Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung in “In the Mood for Love" at the Figge Art Museum -- March 27.
Thursday, March 27, 6:30 p.m.
Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA
An iconic title from Hong Kong's legendary writer/director Wong Kar-wai enjoys a special screening in the Figge Art Museum's springtime Free Film at the Figge series, with In the Mood for Love, on March 27, treating audiences to a work the New York Times called "breathtakingly gorgeous," and one that was included on Sight & Sound's esteemed list of the greatest motion pictures of all time.
In the sleepy, proper Hong Kong of 1962, In the Mood for Love's Mrs. Chan (Maggie Cheung) and Mr. Chow (Tony Leung) move into neighboring apartments on the same day. Each has a spouse who works and often leaves them alone on overtime shifts. Due to the friendly but overbearing presence of Su's Shanghainese landlady, Mrs. Suen, and their bustling, mahjong-playing neighbours, Chow and Su are often alone in their rooms and rarely dine with the other tenants. But although they initially are friendly to each other only as need be, they grow closer as they realize that their spouses are having an affair with each other, and Mrs. Chan and Mr. Chow subsequently try to reenact how the affair might have begun. What follows in this ravishing drama details the uncertain and haphazard course that love can take as Wong Kar-wai explores connections made and missed.
In May of 2000, In the Mood for Love premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to great critical acclaim and a nomination for the Palme d'Or, while Leung won Best Actor – the first Hong Kong performer ever to receive the award. Wong Kar-wai's modern classic is often listed as one of the finest films of all time and one of the major works of Asian cinema, and in a 2016 survey by the BBC, it was voted the second greatest film of the 21st century by 177 film critics from around the world. In 2022, the movie placed fifth in Sight & Sound's "Greatest Films of All Time" critics' poll, rising from its previous position of 24th in 2012, and the work current stands as the organization's highest-ranked film released between 1975 and 2022. Meanwhile, Peter Walker of The Guardian, describing In the Mood for Love as his "favourite film," wrote that it provides "profound and moving reflections on life's fundamentals. It's a film about, yes, love; but also betrayal, loss, missed opportunities, memory, the brutality of time's passage, loneliness – the list goes on."
In the Mood for Love will be screened in the John Deere Auditorium on March 27, admission to the 6:30 p.m. showing is free, and more information is available by calling (563)326-7804 and visiting FiggeArtMuseum.org.
