This blog post revisits whether the love between two people, torn between morality and emotion, was truly a sin, as depicted in the film ‘In the Mood for Love’.
Mrs. Chan and Chow move into the same apartment building on the same day and first encounter each other in the narrow hallway. Early in the film, their interactions are limited to exchanging polite glances as neighbors. However, the situation begins to change when Chow hears from a friend that his wife was seen with another man. Chow’s wife frequently works late, and Mrs. Chan’s husband is often away on business trips. Consequently, the two women often meet while having dinner together at a noodle stall. At the heart of all this change lies the affair between the two spouses (Mrs. Chen’s husband and Chow’s wife).
Chow’s wife carries the same bag as Mrs. Chen. This bag isn’t sold in Hong Kong, so Mrs. Chen’s husband bought it for her during a business trip. Additionally, Chow owns the same tie as Mrs. Chen’s husband. This tie was a gift from Chow’s wife. Amidst this complex situation, Chow and Mrs. Chen confirm through conversation that their respective spouses are indeed having affairs.
They then perform three plays. The first play revisits the past, where they infer the circumstances when their spouses first began their affairs and take on the roles of the other spouse. The second play unfolds in the present. Based on the knowledge that their spouses are in Japan, they imagine what their partners might be doing and eat foods their spouses enjoy together. What began as an attempt to understand each other’s spouses gradually becomes confusing for them—they no longer know if they are acting or feeling real emotions. Yet, they emotionally lean on each other, experiencing excitement and happiness.
However, in the third play, they leave their happy present behind and rehearse a future separation. In the play, Mrs. Chen confesses to her husband that she knows about his affair and prepares to part ways, but this also becomes a rehearsal for the separation between Mrs. Chen and Chow. Chow asks, “Can you leave with me?” but Mrs. Chen hesitates. Ultimately, the two part ways.
This entire process is depicted with beautiful mise-en-scène, earning the film praise from many critics. Yet, due to its subject matter of ‘affair,’ it’s difficult to view their love as merely a beautiful story. Nevertheless, there’s something about their love that strangely makes you want to root for them. This stems from the fact that their spouses initiated the affairs first, that explicit sexual contact isn’t depicted, and that after countless missed opportunities, it ultimately remains unfulfilled.
But to be blunt, there is no concrete evidence of their spouses’ infidelity; it may be mere conjecture. Furthermore, while the film doesn’t explicitly show sexual contact, the scene in the taxi during their breakup where Mrs. Chen tells Chow, “I don’t want to go in tonight,” suggests their relationship was not purely platonic. Therefore, their love is difficult to morally justify. However, setting aside legal and moral conditions and focusing solely on their relationship, it is undeniably a poignant story.
Early in the film, the subtitle “It’s an awkward moment. The woman shyly lowers her head, giving the man a chance to approach, but he lacks the courage to do so. She turns away and leaves” implicitly reveals their love. They hesitate and miss each other at crucial moments. In the first play, when Chow plays Mrs. Chen’s husband and says, “Don’t go in today,” it’s ambiguous whether it’s acting or sincere. Later, when Mrs. Chen says, “I don’t want to go in today,” echoing that line, it becomes reality. When Chao proposes leaving for Singapore, Mrs. Chen only belatedly agrees after he’s departed, asking, “If there were one more ticket, would you take me?” Years later, when Mrs. Chen returns to the place they once lived, Chao passes by without knocking on the door of the room next door. Their love always hesitates and misses each other at crucial moments.
This tragic pattern of missed opportunities stirs the audience’s emotions. For everyone has experienced hesitation or regret in love. Their story overlays and further embellishes each of our own past love stories. As the film’s final subtitle states, “The years gone by are like a dust-covered windowpane—visible but untouchable,” the unreachable past feels all the more poignant.
Reality fades many things. That’s why we don’t expect their love to be realized in reality. It’s more beautiful to leave it as a regretful fantasy. The Peking opera music heard when Mrs. Chen called Chao hints that their story is itself a ‘play’. Love is dramatic, fleeting and marked by countless regrets and missed connections, yet within it, we reflect on our own love. The film uses this very transience to help us fully understand the narrative of love.
