Why Hong Kong Is The Main Character In Wong Kar Wai’s In The Mood For Love

This summer, Wong Kar Wai’s 2000 classic In the Mood for Love is returning to cinemas around the world for its 25th anniversary, from London’s British Film Institute to Lincoln Center in New York City.

Set in 1960s Hong Kong, the iconic film focuses on two next-door neighbours who discover that their spouses are having an affair and, in turn, develop an unusual relationship.

In The Mood for Love’s nostalgic, aestheticised portrayal of Hong Kong is still lauded by critics two and a half decades on. Efe Cakarel reportedly founded the indy film streaming platform MUBI after being frustrated he couldn’t find anywhere to watch the film.

While the film’s technical and visual aspects are routinely celebrated, the city it is set in plays an equally important role. In The Mood for Love has served as a window into the glamour and atmosphere of 60s Hong Kong, informing how many perceive and imagine it today. But is it an accurate portrayal of the place, and how have things changed over the last seven decades?

“In the Mood for Love shows you a very different side of Hong Kong. Although it might not be entirely accurate, it is very ‘Hong Kong’ in a romantic and literary way,” says London-based, Hong-Kong born photographer George Wong, who recently released a photobook about the city and worked for many years as a location scout there.

“My personal choice for experiencing a more realistic film about Hong Kong life would be Chungking Express, another masterpiece by Wong Kar Wai. In it, you can see everything about Hong Kong, the city life, energy, love, humour, chaos and the free spirit.”

Having been a British colony from after the First Opium War in 1842 to 1997, except for a brief period of Japanese rule during The Second World War, the region has a unique culture that blends eastern and western influences and customs.

Mr Chow and Mrs Chang are both Shanghainese immigrants and directly reflect the director’s own childhood, as well as many HongKongers of that generation. Wong Kar Wai was born in Shanghai and in 1963, with the spectre of the Cultural Revolution in China looming over his family, they moved to Hong Kong.

“From the 1950s to the 1970s, Hong Kong was a major destination for immigrants from mainland China who sought to escape the chaos following the Chinese Civil Wars and the communist party regime. As a result, Hong Kong at the time was home to people from different parts of China, who spoke various dialects and languages,” George says.

A number of things in the film are a nod to the island’s unique identity. One that is typically lost on Western audiences is the pivotal role of language. The characters mostly speak in Cantonese, the dialect used in Hong Kong. Mrs Chang, played by the legendary Hong Kongese actress Maggie Cheung, also intermittently talks in Shanghainese and listens to pre-war pop songs from Shanghai.

“Maggie Cheung is always wearing a qipao dress, Tony Leung is always in a suit with a tie. A typical West meets East setting, which could very much only happen in Hong Kong during the 60s,”

In The Mood for Love has influenced many fashion designers over the years, with Vogue calling it the ‘ultimate fashion romance.’ However, as with all fashion, the choice of costume also reflects the politics and culture. “Maggie Cheung is always wearing a qipao dress, Tony Leung is always in a suit with a tie. A typical West meets East setting, which could very much only happen in Hong Kong during the 60s,” George explains.

The East-meets-West identity of Hong Kong in the 20th century is also represented by food. One of the film’s most famous scenes takes place in Sun Kwong Nam Restaurant, where the main characters tuck into a steak and pork chop. Restaurants like Sun Kwong Nam served European dishes tailored to Chinese tastes. “Funnily enough, that restaurant used to be my go-to place for Christmas dinner. Sadly, the restaurant was closed a few years ago,” George says.

“I feel like Hong Kong in the 1960s was more laid-back and had a slower pace. And you can tell there were more influences from the pre-communist traditional Chinese world. While in the 80s and 90s, Hong Kong was loud and full of energy, probably as a result of the economic boom, greatly influenced by Japanese pop culture. Think Jackie Chan’s action comedies, and Canton pop.”

Largely due to its ubiquity on social media, the film has helped cultivate a mythologised view of this period in the city’s history. Users on Tumblr, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) share images and gifs of Maggie Cheung in her red qipao dress, passing Tony Leung Chiu-wai on the stairs on her way to the noodle shop. Users on Tik Tok have even begun recreating scenes from the film and inputting themselves into 60s Hong Kong.

Yet George stresses this romanticised version of Hong Kong is very far from today’s reality.

“The Hong Kong of the 60s has long gone. With the increasing influence from mainland China, Hong Kong is a very different city now,” he says. So, with little trace of this specific moment in history, what better way than to experience it than heading to the cinema and experiencing it through the sultry, wistful imagination of Wong Kar Wai.