-By JAMES BERARDINELLI

Longing - it is one of the great motivators of the human experience. It has driven poets to write sonets, painters to create artwork, and composers to fashion music to wrench the soul. It is a feeling that almost everyone has been touched by, whether through the sting of unrequited love or the pinch of emotions that can not be expressed. Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai, whose previous efforts include Chungking Express and Happy Together, understands longing and his latest motion picture, the sublime In the Mood for Love, brings it to life on the screen.

The plot is simple, and is really just a vehicle for the characters and their delicate ballet of hidden feelings and concealed emotions. The film takes place in 1962 Hong Kong, were Chow (Tony Leung) meets Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) when they become next-door neighbors in an apartment building. He's a journalist with dreams of publishing pulp martial arts books; she's a secretary. READ MORE

 

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Screenwriter
Wong Kar-wai