In the Mood for Love by Wong Kar-Wai premiered 20 years ago today at Cannes Film Festival. I note it here, because it is one my ultimate favorite and must-see films.
I don’t know how many times I have seen it these past 20 years. In the first few years, after it was released as part of the Criterion Collection, I would watch it just to be under the spell that seeing In the Mood for Love puts you in.
It is a visually stunning film about restrained emotion and desire. The film transports us to an exiled Shanghainese community in Hong Kong under British occupation in 1962. While this setting is very specific, the film and the emotions it evokes remain timeless.
The introduction in the title sequence, in fact, reflects this very moment:
I assume anyone interested in world cinema knows this film. If not, oh wow, definitely get In the Mood for Love.