REVIEWS, IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
Most insightful reviews…
Elvis Mitchell New York Times
In the Mood for Love is probably the most breathtakingly gorgeous film of the year, dizzy with a nose-againstthe-glass romantic spirit that has been missing from the cinema forever. Full Review
Steven Rea Philadelphia Inquirer
Shot through with spirals of cigarette smoke and blazing with the colors and geometry of '60s textile design,
In the Mood for Love is a feast for the eyes and succor for the soul, examining the secrets that join men and
women, and that keep them apart. Full Review
Kenneth Turan L A Times
This film raises its fascination with enveloping atmosphere and suppressed emotion to a ravishing, almost
hypnotic level. Full Review
Jack Mathews New York Daily News
In the Mood is a love story told from the point of impact, at the heart, and no conventional resolution could
be more profound. Full Review
Scott Tobias AV Club
Complemented by the gentle lull of Nat King Cole songs, In The Mood For Love casts a dreamy and
melancholic spell that remains unbroken long after the closing credits have rolled. Full Review
Jonathan Foreman N Y Post
Rapturously elegant and deeply sexy in a deliciously restrained way, In the Mood for Love is one of the most
romantic movies I have ever seen, right up there with Brief Encounter and Casablanca. Full Review
Liam Lacey Globe and Mail
Stylized, set-designed to the last hair wisp, the film is a mixture of bold devices with delicate understatement
that leave a remarkable aftereffect. Full Review
Richard Corliss TIME Magazine
Recommended to anyone who's ever felt the lure, and fear, of falling in love. Full Review
Desson Thomson Washington Post
It takes a simple story, the restraint and growing passion between two people whose spouses are cheating on
them, and plays endless blue notes into the steamy morning hours. In the Mood for Love... is more than a
romance. It's about the jazz of the heart. Full Review
Eric Harrison Houston Chronicle
The film's moods are set by the music, which features Nat King Cole singing love songs in Spanish, and by the
amazing art direction and cinematography, which call to mind the intricate drawings of Alex Toth. Full Review
Jay Boyar Orlando Sentinel
It's intelligently conceived, exquisitely crafted and flawlessly acted. Full Review
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Other useful reviews…
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times
Instead of asking us to identify with this couple, as an American film would, Wong asks us to empathize with
them; that is a higher and more complex assignment, with greater rewards. Full Review
Peter Brunette Film.com
A sublime tone poem that shows what cinema is capable of when it tries to do more than just tell a story.
Michael Wilmington Chicago Tribune
A real vision of glamour and lost innocence. Full Review
Peter Howell Toronto Star
In The Mood For Love demands to be seen at least twice, and it would reward third and fourth viewings. You
could spend one of them just marveling at Cheung's incredible dresses, watching how the colors affect the
emotional hue of the moment. Full Review
Melanie McFarland Seattle Times
Surrender yourself to Wong's intentions and the effect, like love at its most heady, is narcotic. Full Review
Edward Guthmann S F Chronicle
In one sense it's like an erotic dream that dissolves before fulfillment; in another sense In the Mood suggests
that the lovers are remembering the fragmented incidents of this tale from the distance of time. Full Review
Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader
Director Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong's most romantic filmmaker, is known for his excesses, and in that sense
the film's spareness represents a bold departure. Full Review
Gene Seymour Newsday
What holds you, besides the perfectly realized period atmosphere, is the magnetism of Leung and Cheung,
both of whom are at once sexy and profound. Full Review
Michael Atkinson
The movie needs to be seen twice, so that highly developed expectations can be washed away into
irrelevance. Then one can see what Wong has done.
Peter Travers Rolling Stone
Has a movie ever smoldered more ravishingly with the promise of sex than In the Mood for Love? Not in
recent memory. Full Review
James Berardinelli ReelViews
A powerful study of longing. Full Review
J. Hoberman Village Voice
Rhapsodically sublimated and ultimately sublime. Full Review