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The Movie:
If there's one thing I've always tried to do as a reviewer to make my
reviews standout from the pack is to relate my film experiences to my
personal life whenever possible. By doing this I think I bring a more
personal touch to my reviews giving my readers an intimate look at the film
and the concepts or situations contained within. Over the past number of
months I've spoke about unrequited love (Lost and Delirious), the true
dangers of street racing (The Fast and the Furious) as well as number of
other topics close to my heart. In addition I've talked about numerous
other topics dealing with why we see the product we see on the small and
large screens and the whole history of different genres of film. Lastly
I've talked about my love for the medium and how I can watch just about any
movie that comes out with an open mind. Comedies, action adventure, and
dramas they all interest me. However underlying all of this is my favorite
type of film. A film that deals with strong human emotions that causes me
to be moved or left speechless. There are few films that do the latter as
well as Wong Kar Wai's "In the Mood for Love" a film I would have never
discovered if not for it's release on DVD.
"In the Mood for Love" is a simple story set in 1962 in Hong Kong in a busy
section of the city. Chow (Tony Leung) lives in an apartment building with
his wife although she is always away on business trips. He's works for a
newspaper and has dreams of writing martial art's books. His neighbor is
Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) is an executive assistant for a busy Hong Kong
business man. While the two have little in common they have one similarity
and that is that their respective spouses leave them alone constantly in
the big city when they go out of town on business. When Chow and Li-zhen
learn that Chow's wife is having an affair with Li-zhen's husband they
become close friends. This leads to a deeper attachment as the two
constantly go out at night and think about each other during the day. Their
relationship becomes more then just simple friends as they start feeling
for each other. Feelings of guilt begin to set in to a point where it's
difficult for them to act upon these impulses. While it may be hard they
for them to do so they remain true to their sacred wedding vows despite the
fact that their spouses have not.
Director Wong Kar Wai is an acclaimed Asian director who I had heard lots
about prior to viewing the film. While he has had mixed success over the
years in North America there is no doubt he is one of the biggest names in
Asian cinema and this film shows what a true master of film-making he
is. In "In the Mood for Love" Wong has created a film about Longing, an
emotion that has been felt by everyone in the world at one time or
another. Visually his style is quite different from traditional American
film makers and is quite ground breaking as his framing often cuts off
character's heads as well as shots that start from ground level. There are
scenes involving the two primary characters where the camera frames one of
them in the shot without the other. Wong also keeps the identities of the
Chow and Li-zhen's spouses cloaked in mystery as they are heard but not
seen. His pacing is perfect as things move slowly but the viewer get's so
wrapped up in the film that when the 98 minutes are up it seems like only
five have passed..
"In the Mood for Love" is essentially a two person film in that while there
are more then two characters, the others are not really important. The
casting for this film is perfect with Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung
reuniting with director Wong Kar Wai for the third time. Tony and Maggie
show an amazing comfort level with each other as their characters share
powerful emotions that can't be shown on the outside given the cultural
ramifications. There is no doubt that Chow and Li-zhen have strong feelings
for each other and Tony and Maggie are able to bring forth these emotions
so subtly.
This is a film that would never work if it was done in Hollywood. The
sensibilities and small touches would be mishandled and the essence of the
film wouldn't come through at all. It would betray the characters and the
material to satisfy the American romantic comedy ideals. Above all else it
would be an insult to everyone involved with this project. As it stands now
Wong Kar Wai has created a masterpiece that moves at an involving pace with
strong characters who feel for each other at the deepest levels though know
that they cannot be together. This innovative and strong piece is a film
that should not be overlooked.
Movie Rating : 9/10
The DVD
VIDEO:
Seville Pictures has had a great track record of late with the transfers on
their high profile releases as their November release of "Lost and
Delirious" was one of the best looking discs I've ever seen from a Canadian
studio. When I received the press release for this disc I wasn't surprised
in the least to see that they would be doing a 16x9 transfer in the films
original intended aspect ratio.
Seville holds true to the press release with this gorgeous anamorphic
transfer framed at 1.66:1 which despite theatrical framing at 1.85:1 is
director Wong Kar-Wai's intended ratio for the film. During this film's
North American theatrical release the film was matted to 1.85:1 as
projection systems in North America are unable to handle the film's
European ratio. That technical note aside this is one great looking
transfers. Colors are subdued in the small interiors where most of the
action takes yet are amazingly vibrant in certain scenes. Sharpness and
image clarity are also good although the film does have a lot of soft focus
shots. Black level is spot on and yet another stunning example of just how
deep and rich blacks can appear on DVD. Problems are few and far between
with no visible edge enhancement or pixelation. The only real concern here
is a number of small dust marks that pop up from time to time which are not
so much a problem rather an annoyance that distract from the otherwise near
flawless transfer.
Since this is a foreign language film and it's inevitable that not all
viewers will understand Cantonese, Seville has provided English and French
subtitles which must be turned on from the setup menu. The subtitles are of
the player generated type but are very pleasing to the eye appearing in a
nice sized font and in white instead of yellow text. They are presented
over top of the lower letterbox and sometimes spill into the actual film frame.
Seville has done a top notch job on this transfer and Criterion will be
hard pressed to beat this transfer on their upcoming release.
Video Rating : 9/10
SOUND:
Causing me almost as much confusion as figuring out what the OAR of the
film was figuring out what the format and number of channels of the
original audio mix was. Various editions of this film in regions 2 and 3
feature Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mixes in various Asian languages. Adding to
all this confusion is that the specs for Criterion's upcoming release have
the audio mix listed as being DD 5.0. Are these simple remixes for the home
market or was the film released in these channel configurations. I don't
know so rather then attempting to track down the original audio format. I
figure I'll just talk about what's included here. For this release Seville
has provided a DD 2.0 mix in Cantonese which is generally pretty good
considering the nature of the film. "In the Mood for Love" is a film that
is for the most part dialogue driven with little else in the way of sound.
There are some scenes that utilize music and those are the definite
highlight of the audio presentation. There is little use of the surround
channels aside from the music and the audio does remain centered in the
front three channels. Do I think this mix could have benefited from
discrete rear channels as opposed to matrixed ones? Yes and no. Gimmicky
sound use is not really in this film's best interest. As long as you can
hear the dialogue or read the subtitles and follow the visuals then you are
able to capture the true essence of the film. This mix does what it needs
to as dialogue is easily heard except during one outdoor scene with rain
where it's a little harder to make out. I don't believe any ADR was used
and that's probably the reason it's a tad lower in that one scene. A good
mix that get's it job done and suits the film nicely but is certainly
nothing exceptional.
Audio Rating : 8/10
EXTRAS:
There are a number of studios that are based in Canada and distribute discs
for the Canadian marketplace. Much like the American release system they
range in size and shape. Arguably the number one studio/distributor for the
Canadian marketplace is Alliance Atlantis who distribute all Miramax
product, New Line product and various other small studios. In addition to
this they have a number of small independent Canadian films that they
release on their own. On the other end of the scale is Seville Pictures, a
small Canadian studio who releases a handful of films to theaters each year
and who own some catalog material. Alliance benefits from their deals with
American companies in that they often simply issue the American disc in a
Canadian case and therefore don't have to put much work into their
releases. Seville on the other hand doesn't have this advantage and has to
work on their own to create transfers, acquire audio mixes and bonus
content to put out high quality discs. They shown that they are a force to
be reckon with in the Canadian and International marketplace with their
November release of the critically acclaimed "Lost and Delirious" a film
and disc that I will continue to champion to anyone who will listen.
Although not the most feature rich disc it wasn't for lack of trying on
Seville's part. Now Seville creates an even bigger disc with "In the Mood
for Love".
Just after this disc was announced in Canada, Criterion announced they
would be releasing "In the Mood for Love" on DVD in a special 2 disc
edition. While Seville doesn't have the resources to do such an expansive
edition they have managed to include a number of interesting features on
their disc.
Simply listed as "Featurette" on the menu is a 19 minute "Making of" put
together by film maker Wong Kar-Wai himself. There's no mistaking this for
your typical Hollywood making of as this is a very informative piece
containing lengthy interviews with the director and stars of the film.
These interviews offer insight into the characters and story that is
basically unseen in the HBO and Showtime features. There are also the
trademark film clips set to a haunting score. Since this was put together
by the director himself it doesn't surprise me that it's so informative.
It's really everything a studio produced feature wants to be and much more.
Continuing on we have the theatrical trailer for the North American release
of "In the Mood for Love" presented in Full Frame with Dolby Digital 2.0.
An interesting twist on the traditional still photo gallery occurs here as
a collection of stills from the film is presented in a full motion slide
show complete with score music from the film.
Moving on to the text based supplements there is an excellent section
entitled "The World of In the Mood for Love" which explores the costuming,
design and traditional Chinese cuisine aspects of the film. Also included
are cast and director profiles. Although these are presented in text form
they are still very worthy of inclusion on the disc. Proving that full
motion video extras are not the be all and end all of the special features
world.
Seville has also included a trailer gallery consisting of the trailers for
"Chinese Box" (also with Maggie Cheung), "Eat Drink Man Woman" and "Three
Seasons".
Extras Rating : 7.5/10
Final Thoughts: "In the Mood for Love" has been on DVD in Regions 2 and 3 for sometime now
and region 1 fans have been clamoring for it ever since. Now the wait is
almost over as Seville Pictures releases this disc in Canada on January
22nd. Although an upcoming release by Criterion will be a 2 disc Special
edition and will likely have more bonus features, the price tag will be
double that of Seville's release for American's and anywhere from 2.5 to 3
times for Canadians as that disc will be an import in Canada. Seville has
done another excellent job with this release as it features excellent video
quality, good audio quality and a number of special features. Fans of the
film itself who can't wait for or afford the upcoming Criterion disc will
be more then happy with this release which can generally be found on-line
for under $20 US. Canadian fans should be able to pick this one up in
Canadian stores for about the same. Regardless of which disc you choose you
owe it to yourself to check out this film. There is no doubt in my mind
that Seville's release is the best bang for the buck. Highly Recommended.
Disc Rating : 8/10
Note : This is a Canadian release and as such it can be imported from
Videoflicks.com . Criterion will be releasing a 2 disc release in the US on
February 26th 2002.
Reviewed by Mark McLeod 1/9/02
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