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IMDB Score : 8.0
RT Score : 88%

Wong Kar-Wai‘s masterpiece about a romance in 1962 Hong Kong. The film follows a man and woman who live in the same apartment complex. Both have a spouse who is constantly away so they help each other pass the time by spending it together. The film’s story is not what makes this a fantastic movie. It follows the same tropes and guidelines that many romantic movies follow. What makes this film amazing is the beautiful cinematography, textured and layered emotions and sensuality, and of course the mood that gets painted for us in each scene. It’s a subtle film that shouts bigger things. Maggie Cheung wheres a different dress in each scene, each one beautiful and completely telling of what mood the scene is trying to project. The dialogue is quick and lasting. There doesn’t need to be a lot of words when you can feel what the characters are feeling just from looking at them. It was a cool experience. Did I mention how beautiful the movie was? Here are some stills…

Great film. Definitely recommended to people who like romance films or want to branch out and try Chinese cinema. Wong Kar-Wai also directed two other fantastic movies in Fallen Angels (On Netflix) and 2046. He’ll be coming out with a new film in the summer called The Grandmaster which was featured in my summer preview.

4.5/5