In The Mood For Love Essay
Jaehun Lee
D Block, Film Studies
3/29/17
Film for Change: Analyzing Wong Kar Wai’s Mise-en-scene
Filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai knows a thing or two about being the new kid on the block. After moving from Shanghai to British-controlled Hong Kong as a young boy due to the Cultural Revolution, Wong struggled to fit in (Gregerson). His siblings were stuck on the mainland after the border closed, making him an only child, and he struggled to fit in due to his inability to speak Cantonese or English (Wong only spoke Mandarin at that time). As a result of this, Wong’s childhood was filled with (watching) cinema, a career he pursued and excelled at, becoming a pioneer of modern cinema. However, it seems he never forgot about his experiences as a struggling …show more content…
Note that everything in the movie is framed within the film frame due to a foreground obstruction. For example, when we see Ms. Chan working in her office (towards the middle of the movie), we see her from behind a curtain. In addition, in the scene where Ms. Chan and Mr. Chow spend time together in the room, we see them leaving the room from under the bed, further emphasizing a kind of “Big Brother Effect.” This framing does two things: 1) it creates a feeling of claustrophobia and 2) it forces the viewer to become “the observer” and the actors to become “the observed.” By making everything framed within the film frame, Wong creates a feeling of uncomfortable tightness, inducing the feeling of claustrophobia. By doing this, Wong is revealing the effects of intense social pressure in conservative Asian society; social pressure to stick to yourself and your family, for nonrelated men and women to maintain their distance. One such example is when Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan talking to each other, and they are obstructed by the doorframe. In the scene, Mr. Chow is trying to “break” through the doorframe and strike up a conversation. However, due to social pressures restricting interaction between nonrelated men and women, Mr. Chow is never able to break through the obstruction, symbolizing broader conservative Asian society restricting its members’ freedom of expression. In addition to inducing claustrophobia, Wong’s use of “framing within the frame” forces the viewer to become “the observer” and the characters to become “the observed.” This stems from the Asian social norm that there is no such thing as “privacy” or “private matters.” In conservative Asian society, everything is open for the public to see. This explains why we start to see foreground obstructions in the movie as Mr. Chow and Ms. Chan’s
D Block, Film Studies
3/29/17
Film for Change: Analyzing Wong Kar Wai’s Mise-en-scene
Filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai knows a thing or two about being the new kid on the block. After moving from Shanghai to British-controlled Hong Kong as a young boy due to the Cultural Revolution, Wong struggled to fit in (Gregerson). His siblings were stuck on the mainland after the border closed, making him an only child, and he struggled to fit in due to his inability to speak Cantonese or English (Wong only spoke Mandarin at that time). As a result of this, Wong’s childhood was filled with (watching) cinema, a career he pursued and excelled at, becoming a pioneer of modern cinema. However, it seems he never forgot about his experiences as a struggling …show more content…
Note that everything in the movie is framed within the film frame due to a foreground obstruction. For example, when we see Ms. Chan working in her office (towards the middle of the movie), we see her from behind a curtain. In addition, in the scene where Ms. Chan and Mr. Chow spend time together in the room, we see them leaving the room from under the bed, further emphasizing a kind of “Big Brother Effect.” This framing does two things: 1) it creates a feeling of claustrophobia and 2) it forces the viewer to become “the observer” and the actors to become “the observed.” By making everything framed within the film frame, Wong creates a feeling of uncomfortable tightness, inducing the feeling of claustrophobia. By doing this, Wong is revealing the effects of intense social pressure in conservative Asian society; social pressure to stick to yourself and your family, for nonrelated men and women to maintain their distance. One such example is when Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan talking to each other, and they are obstructed by the doorframe. In the scene, Mr. Chow is trying to “break” through the doorframe and strike up a conversation. However, due to social pressures restricting interaction between nonrelated men and women, Mr. Chow is never able to break through the obstruction, symbolizing broader conservative Asian society restricting its members’ freedom of expression. In addition to inducing claustrophobia, Wong’s use of “framing within the frame” forces the viewer to become “the observer” and the characters to become “the observed.” This stems from the Asian social norm that there is no such thing as “privacy” or “private matters.” In conservative Asian society, everything is open for the public to see. This explains why we start to see foreground obstructions in the movie as Mr. Chow and Ms. Chan’s