In the Mood For Love

It helps to be in the mood for this ravishing and refined romantic drama by critics' darling Wong Kar-wai (Chungking Express), which stars Asian film icons Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung as married neighbors in Hong Kong, circa 1962. After it slowly dawns on them that their spouses are having an affair with each other, they gradually begin to bond over lonely noodles-for-one dinners. As with Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson in The Remains of the Day, the audience waits to see if they will or will not act on their palpable desire and need for each other. Very deliberately paced, In the Mood For Love casts a luxuriant and mesmerizing spell, thanks to the impeccable performances by Cheung and Leung. Gorgeously mastered by the folks at Criterion, this two-disc set features a slew of extras, including deleted scenes, Wong Kar-wai's "making of," scholarly essays about the setting and music, and a Toronto International Film Festival press conference with the stars. See it now before Hollywood remakes it with Nicholas Cage and Kristin Scott Thomas. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (K. Lee Benson)[Blu-ray Review—Oct. 9, 2012—Criterion, 98 min., in Cantonese & Shanghainese w/English subtitles, not rated, $39.95—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2000's In the Mood for Love boasts a beautiful transfer with DTS-HD 5.1 sound. Blu-ray extras include a “making-of” documentary by director Wong Kar-wai (52 min.), a segment from a Toronto International Film Festival press conference in 2000 (44 min.), an archival interview with Wong and a “cinema lesson” by the filmmaker from 2001 at the Cannes Film Festival (39 min.), deleted scenes with optional commentary (35 min.), two interviews with critic Tony Rayns on the film and soundtrack (33 min.), Wong's 2000 short film “Hua Yang De Nian Hua” (3 min.), trailers, and a booklet featuring an essay by film critic Steve Erickson, as well as the Liu Yi-chang story that inspired the film. Bottom line: a welcome Blu-ray debut for this contemporary foreign classic.]