Watch ‘In the Mood for Love’ with a live orchestra playing the film’s music

Much has been made about Wong Kar-wai’s seminal and arguably most famous film In the Mood for Love, from its cinematography, costume designs, careful use of light and shadows, and phenomenal casting of Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung – and rightly so! But while you’re drowning in the aesthetic beauty and yearning of it all, it’s easy to let slip the fact that Wong’s music choices are also remarkable. The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) now places the spotlight on the film soundtrack with an extremely limited screening of In the Mood for Love, accompanied by the music being played live.

A special programme launched to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, ‘In the Mood for Love in Concert’ will run for only three performances. The entire film will be screened with HK Phil providing the music under the baton of award-winning conductor Joshua Tan, who is the principal conductor of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra. 

For those who may not be familiar with the film, this cinematic masterpiece follows a pair of neighbours in 60s Hong Kong who struggle against their feelings for each other after discovering that their respective spouses are cheating. Yearning, repression, and regrets live painfully and beautifully in the lingering glances, stolen moments, and curls of cigarette smoke of Christopher Doyle’s stylish shots.

All of this is enhanced by the wonderfully diverse music choices, from Shigeru Umebayashi’s haunting ‘Yumeji’s Theme’ becoming a leitmotif to Nat King Cole’s smooth ‘Quizás, Quizás, Quizás’, and we can’t wait to experience In the Mood for Love again with the soundtrack featured even more prominently.

‘In the Mood for Love in Concert’ will be on show from April 2 to 3, with screenings at 7.30pm on both days, plus a 2.30pm matinee show on April 3. Tickets run from $80 to $780. The full lineup for the Hong Kong International Film Festival has yet to be announced, but we already know we’re running, not walking, to this event.

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