"I don't want to go home tonight"

If you're like me and have been putting off this movie for various reasons, do yourself a favor and deprive yourself no longer. In the Mood for Love is just as beautiful and visually stunning as you've heard, and provides a truly extraordinary movie watching experience.

In the Mood for Love is a film that seems to have a slow pace at first glance because of its narrative structure, but thanks to the magnificent editing the film manages to flow effortlessly through time without seeming rushed. The film becomes more like a novel built up of short chapters than a standard film.

Wong Kar-Wai’s masterpiece is a story of intimate details and moments told in public places. The cinematography does a spectacular job of framing the majority of the shots in a way that makes the viewer feel extremely voyeuristic: we peer through blinds, gaze down hallways, and look out from under beds. I hesitate to use the term "innovative" because I'm sure someone used this technique before, but I doubt it has ever been used more effectively than in this film, it transforms this into an entirely original experience.

I will also say that Wong's use of sound was remarkable. There is one scene in particular where he plays on our opinions of a certain character and makes us believe that we are watching that person on screen simply by how he sounds. It is an incredible manipulation of the senses.

In the Mood for Love was not something I really looked forward to, a film like this is normally not my cup of tea, but just as Days of Heaven floored me and turned me into a Malick fan, Wong Kar-Wai impressed me to no end with this film, and I'm very excited to explore the rest of his career.