In the Mood for Love

Monday, April 7, 2008

Wong Kar-Wai is a name that keeps popping up in best 10 lists from pretentious movie snobs such as myself, so I figured it was about time I gave him a shot.

I liked this one, didn't love it, not sure if I'd rush out to see another one of his movies, but it's good. It's about two neighbors, a man and a woman, who find out that their spouses are having an affair with each other. They form a friendship, and slowly fall in love, but refuse to act on their feelings because they don't want to be like their spouses, wonder what the neighbors would think, etc etc. So there's an Age of Innocence thing going on, and watching it you admire the characters for trying to take the high road, but figure that in the end it only makes them more miserable. It's very well shot, and well acted, and all that, but I didn't make me feel much or really engage my emotions. My appreciation of it was entirely intellectual or technical, which in a movie like this leaves you feeling a little empty at the end.