Hong Kong Cinema: In the Mood for Love - Movie Review Example

Insert Part In the Mood for Love In the Mood for Love, directed, written and produced by Wong Kar-Wai, is a 2000 Hong Kongmovie featuring Tony Leung as Chow Mo-wan and Maggie Cheung as Su Li-Zhen. The film, set in 1962 Hong Kong highlights the life of a journalist (Chow) and a shipping company secretary (Su) who both rent rooms in the same apartment on the same day thus becoming next door neighbors. Both Chow and Su are married with partners who are often always away for work and so they are often left alone and lonely despite the presence of friendly/ playful/ cheerful neighbors and landlady, Mrs. Suen. The movie at this point focuses on the loneliness of the two persons who often meet in the market place and in the apartment during their different endeavors. To stress their solitude, the movie delves on recurrent loneliness of eating alone. As the film progresses, both Chow and Su begin to be suspicious of their partners’ sexual exploits and later conclude that their partners have been seeing each other. Chow and Su grow close with time and Chow solicits Su’s help in writing a paper. Chow and Su’s close relationship is noticed by the neighbors who begin to murmur about it. Consequently, Chow gets a hotel roo, where they can work with Su away from the scrutiny of neighbors. They soon realize that they have grown affection for each other. Chow finds another job in Singapore and so has to move. He invites Su to come along with him but leaves without her as she arrives late for the departure. In the following year, Su goes to Singapore too and makes a stop at Chow’s and calls him but remains silent over the phone. Chow discovers that it was Su who had visited his apartment when he finds a cigarette stained with lipstick in his ashtray. After 3 years, Mrs. Suen (who is moving to the United States) is visited by Su. Su inquires whether the apartment is available for rent. Later on as Chow visits his landlords (the Koos) he discovers they have moved to the Philippines. He inquires about the Suen family living next door and the caretaker reveals to him that a woman and her child are the tenants there-in. However, Chow leaves without finding out that Su is the woman living next door (In the Mood for Love, 2001). The two main characters in this film both change in search of better career opportunities. Initially too, both Chow and Su relocate away from the nosy neighbors to a private hotel room where their identities are unknown and where they can be themselves and advance their relationship. Su particularly cherishes her old relationship with Chow and visits his apartment, calls him but remains silent over the call. Chow and Su8 are also nostalgic about Mrs. Suen who was welcoming to them during their stay in Hong Kong and usually visit her (as Su does) or inquire about her (like Chow). The director time and time again employs stylistic idiosyncracies in the movie using coincidence of meetings or relationships as in the neighbor’s spouses or in the end the presence of Su in the next door that Chow asks about. Rogue Rogue is a 1988 Hong Kong movie created from the novel by Lillian Lee, directed by Stanley Kwan and produced by Jackie Chan and Leonard Ho. Leslie Cheung acts the role of the 12 Young Master called Chan Cheng-Pang while Anita Mui is Fleur. Fleur is a sophisticated and greatly desired courtesan who, in 1934, meets Chan who is a fashionable young man who frequents opium havens. The two fall in love but their relationship is not approved by Chan’s family who control much of the business of the region. Their affair is therefore doomed from the onset and the couple discovers their relationship will not work. They decide to commit suicide together on March 8th at 11 pm in hopes that they will reunite in the afterlife and share in their life without any impediments. However, when Fleur arrives in hell, she waits in loneliness for 50 years for Chan to emerge. She finally decides to go back to the world of the living and search for Chan, baffled as to why he had not yet shown up. As a spirit, Fleur hovers throughout a totally transformed Hong Kong in search of her lost love. She resorts to place a newspaper ad using the code ‘3811’ to denote the time of their suicide (11th hour on the 8th day of March) in search of Chan and additionally seeks the help of Yuen (played by Alex Man) and his suspicious girlfriend Chor (by Emily Chu). In the end, Fleur manages to find her long lost lover Chan who is now an old man. Fleur is surprised, dismayed and feels cheated to discover that Chan did not die during the ritual. Fleur discovers that Chan grew poor and forgotten into his late 70s and has been carrying remorse and regret all his life for cheating on Fleur to her death. The old Chan who instantly recognizes Fleur is apologetic but Fleur does not want to hear any of it. It falls on him that he had been more miserable throughout the last 5 decades than Fleur even was. She gave Chan back his vogue case that he had given her 50 years ago and goes away from the world of the living contented that it was no longer her place (Rouge, 1998). The two main characters, Chan and Fleur, pursue their dream of being together by resorting to leave to the afterlife where they will be together in peace. When Fleur fails to find Chan in the afterlife, she grows nostalgic of him and because he cherishes the old relationship she goes out into the world of the living in search of her lost love. Back in the world of the living, Chan seeks new identity away from prowling regret by working as a Chinese opera. The director displays stylistic idiosyncrasy equally in the character Fleur where behavioral characteristic/ reaction to stressful/ unpalatable living conditions is to flee from the source of trouble. She first leaves earth when she discovers she cannot be with Chan and again leaves hell for the world of the living when she misses Chan in hell. Later on she returns to hell after discovering Chan’s deceit. Comrades: Almost a Love Story The movie (directed and produced by Peter Chan) is a1996 Hong Kong movie in which Leon Lai acts the role of a naïve Li Xiao-Jun (a Northerner) while Maggie Cheung is Li Qiao (a Cantonese speaking business person/ opportunist). The film covers two years and features these two characters that are moving from mainland China to Hong Kong to make a living. The couple ends up falling in love. Qiao exploits fellow mainlanders for financial advancement. In the course of the movie, the solitude and the loneliness in the city bring them together and a passionate relationship ensues. However the partners have conflicting ambitions which mean that they are not able to be together. Xiao wants to take his fiancé to Hong Kong whereas Qiao is more drawn to the pursuit of wealth. In the end, Xiao is wed to Yang (the fiancé) and Qiao enters a relationship with a mob lynch pin Pao Tsang and goes on to become a successful business person. However Qiao and Xiao are still in love with each other despite being with different persons. Xiao later opens up to his wife and claims that he has not been entirely faithful. He then relocates to the United States where he becomes a chef. In the meantime, Pao and Qiao also move to the United States as illegal immigrants as they6 are being investigated by the Hong Kong authorities. Qiao later gets a green card and after 10 years of loneliness in the United States, she and Xiao meet again. Both of them are single at the time as Pao was murdered in a robbery in the United States while Xiao and his previous wife have separated (Comrades, Almost a Love Story, 1998). In this case both the characters Xiao and Qiao venture into Hong Kong to make a living and live the dream. Later on, their respective stays in Hong Kong become unpalatable as they separately relocate to the United States for various reasons but all in all to assume new identities and lives. Their separate journeys eventually lead them to each other yet again as they meet in the US later on as singles. Even when they are with different partners they seemingly undergo a journey of self discovery. Xiao for instance discovers that even though he is with another woman, his love for Qiao is ever-present. They value their old love and the movie ends with fate drawing their journeys together again. The director uses stylistic idiosyncrasy here in attempts to time after time bring the two characters together in the same cities and in single relationship statuses over and over again so that the fact of their destiny is stressed more. First they meet in Hong Kong seeking to make a living then later on in the United States as lonely people. Durian Durian Durian Durian is a 2000 Hong Kong movie directed by Fruit Chan, featuring Mak-Wai-Fan as Fan and Qin Hailu as Yan. Yan is a sexual worker from mainland China who is illegally in Hong Kong. She lives near Fan and her family and she and Fan become close when they ran into each other in the lane way close to Portland Street where Yan’s pimp is attacked in the presence of Fan by a pursuer with a durian fruit weapon. Yan offers services to a significant number of customers daily but takes a bath compulsively. After 3 months, Yan goes back to Northeast China to her family and her former lover in order to invest the money that she had made. She remains friends with Fan who sends her a durian gift (Durian Durian. 2001). Here in, we witness Yan chasing a dream of investment and makes out to Hong Kong to raise the capital that would service her ventures in pursuit of her ambitions. In addition, we see, as indicated in the paragraph above, two friends who experiences of life has bonded together and cherish their old friendship and even after physical separation they still keep closely in touch. Yan is nostalgic of home, her family, and former lover and plans to go back after her ventures in Hong Kong are complete. The gift of a durian from Fan is a sign of nostalgia and remembrance of the past. The director uses stylistic idiosyncrasy in the individual Fan where her abnormal behavior in seeing good out of sad circumstances is evident when she sends Yan a durian gift even after the ghastly ordeal with the attacker. It’s a beautiful and nostalgic gesture on her part. Part 2 Looking back at the entire course and the list of movies delved into, it’s especially troubling to determine which movie I loved the most and more so which one I found least lovable. The beauty about the sample of the movies is that each and every single one of them has something special and unique to offer. This can be in the form of a message, a thought or exhilarating features of film making and production. Time after time the movies selected presented a variety of actors who are highly talented and ready to rise up to the occasion and make a movie worthy of the brilliant script and one that echoes throughout the halls of history and remembrance (worthy of recognitions and global awards). Furthermore, the movies demonstrated utter brilliance in directing such as those done by directors Wong Kar Wai (In the Mood for Love), Fruit Chan (Durian Durian), Ann Hui (A Simple Life), Peter Chan (Comrades, Almost a Love Story), Clara Law (Farewell China), Stanley Kwan (Rogue), Alfred Cheung (Her Fatal Ways), and so on. Also, the brilliant qualities of sound and screenplay throughout the movies alongside the fact that these movies boasted astounding editing qualities make these movies especially memorable. Of important note is the intriguing nature of the movies, the suspense, the twist and the turns and often bizarre endings that made the movies such as Rogue highly entertaining. After watching A Simple Life directed by Ann Hui, for example, I can vouch that this film is particularly worth a movie lover’s time. It is the kind of humanist film making that develops on its own and progresses smoothly and sweetly. While watching the movie, one never feels like they are being told a story about the particular characters but are rather sharing time with them as the director (Ann Hui) and her team allow the characters to lead the way effortlessly (A Simple Life, 2012). Moreover, during the course, these movies provide a rich source of knowledge and human wisdom in matters of life. Subjects such as romance, ambition, betrayal, fidelity, health (physical, emotional or spiritual), war (martial arts), destiny, joy, crime and cruelty, are richly explored in these pieces – subjects that mankind must contend with in everyday life activities. For lack of better descriptions, these movies transcend the mere genre of martial arts and further impart life-long lessons and values that are important in mankind’s life and interaction with others in the society. In the e pieces, we see persons desperate to get some things going in their lives, or eager to be in love, to make a name for themselves, discover their true identities, make money, go to places, create new ties, and at the same time cherish old relationships and experiences (the feeling of nostalgia is therefore widely visualized in these films). All in all, these movies offer rich sources of human wisdom, experiences with life, laughter, joy, sadness and a host of other emotions common to all humans. Their uniqueness ensures that none speaks for the other or is an imitation of the other as each of them is best enjoyed on their own. Works Cited Durian Durian. Mongrel Media, 2001. Film. Comrades, Almost a Love Story. Pro-star, 1998. Film. A Simple Life. Arrow Films, 2012. Film. Rouge. Blue Light, 1998. Film. In the Mood for Love. Tartan Video, 2001. Film. Read More