Following the success of his TV series 繁花/Shanghai blossoms early 2024, Wong Kar-Wai’s movie “In the mood for love” or “花樣年華” as been re-released in China this February. 2025 marks the 25th anniversary of the movie, that is shown in restored director’s cut. This is a great opportunity for many young Chinese people to view this great movie.
The 2000 Cannes Festival Palme d’Or has not lost any of its beauty. The light and pictures are still incredibly beautiful. The tender play of actress Maggie Cheung (also staring in the movie about Ruan Lingyu “Center stage”) and actor Tony Leung is still touching the spectator.
Set in Hong Kong in the 1960s, In the mood for love tells the story of an impossible love between both characters. Although filmed in Cantonese, the movies also includes Shanghai speaking sub characters, showing the extend of the Shanghai diaspora in Hong Kong at that time, in which director Wong Kar-Wai grew up. The movie is also famous for the 20 something qipao / 旗袍 also called Cheongsam / 长衫 in HongKong worn by Maggie Cheung. They were all made by an Old Shanghai master, underlining the link between the movie and Shanghai.
Last but not least, the amazing music from Japanese composer Shigeru Umebayashi stays with the viewer long after the end of the movie. In the mood for love is one of my favorite movie and does not seem to age even if I did not understand dialogs in Cantonese (subtitles are only in Chinese for this release in China).
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