Musical Parallels of In The Mood For Love (Wong Kar-Wai)

Wong Kar-Wai’s 2001 film In The Mood For Love may appear to be at first about an affair between two neighbours, yet the director has made it clear that the film is far more interested in social etiquette and tendencies than such obtuse topics as cheating. Whereas period dramas set in the 1960s often show an excess of ideas and a garish desire for tacked on obviousness when it comes to musical scoring, In The Mood For Love shows a restrain that makes it a far more accurate depiction of the era and the country. What is also interesting is that its score isn’t simply there to signify the grounding in the era but there to show the distance within the relationship between the two main characters; Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) and Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung).