‘melancholy’ might be a good word. There’s a great deal of emotion, but the tone overall felt very reflective to me. At times it’s also very funny, and though I’m tempted to talk about specific scenes that I really enjoyed on that level I think it’s probably better just to see for yourself. It’s also visually very beautiful, atmospheric… you may be gathering that it’s not really one for those of you who’d prefer an action-packed film, but if you’re willing to take the time to let the story unfold at its own pace then it’s very worthwhile. And the ending is just right, I think.

(I should also note that Wong Kar-Wai’s films tend to be somewhat interlinked, and that this one is apparently sort-of followed by 2046, which I saw some years ago and didn’t understand in the slightest. I’m going to have to give it another try now that I’ve seen In The Mood For Love, as I’ve been told it’ll make rather more sense with that film in mind.)