I first encountered this film while I was living in Shanghai and teaching English. I was a full time ESL teacher with four sections of High School Freshman and two sections of tech school students. It was the first time I had a job that paid decent in the local living standard. It was my first full time teaching job. It was low responsibility. I could teach in the late morning and early afternoon then have the evenings to myself. I also had Fridays off which meant I could watch films and drink wine on Thursday nights before going to the museum or art district or film on Friday or Saturday. Shanghai is a big city and the center for culture and arts for the mainland. It was in Shanghai that I went to my first film festival. It was an Australian film festival. The films weren't bad. The films were screened in old style cineplex with multiple screens but the outside of the building was preserved to look like a 30s or 40s film theater.
In Shanghai back in 2005-2006 there were movie stalls all over the city. The government cracked down on some of the piracy but it still continued much to my pleasure, but probably to the disdain of filmmakers and others who didn't get any profit from the pirated DVDs. There were several spots you could buy DVDs. In particular there was a dealer right near the bus I would ride from the library to where I lived just over the bridge from the old French concession in Shanghai. There, while waiting for the bus I would browse the DVDs and almost always buy a few. By the time I left Shanghai I had accumulated a collection of DVDs some of dubious character and quality. Yet it was these DVDs which lasted for me through most of grad school and up to the present.
My cinephilia began in ernst while I was teaching in Shanghai. I had an apartment all to myself and my love of movies took a turn in a more serious direction. It was here that I began to shed that discrimination of literary snobs who put down Cinema as not a serious art form. It was here that I could watch films every day, and write criticisms, and think about how I was going to work in the film industry and make films.
It was an exciting time to live in China, and, perhaps even more so in Shanghai. It was where things were happening. The economy was booming and some rights had been tolerated since Tianamen. As a foreigner I could mingle with other foreigners or Chinese from Shanghai or from other provinces. It was easy to meet people. Unlike other places I've been where it was hard for me to meet anyone. There was an online website called SmartShanghai. It listed all the happening that were going on in Shanghai that week. It also had a dating section where you could find people to meet for coffee or a drink or dinner. It was a fun time, but now that I have been back in the state for ten years I'm mostly reminded of the things I left behind to spend time in China. Those friendships which never quite recovered from the gap year I did in China. I think some of my friends didn't like the fact that I went anywhere but the good ol' US. My motives were clearly complicated, and it would be an argument. Yet I wanted to see the big World, to go where things were happening. Not be stuck in a small provincial town which seemed to me a dead end.
The film is like that. In the Mood for Love captures a time, a place, a feeling. The couples are suspicious of their partners and become friends to support each other. There is a lot about In the Mood for Love that is great. This time I watched the film I noticed the Ozu like cinematography. The slow sequences with music were great, but the scenes where the inside of the apartment is shown are also great. It showed Maggie Cheung sitting in a hallway having a glass of something in a shadow. There I was reminded of Ozu's penchant for shooting askance shots from a different angle. There were also many shots of shoes moving or head shots quickly focused. And of course the Qi Paos were so period piece. I couldn't get over the colors and patterns.
Some day I'll go back and see if all the things I loved to got are still there. Some day.
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