In The Mood For Love
One of the most swooningly beautiful and romantic films ever made, Wong Kar-wai’s 21st century masterpiece is the perfect early valentine.
Set in Hong Kong in 1962 – with a breathtaking coda at Cambodia’s Angkor Wat – two neighbours discover that their respective partners are having an affair. As they’re drawn closer together they find themselves enmeshed in their own romance.
Maggie Cheung, wearing a succession of figure-hugging qipao/cheongsam dresses, and Tony Leung, with a look of bruised-but-suave elegance, must be among the big screen’s most glamorous couples. Their developing relationship is brilliantly captured by Wong and cinematographers Christopher Doyle and Mark Lee Bing Ping, lingering over the smallest gestures and saturating the screen with colours reflecting the sweaty heat and passion.
This is a film of tremendous subtlety, but also sweeping emotion. It’s almost impossible not to keep replaying many of the scenes over and over in your head afterwards.
Hong Kong/France, 2000. Director Wong Kar-wai. With Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai. 98 mins. PG
Tickets from £5. 10% off for BAC Supporters
Dates & Tickets
| Date | Time | Ticket |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday 12 February, 2026 | 7:30pm | Buy Tickets |
Reviews
★★★★★
A love story for grown-ups, a film that treats the themes of love and betrayal with almost theological seriousness. It is not to be missed.
★★★★★
The performances are masterly, and the photography beautiful. It's a genuinely romantic romance and makes for sublime cinema.
Wong's masterwork... Twenty-five years after its première [it] continues to be one of the most viewed and discussed films in the contemporary cinematic landscape.