Su Li-zhen: Maggie Cheung	Chow Mo-Wan: Tony Leung Chiu Wai
Mr. Ho: Lai Chen	Mrs. Suen: Rebecca Pan
Director: Kar-wai Wong	Ah Ping: Ping Lam Siu

30 Second Bottom Line: Two couples move into adjacent apartments on the same day. Soon after that, the two spouses who work in Hong Kong discover that the spouses who travel on business are having an affair. The time they spend together grows from a passing friendship to something much deeper.

Story Line: Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) and Chow Mo-Wan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) meet each other when they move into the same apartment building on the same day. The setting is 1962 Hong Kong and Su Li works as a secretary at a shipping firm and Chow is a writer for a local publisher. Both of their spouses have jobs, which require extensive travel.

One day when they are talking at dinner, Su Li and Chow realize that their spouses buy the same gifts while away and conclude that they must be together when on the road. Slowly Su Li and Chow's relationship develops into what we think is love. However, we are not sure. Much about the film and story is elusive. We never see the faces of the adulterous traveling spouses. Although we suspect that at some point Su Li and Chow are intimate, it's only remotely implied until the end of the film. Even then, you wonder if that is "the secret" that Chow is referring to when he talks to his friend and mentor Ah Ping (Ping Lam Siu); and later reveals in a whisper into a crack in a temple wall.

Su Li and Chow talk a lot about his desire to write a novel and she spends time helping him by reading and editing. During their rendezvous the true intensity of their personal relationship is evident. It's the consummation that's a question mark.

Tell Me More About It: This film has a backdrop of stunning color and light; at times reflected in rain soaked streets, sometimes the brilliance of a long corridor or the closeness of a stairway. Maggie Cheung's costume changes are significant as well, as she wears a different dress in almost every scene. Clearly this art house film is for those who truly enjoy the look of film noir. Its mood allows one to imagine what is going on beneath the surface. In viewing this film, use your imagination and enjoy two fine actors at their craft. Cheung moves sensuously through each scene and Leung strikes the right chord of passion and longing.

I did not like this film as much as I expected I would because it was all style and little substance. Mood, which is always a key factor in film noir, acts as a character itself, but not to the point of alleviating the need for character development. Film noir should not leave you high and dry at the end with far more questions than answers. Mysteries are fine, but you like to have some idea of what happens to the characters' lives after the story has ended.

In the Mood for Love has wonderful performances by both Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu Wai. They are two of Hong Kong's most revered actors, who are now being introduced to western audiences. Cheung and Leung have 125 films credits between them and five films together. At last year Cannes Film Festival, Leung earned the Best Actor award for this film.

Director Kar-wai Wong is reputed to be fanatical with attention to detail much like the late Stanley Kubrick. Had he used a script, it might have helped make this a much better film. Instead he told the actors what he was trying to convey and they went through many takes before they would get the right scene for the film. Combine all the style and repetitive music and you feel like the movie is going somewhere...only running in place. The questions you have at the end of the film are much the same as you had at the beginning.

Talented, good-looking actors can't make up for excessive, moody noir, even with the constant change of clothes by Su Li. As one person said at Talk Cinema, regarding the very small apartment she lives in, "Where could she have put all those clothes in that apartment?" Style over substance...this is one film where an outstanding wardrobe stole the show.