The paper discusses the film ‘In the Mood for Love’. I believe that this film is able to show us the multifaceted roles backgrounds and settings play where in it, sets are utilised to emphasise the moods and to inform of this idea of temporality.
Characters often interact with the same places and sets. This sort of continuous one-after-another play between them and the surroundings creates a perpetual movement within those places. Without its inhabitants, these places seem like photographs, stills almost. The stillness is elevated by the choice of camera techniques. Slow motion and long continuous shots create a way to bring out not only the romantic tension felt through their interaction but also loneliness felt stemming from their own relationships. From empty streets, dark taxis to long corridors, the setting serves to move these emotions from background to foreground, confronting them directly.
The idea of temporality can then be seen through the changing of the settings. The viewer follows the characters as they move away from their homes leaving that chapter of their lives behind. To preserve something special is to leave it in the way you want to remember it, as Mr Chow does towards the end by whispering his secret into a hole in the wall and covering it with mud. The stillness of the shots and the foreign setting in the final moments echo how the characters are now awaiting the start of this new chapter in their lives, the calm before the storm.
Tan Yu Hahn, 3036181769
Good reflection on the thematic value of environments used in films and appreciate your detail referencing specifics scenes in the film as well as camera techniques. You also demonstrate a good understanding of authorial intent. Are there any other elements of the film that can perform similar roles as backgrounds?