In class we are also interested in hearing from you concerning your final paper, which you should already be researching and formulating (at least) if not writing.
Monday, April 20, 2009
IN the Mood...
There are numerous directions one could take in discussing this film, the least of which seems to be the story. Thus, narrative...The almost invisible shifts (particularly in the filmic tradition) in time often confuses the story in some manner. We cannot always tell when time has changed or when the characters change (as when they are "playing" the roles of their spouses). The camera (and costumes) provide only discrete clues to such shifts. How do these affect the story and the viewer's relationship with such?
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One specific thing I noticed about the film was that in dividing the scenes between the real and pretend conversations, the camera quickly panned. At first I didn't understand that it was signifying that something was different, and just thought it was an excessive aesthetic effect. I definitely remember this occurring during at least during one dinner conversation, and again in the alleyway, when almost identical scenes were shown back to back with just a whisk of the camera and a slightly different dialogue or outcome to distinguish them from each other. I also noticed that at certain points one scene might 'echo' another scene from earlier in the film, except that the camera would be on the other side of the action. In one scene the camera might be behind Mr. Chow as he's exiting the noodle shop, and in another it might be behind Mrs. Chan as she's entering it. The similarity of these scenes only helped to blend together the duality of the romantic plot.
ReplyDeleteI think that because the time isn't really that important to the story itself it isn't stressed in the film. Because the film takes place over a time, during which these neighbors realize that their spouses are having an affair with each other and then in turn simulate an affair time isn't really a factor, days shift in and out but for the characters it is the same routine over and over and therefore the days blend together, and this is represented in the film. There was a shot that I really enjoyed in which the woman had went to the man's apartment and borrowed something and then in the next shot she was returning it, this was only shown because her dress changed and the shot was repeated almost exactly the same, I think this represented the way in which their lives were repetitive. By ignoring time the film was able to have the feeling being timeless.
ReplyDeleteThere isn't much narration in the film. The only real narration is the sexual tension between the two main characters throughout the story. That said, there isn't much of a story here either. The film goes on and on with the camera constantly getting personal with Mr. Chow and Su Li-zhen. There were also random quick cuts that made it really hard for the film to establish any type of real flow, giving that sense of discomfort and awkwardness. I felt like a wandering spirit while watching Li-zhen and Chow's affair unravel, seeing things that I wasn't suppose to be seeing. As the film went on and their relationship grew further apart, I could sense the camera getting further and further away as well. By the end of the film as Mr. Chow is whispering his secrets into the hole in the wall, the camera gives us many angles and wide shots of his actions. Once he is done, the camera lets Mr. Chow walk away and there are random shots of empty and deserted spaces, symbolizing the emptiness of Mr. Chow and L-zhen themselves.
ReplyDeleteWong Kar-wai has a style that reeks of visual metaphor. When translated, these visual metaphors, a lot of the time, equal caged sexual frustration to me. For example, the specific scene in which they are eating! Yikes, I have never seen steak eaten like that in a film, and with such emphasis on the issue. Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan begin to cut their steaks as if performing a rhythmic dance, while actual rhythm, comparable to that of classy Miami elevator music, is playing in the background. Then what is said stupefies probably most as Mr. Chow places a dalop of mustard on her plate, “Like it hot,” and she replies, “Your wife likes hot dishes.” Then the camera awkwardly pans back and forth between the actions on their plates, silverware in hand, cutting steak. The way they eat is so tamed. This is then a visual metaphor made to symbolize the tamed animals that they are. It is as if there is no animalistic side present—almost void of emotion. Yet, the words spoken are enough to obliterate action. Awkward…
ReplyDeleteHate to jump on the band wagon, but I, too, noticed how the film used scattered and delayed exposition to alter a viewers understanding of events, leaving them to fill in the gaps. Several times in the film we cut to a new scene where Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan are engaged in conversation, and there is no clear context to the scenario. Most notably is the scene involving the "confession", which is deliberately shot from behind Chow's head (since it's never revealed what Mrs. Chan's husband looks like). It's almost as though Chow and Chan (attempt to)live out their marriage vicariously through one another, both as the cheaters and the cheated.
ReplyDeleteI think the camera played a heavy role in the film of helping to perpetuate the masquerade of characters play-acting other characters. As Anthony stated, the confession scene was a clear example of this slow burn into crossing the line from friendship to something more. The camera constantly seems to fool the viewers with sharp cuts and making us lose sense of time as we should. The lack of a clear time frame in the film forces us to focus less on the advancement of plot and more on the emotion and interaction between the main characters.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure we could spend all day "reading" the film's style, setting, etc as a metaphor for this or that - and doing so would not be a wasted exercise - but we would need to be extremely careful not to assign intentionality to that which may not have been intended, or may have happened once, by accident. Wong Kar-Wai is known for his improvisational style and shooting without a script, which makes for an insanely high shooting ratio (very little of what he puts on film makes it into the actual film). I think there are tendencies present throughout the film - for instance, the camera's tendency to shoot into mirrors and other reflective surfaces - that could be read as clues for how to read the film, but in general, the only intention i could read was intent to leave the viewer guessing.
ReplyDeleteIn The Mood For Love was an intersting sexual film. It's funny how the film actually came off as being sexual without showing any sex at all, but just watching the film you can feel the sexual tension between the two main characters. The camera movements definitely addedto me really connecting with the characters. The way they were framed in many shots showed their chemistry together and I could really feel their emotions. I agree with Alexander, I definitely found muyself focusing more on the characters and their interaction rather than the plot. It didi take a long time for the conflict to be exposed in the plot, but I loved the twisted story of two people coming together and falling in love because of the affair of their two spouses.
ReplyDeleteGoing along with the idea of a "timeless" quality in In the Mood for Love, Kar-Wai utilizes a powerful score that correlates with slow-motion, dragged out sequences, forcing the viewer to contemplate the images being presented. Often in such sequences, the characters aren't even doing anything Earth-shattering, which makes the tone of the film much more important than the actual narrative. Kar-Wai seems to be directing with nostalgia-driven angst and the film itself takes on a decidedly nostalgic tone. Similar to the reflective tone of Lost in Translation, what’s important isn’t that the main characters were parted from each other at the end, but that for a brief period of time love was a possibility. As the years passed, those sequences for the characters seem to be permanently stuck in slow-motion – as all fading memories are.
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