Everything about In The Mood For Love is perfectly crafted to make you fall into these characters’ lives. To feel the feelings they feel. The cinematography is tightly framed and deliberate. The slim-fitted, high-necked dresses Maggie Cheung wears are gorgeous, but it seems that her character hides herself in her wardrobe. Tony Leung’s performance is both heartbreaking and hopeful. The melancholy music during slow motion walks to the noodle stand allow us to see the loneliness hiding under the surface.

I first saw this movie in a film class in college, and it totally captivated me. I haven’t been able to find it anywhere since then, aside from a now-closed independent video store in Columbia that has long since closed. The only way to watch it is to sign back up for the mail version of Netflix, or to buy the Criterion Collection blu ray. I strongly considered both those options…until I discovered the entire movie, with subtitles, for free on YouTube. I discovered it last night, and couldn’t help but drop what I was doing to watch it.

Filmmaker Wong Kar-wai apparently spent 15 months making this film, shooting and re-shooting scenes until they felt right – a level of perfectionism and dedication that borders on the insane. But the result is a heart-haunting film that’s breathtakingly beautiful and emotionally affecting. Every time I’ve watched this film, it has stayed with me for long after. The atmosphere of the film seeps into my real world, and for a few days it feels as though I am living half in this world and half in the film’s world. It’s a beautiful thing.

4.5 out of 5 stars