in the Mood for Love (Criterion Collection)

Hong Kong, 1962: Chow Mo-wan (HERO'S Tony Leung Chiu-wai) and Su Li-zhen (IRMA VEP'S Maggie Cheung Man-yuk) move into neighboring apartments on the same day. Their encounters are formal and polite until a discovery about their spouses sparks an intimate bond between them. At once delicately mannered and visually extravagant, IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, directed by Wong Kar-wai (CHUNGKING EXPRESS), is a masterful evocation of romantic longing and fleeting moments. With it's aching musical soundtrack and it's exquisitely abstract cinematography by Christopher Doyle (2046) and Mark Lee Ping-bin (FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON), this film has been a major stylistic influence on the past decade of cinema, as well as a milestone in Wong's redoubtable career.