When does a couple move from being just a couple to being an outlaw couple? Is it when a crime is committed? Is it when a sacred vow is broken? Is it when a secret is shared?
Director Wong Kar-wai is famous for his nonlinear stories and timeless aesthetics. From a plot perspective, his magnum opus, In the Mood for Love, is decidedly difficult to follow. Although it comes closer to a linear narrative than, say, Chungking Express, it is still only as clear as looking through “a dusty window pane.”
But, if we take the time to decipher In the Mood''s story, we discover, at its core, the tale of two spurned lovers looking for companionship in a very formal world. Through these two romantics' journey to find understanding, they cross the line, even if only in their own minds, from upstanding citizens to outlaws.
Meet Mrs. Chan. She moves into a new apartment with her well-to-do husband. Since her husband is often away on work, she spends her time with her landlady, Mrs. Suen, and the apartment's amah. Mrs. Chan works as a secretary and often covers for her boss's extramarital affair. She makes the effort to have her husband buy two handbags when he goes travelling – both for her boss. When asked why two, Mrs. Chan gives a knowing response: “You know why.” When Mr. Chan is away, Mrs. Chan often goes out. In a show of vanity, she always wear a pristine cheongsam, even for rudimentary outings like going for noodles or to the cinema.
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Mr. Chow is her neighbour. He moved into his apartment on the same day that Mrs. Chan moved in, coincidentally. He works as a journalist and is happily married to Mrs. Chow. He likes to smoke cigarettes and read martial arts serials. He seems to live a normal, perfect-for-him life. However, things will not stay perfect for long.
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Mrs. Chan is first to realize that something is wrong. When home alone one day, she hears a voice next door. Thinking it is Mr. Chow's landlord, Mr. Koo, she goes to pay him a visit. She is surprised, when the door is answered by Mrs. Chow. When the door shuts, Mrs. Chan hears, through the walls, Mrs. Chow say, “It was your wife.” Mrs. Chan is shattered.
Mr. Chow, an idealist, takes longer to realize that there is a problem. Even when Mr. Chow goes to pay Mr. Chan for a rice cooker, he does not entirely clue in when Mr. Chan informs him that Mrs. Chow already paid him for the appliance. When Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan meet each other in the hallway one evening, Mrs. Chan informs him that her husband is away on business. Coincidentally (or not at all), Mr. Chow informs Mrs. Chan that his wife is away visiting her sick mother. “That explains it,” says Mrs. Chan. Mr. Chow feigns ambivalence, although the audience can subtly tell that the worst is on his mind.
It's when Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan go for a friendly outing to a diner that Mr. Chow becomes fully aware of what Mrs. Chan already knows. When asked where Mr. Chow bought his tie, he informs her that he doesn't know where the tie came from; his wife buys them when she's away on work. Mrs. Chan finally makes the point clear when she tells Mr. Chow that her husband has the same tie, a gift from his boss, or so he says. Before she even says it, we can see on Mr. Chow's face that, deep down, his heartbreaking suspicions are confirmed.
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Thus, the stage is set for our outlaw couple. On the surface, it seems to start as a friendship, for what else is one to do when their spouse is cheating with your spouse? But, with Kar-wai, it is not so simple.
We, as the audience, know that there is something more than innocent between Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan. We know from almost the first time they see each other that there is a deeper spark, deeper than their shared grievance. This is told to us not through dialogue or action, but through music. Even before Mrs. Chan and Mr. Chow consider their outlaw affair, the audience is wise to their cosmic connection through the film's repetition of “Yumeji's Theme.” In the early stages of the movie, this instrumental plays whenever Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan innocuously pass by each other. This mood music precedes the pair's conscious love.
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After their outing at the diner, Mr. Chow makes the first move, with subtle words and a tender grip on Mrs. Chan's wrist. Understanding that it must be done by one of them, Mr. Chow takes control and we see a new side of him, one that is less sweet but still undoubtedly sophisticated.
By allowing this game to begin, Mrs. Chan's hard exterior slowly begins to crack.
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Any good outlaw couple must spend a great deal of time apart from one another, wether its prison, or the law, or, in this movie's case, the need to upkeep societal norms. Thus, Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan are frequently apart, yet we know that they're always thinking of each other. How do we know? “Yumeji's Theme."
The relationship becomes dangerous. They spend time together, in secret, and their feelings grow fonder. Mr. Chow is open about how he feels, but Mrs. Chan is more reserved. “We can't make a wrong step,” she says, referring to the importance of keeping their relationship out of sight of curious minds like that of Mrs. Suen, amah and Mr. Koo.
Separation makes the heart grow fonder. Mrs. Chan doesn't hear from Mr. Chow for a while. When she finally hears from him, against her better judgement, she runs to him. They create a silent language of letting the phone ring three times and then hanging up to know that the other is on the other side of the line. This code language of forbidden love creates a romantic tension, which further flames the passions of Mrs. Chan and Mr. Chow.
They desire to do something differently. “We won't be like them.” Knowing how much infidelity hurts, they want to prove that they can be better than their no-good spouses.
Thus, the relationship stays platonic but there is no hiding the joy that they bring each other. Where Mr. Chan would leave Mrs. Chan in tears, Mr. Chow makes her smile and laugh. He indulges her love for art, storytelling and the act of rehearsal. With Mr. Chow, she is comfortable; she can laugh and cry without judgement or resentment. In short, she can stop being perfect.
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But, inquisitive minds continue to pester their blooming love. Mrs. Suen notices, forcing Mrs. Chan to change her tactics. They spend less time together. When it rains, Mr. Chow offers Mrs. Chan his umbrella but she refuses because of how others would perceive the gesture. This secrecy and seeing Mrs. Chan less and less makes Mr. Chow deeply unhappy. Finally, he calls her at work – a very forward gesture, one would think, until we find out his purpose.
He's decided to move to Singapore. He says its for work but also he says he's tired of the gossip. Mrs. Chan says to him, "We know it’s not true." To which he responds, “I used to think that too.” Knowing that Mrs. Chan won't leave her husband, Mr. Chow decides its best for him to go away.
Mrs. Chan: “I didn't think you'd fall in love with me.”
Mr. Chow: “I didn't either.”
They fight against their passions because of what's expected of them. However, this fight only leaves them lonely. On her birthday, Mrs. Chan listens to a song on the radio dedicated to her by her husband – but he's not there. She's painfully alone and yearning for company. So what can she do? Mr. Chow's phone rings thrice than ceases.
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He goes to Singapore, hoping that the space between them will pour water on his passion's fire. Though Mr. Chow was the instigator of their deeper relationship, it is Mrs. Chan who just can't quit him. She covertly goes to Singapore, breaks into his apartment while Mr. Chow is at work and embraces his essence once more. She smokes a cigarette, leaving the makeup-smeared end. She steals his slippers, leaving her mark for Mr. Chow to discover.
Years later, Mrs. Chan returns to her old apartment in Hong Kong and visits Mrs. Suen. The location brings back a flood of memories, greatly moving Mrs. Chan. Her mind is a vicious collage of memories of love and Mr. Chow. Mrs. Suen laments, “It was so nice then, wasn't it?” Eyed reddening with tears, Mrs. Chan responds: “Yes.”
Even as the years drag on, their parallel, cosmic connection never fades. Mr. Chow decides to visit the apartment, when he returns to Hong Kong. He stops in to see Mr. Koo and, as they catch up, Mr. Chow asks who lives next door now. A woman and her child. When Mr. Chow leaves, he stops outside of the apartment that Mrs. Chan used to live in. He doesn't knock, not knowing that Mrs. Chan is, again, just behind that door.
Left with nothing but his memories, Mr. Chow takes a trip to Cambodia and visits Angkor Watt, a wonder that's synonymous with transformation and symmetry. In a last-ditch effort to forget Mrs. Chan, Mr. Chow whispers his secret into a hole in the temple's wall. He fills it with earth and walks away, hoping to at last forget his outlaw passion for the greatest, tenderest love of his life.
Like most outlaws, Mr. Chan and Mrs. Chow fly close to their desire, nearly reaching it. But, in the end, they're left alone, unfulfilled and left with no other choice but to move on.
“That era has passed. Nothing that belonged to it exists anymore.”
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