Cantonese: Fa yeung nih wah
Mandarin: Hua yang nian hua
English: The Age of Flowers

Tony Leung Chiu-wai appears in the final minutes of Wong Kar-wai's DAYS OF BEING WILD as part of a bit designed to set up a sequel. As the film was poorly received by audiences, it has yet to be produced but Wong's IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE can be considered a companion piece. The director has stated that he regards MOOD as another chapter of DAYS and, in fact, Maggie Cheung's character in this later film, Su Li-zhen, shares the same name and could theoretically be that girl a few years later. Might Tony Leung's handsome, unnamed stranger also be the character he plays here?

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE opens in 1962 Hong Kong. Secretary Su Li-zhen (Cheung) and newspaper man Chow Mo-wan (Leung, who won the Best Actor prize at Cannes) have rented neighboring rooms in a building owned by the nosy Mrs. Suen (Rebecca Pan Di-hua) that is also occupied by her transplanted Shanghainese friends. Li-zhen and Mo-wan often pass in the hall and, occasionally, in the street, greeting each other politely and engaging in superficial small talk. However, it gradually becomes apparent to both of them that their mates (played by Paulyn Suen Kai-kwun and Roy Cheung Yiu-yeung, who are heard but never clearly seen) are having an affair...with each other. This draws Li-zhen and Mo-wan closer and, after a while, they even pretend to be their respective spouses, rehearsing confrontations that may never come to pass. While their attraction is genuine, each is hesitant to pursue their own affair and this reluctance is exacerbated by social convention and the ever-prying eyes of Mrs. Suen.

If that synopsis seems rather brusque, it is simply because IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE is, like most of this director's work, more concerned with character and effect than narrative. Dispensing with the voiceover narration this time, Wong creates a mood entirely through imagery, editorial rhythm and musical motifs (like the repeated use of a mournful string piece and the Spanish Nat "King" Cole song "Quizas, Quizas, Quizas" ["Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps"]) that gradually becomes hypnotic. Receptive viewers will be carried along in this almost narcotic-like haze that is as much a familiar and integral part of a Wong Kar-wai movie as the masterful cinematography and art direction. As befitting a love story that is never consummated in the traditional sense, MOOD emerges the director's most tender and restrained work to date. The majority of Li-zhen and Mo-wan's time together unfolds in confined spaces (rooms, hallways, alleys) with the camera positioned in a way that makes the viewer a secret observer sharing these private moments (although we do so in an assenting, rather than voyeuristic, mien, Wong is also reminding us of how little privacy these two have). As is his practice, the camera stays on the captivatingly beautiful leads for "unnatural" periods of time, allowing us to absorb the subtlest expressions of emotion on their faces, thus communicating volumes while seemingly imparting little or nothing (Cheung is particularly adept at this and manages to top what she accomplished in her celebrated ASHES OF TIME cameo). The film is a masterful exercise in subtle technique: sexy without being openly sexual, eloquent without being obvious, beautiful without being overpowering, and dream-like without ever leaving the realm of possibility.