In the mood for love
(Wong Kaw Wai, 2000) This is a Hong Kong romantic drama was a representation of
the 1960s era in Hong Kong. The tale is about an affair between two married
individuals experiencing some discomfort and loneliness in their marriage. There
are three cinematographers in the movie adding a lot of artistic values in
terms of the camera techniques and movements in the film. Apart from that, the
main characters, Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu Wai has
expressed their character boldly for the audiences to feel their
characterization well since this movie is more into character based. The
purpose of reviewing this movie is to connect the theory of German
Expressionism and the application into “ In the mood for love ”.
German Expressionism
is a form of modern art filming that started in the early 19th
century, to be precise, 1919. This form of art is basically expression of
emotions through artistic presentation like painting in the initial attempt of
entertainment and arts. Then it revolved into the filmmaking world where
directors used the technique to express their piece of mind and emotions to
their audiences. In this movie, application of the theory was in terms of the
lighting and miss-en-scene, also known as the setting and background of the
shooting spot or environment. In terms of the lighting used in the film, we can
observe that the two main characters, Su Li Zhen and Chan Mo Wan are lonely
when they run their daily routine. This has been boldly expressed by the
director using low lighting while the same music used as the background. For
example, in the first 20 minutes before the both individuals start exchanging
words for the first time in front of their doors. Apart from that, the
miss-en-scene of applying the yesteryears background and setting allows us to
feel the vibe of the yesteryears. For example, the plate and cup used, the
phone used, and other setting of the 60s. Furthermore, the camera technique
also involves a lot of German expressionism. For example, when they first dine
in together. Their characteristics and
feelings are expressed beautifully when the camera is panned side to side
according to their lines, in the 27th – 28th minute of
the film. To add on, when Mr. Chan invites Ms. Su Li back to his space to write
the story he had been working on, the camera movement panning from one another
expresses their feeling for one another, which could be easily understood and
felt by audiences due to the camera movement and also the reflection of mirror
towards them in the 54th – 55th minute of the film. These
application of techniques from the German filmmakers experts like Robert Weine,
and F.W. Murnau was well executed by director Wong Kaw Wai.
In the mood for
love is a tale about two married individuals, Su Li Zhen and Chan Mo Wan
running their daily routine which what seems boring without the presence of
their spouse by them. Along the way, they both meet each other as start
exchanging words. The awkward and budding relationship soon makes them have a
feeling for one another but due to fear of rejection and judgement of people
surrounding them, they both control themselves and not allow their emotions
take control of their decisions. Despite knowing that their spouses have an
affair and are cheating on them, they main console one another by being there
for one another, understanding the meaning of being lonely. The both
individuals help each other through the sorrow of one another but keep their
sexual desire controlled along the way. Li Zhen and Mo Wan both plays the faithful
spouses well until the end expressing their faith and sincerity to their
relationships.
To analyse the film
in all aspects, firstly, we have to applause the two main characters, Maggie
Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu Wai for playing their role brilliantly and
expressing the character’s emotion for what the audiences could feel. Each
emotion of the character needing a companion to love is well delivered in terms
of the tone of the dialogue and the emotions of their faces. Besides that, the
camera techniques by three different Director of Photography solely allows the
audiences to understand the story better and the characterization as anything
less would allow the audiences to misperceive what the director is trying to
express in the storyline. In terms of the miss-en-scene technique applied in
this movie, Wong Kaw Wai has shown his brilliance allowing the audiences to
feel the vibe travelling behind 40 years since the movie was released in 2000.
Let it be the appearance of both the characters, the setting and body language,
the whole product was well delivered by the expertise of Wong Kaw Wai. For
example, one of the most brilliant scene explaining the miss-en-scene is when
the extras play mahjong in the background. This explains that people of that
era did not have much of an entertainment and mahjong was one of the most
commonly entertaining medium for people of the era. Apart from that, the fear
of being judged by both the individuals, especially Li Zhen makes us understand
the gender inequality that women were more likely to be judged compared to men
back then during the classic age. These subtle way of communicating with the
audiences made this movie very special and unique, adding filmmaking elements
of expressionism by the Germans throughout the film.
To conclude this review, the subtle film
technique applied has to be applauded. There are many more film techniques in
terms of camera movement like panning shots and low lighting that has been
applied to express the singularity of the characters. These efforts to produce
the final product has definitely been well excuted by the director, Wong Kaw
Wai and three Directors of Photography, Christopher Doyle, Mark Lee Ping-bing,
Kwan Pun Leung. More films like this
should be made to maintain the German Expressionism techniques so that it does
not dissolve along filmmaking journey in the future.
References ;
Walker. P ( May, 2011 ). My favourite film: In the Mood for
Love. Retrieved from ; https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2011/dec/19/in-the-mood-for-love
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