WONG KAR WAI

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BBBB.5. 

Original title:  Fa Yeung Nin Wa

Hong Kong/France, 2000.  Block 2 Pictures, Jet Tone Production, Paradis Films.  Screenplay by Kar Wai Wong.  Cinematography by Christopher Doyle, Pung-leung Kwan, Ping Bin Lee.  Produced by Kar-Wai Wong.  Music by Michael Galasso, Shigeru Umebayashi.  Production Design by William Chang.  Costume Design by William Chang.  Film Editing by William Chang.  Cannes Film Festival 2000.  Independent Spirit Awards 2000.  National Society Of Film Critics Awards 2001.  New York Film Critics Awards 2001.  Online Film Critics Awards 2001.  Toronto International Film Festival 2000.  

Gorgeous film by Wong Kar-Wai about forbidden romance between two people caught in unhappy marriages. It’s 1962 in Hong Kong and Maggie Cheung and her frequently travelling husband have rented a room in the apartment of another family. Next door Tony Chiu Wai Leung and his wife are also in the same situation renting a single room. Plot isn’t the hot issue here (the film was actually made without a script), and the story isn’t really a big romantic opus with plot points that unfold with each passing movement; here the mood is tranquil, the feeling is mellow, and Wong’s excellent use of period detail will make you feel as romantic as you do when sitting by a bay window and watching evening rain. A must-see.