This scores twice, both as a romance about an unconsummated love affair in Hong Kong in the early '60s, and also as cinematic art. Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung update Brief Encounter (1945) in this heartbreaker about neighbours who find themselves sadly alone when their spouses engage in a clandestine affair.
They never even share a kiss, but in terms of simpatico screen chemistry the stars are the Bogart and Bergman of the new millennium. Plus the stunning costumes, hair, makeup, especially Ms. Cheung's traditional Chinese dresses. The hugely emotional coda is overwhelming, and I'm still choking back a sob right now.
And there are so many other incidental pleasures. Most ostentatiously there's Christopher Doyle's expressionist photography of the lodgings and passageways in their run down guest house, with the minimal depth of field. Plus the palpable textures of the set design, the illuminated cigarette smoke and the faded elegance.
Slowly a sense of memory disturbs the surface until the atmos becomes dreamlike, enhanced by the ambient music, the cocktail samba and the cello waltz... There is some of the glamour of early Hollywood, with an elevated style which reaches back to Joseph von Sternberg. This is Wong Kar-Wai's masterpiece.
A ravishing portrayal of Hong Kong of a city and people who live cheek by jowl yet able to maintain their individuality. An unusual and very moving exploration of two people who are ineluctably attracted to each other but must stay apart.
This is a lovely film, and certainly beautifully filmed. It draws you in, but you definitely have to be in the right mood.