In the Mood for Love

There are many approaches to film making in terms of the outlook and messages that are conveyed through the shots. They are a form of style to filming and are constantly explored by film makers to convey their creativity. The purpose of the report is to explore the style and outlook of a film used to convey specific meanings in detail particularly french impressionist cinema. The other approaches to express artistic messages of films include German Expressionism as well as surrealism. In the case of “In the Mood for Love” (2000) directed by Wong Kar Wai, he explored and conveyed the message of the effects of infidelity on spouses through french impressionism. The report is going to study the filming approach of french impressionism and how Wong Kar Wai depicts these filming principles in the film. Studying the outlook of the film in terms of how the visual aspects convey messages of infidelity and betrayal creates a deeper understanding of the french impressionism approach to film making.

In the "History of Films" (n.d.), french impressionist cinema was made popular from the period of 1918 to 1929. It was also stated as being known for the creativity of approaches to express human emotions and thoughts through its filming techniques and overall film’s outlook design. It depends mostly on the visual aspects of a film and these visuals are manipulated in sync with the film maker’s vision to convey specific meanings based off "History of Films" (n.d.).  Visuals are used as narrative content. Therefore, every shot is positioned to be very photogenic as stated in the handouts. Combining arts of all forms such as performing arts, sculpture art and even regular objects can be portrayed as art. The method is done through colour grading and light toning. Furthermore, the shots and background music are in sync rhythmically which is used to set the mood for a film. Current applications of french impressionism are in terms of subjectivity and Indie films such as Gus Van Sant "History of Film" (n.d.).

The film was telling the story of two people, Mr. Chow and Mrs. Su, who were actually neighbours. They were living similar lives and experiencing similar faiths. Both their spouses were always away for work. The main characters started to notice the similar items their spouses had on the other person which made them conclude that their spouses were having an affair on them with each other. The characters replicated each other’s lives to find out how their spouses started to and committed adultery. They both developed feelings for each other but decided not to initiate anything as it was morally wrong. In the end, they went their separate ways and moved on independently.

In terms of application of french impressionism in the film, the director captured a lot of repetitive shots. The scenes were created to be very repetitive and sluggish. The same music was used in the background during the similar shots. Additionally, there were not many locations of which the film was shot at. This was to create an unexciting and repetitive scene as well as portray the feeling of solitude of both characters. Another important aspect of the film was the fact that the spouses of both Mr. Chow and Mrs. Sue was never shown. Only their voices were heard because the characters only got to hear their voices instead of having them physically and emotionally present. Even the tone of the unfaithful spouses brought out the feeling of emptiness and sorrow. Moving on to scene where the lead actress was running up and down the stairs in at the hotel shot from different angles and camera positions created a feeling of distortion on the screen. This was to create a feeling of confusion, distortion of emotions as well as hesitation towards Mr. Chow’s invite to stay a night at the hotel. Moreover, the expressions of both actors were emphasise with a lot of close up shots. Close up shots on the objects were used to emphasize the art of it and enhance the settings of the film. For instance, when Mr Chow was alone in the office and smoking a cigarette, the shot of the cigarette smoke was in slow motion to portray the distress he was under and the traditional culture of a working man smoking. Certain eccentric behaviours of the actors were to portray their feelings and values of the mundane world. To further illustrate, Mr. Chow and Mrs. Su had a few opportunities to commit adultery but did not. Scenes of them eating noodles and writing martial arts books instead of having sex in a dark bedroom together reflected Mrs. Su’s integrity of being an honourable woman and loyal wife to her husband. She had feelings for Mr. Chow but valued her reputation.  Another scene was when Mr. Chow was whispering his secret into a hole of the Angkor Wat temple’s wall, there was a monk at the background. The monk represents the invisibility of every person’s secret, a secret will always be known.  

Emotions act as narrative content through the manipulation of mise-en-scene for french impressionist cinema. By emphasising on the elements of mise-en-scene, Wong Kar Wai has managed to bring out the emotional damage of infidelity. The setting of the film was dark to bring out a feeling of emptiness; lighting was dim to bring out texture and focus as a form to emphasise the art of the subject; costumes and make up were fairly simple and traditional to reflect Chinese culture; actors movement were mundane to emphasise their facial expression. To recapitulate the entire essence of the film by focusing on the details of visuals instead of dialogue content.