Hong Kong, 1962: Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) and Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk) move into neighbouring apartments on the same day. Their encounters are formal and polite—until a discovery about their spouses creates an intimate bond between them. At once delicately mannered and visually extravagant, Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love is a masterful evocation of romantic longing and fleeting moments. With its aching musical soundtrack and exquisitely abstract cinematography by Christopher Doyle and Mark Lee Ping-bin, this film has been a major stylistic influence on the past 25 years of cinema.

Too Much: Melodrama on Film

Running from October - December 2025, Too Much: Melodrama on Film is a UK wide programme supported by BFI and BFI FAN which celebrates the visual excess and dramatic potency of a form of cinema which champions emotional intensity over propriety and ‘good taste’. This autumn, we're presenting live events and classic titles, to make you swoon, weep and make a scene!

Explore Too Much: Melodrama on Film

Director Wong Kar Wai
Year 2000
Duration 1h 38m
Language Cantonese with English subtitles
Cast Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu Wai