Faa Yeung Nin Wa
Shigeru Umebayashi, Michael Galasso and Various
" Yujemi's Theme "Written by Joep de Bruijn - Review of the music as heard in the movie
Faa Yeung Nin Wa (In the Mood for Love, Hua Yang Nian Hua, 2000) is a Hong Kong-Chinese film directed by Kar-Wai Wong. In all aspects, a timeless masterpiece, featuring magnificent performances by Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-wai, stunning cinematography by Christopher Doyle and others, unforgettable use of both pre-existing and original score and much more.
The film retains a basic plot involving Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan, who are neighbours. Both their spouses – whom we never see - are having an affair with someone else, and they start a love affair with each other. In the making, a very long development process, including a lot of improvisation, resulted in cutting at least thirty minutes of directness, dialogue and more (its first cut was 4 hours long), favouring an already aesthetic role-play between two characters, including unexpressed feelings, strengthened by a brilliant mise-en-scène, intense cinematography, and music. The film is to be viewed as an aesthetic and slow dance between two characters, unable to move forward in their love affair, which, as it progresses, is a deeply aesthetic and saddening experience. Elements such as plot are irrelevant, but pace, visuals, music and atmosphere are.
Before delving into the use of pre-existing and original score, most of the older music is befitting of a melancholic sense of the time, set in 1962. The director's nostalgic remembrances of what he heard on the radio - the classic voices of Chinese film songs, traditional music, or the increasing change towards Anglo-Saxon influences, such as from Philippine-imported Latin music - are among the many noteworthy musical pieces displaying this.
In the process of making the film, the director engaged in a collaboration with Japanese composer Shigeru Umebayashi. The director admired his previous music, and used his main theme from a previous film, Yujemi (1991) and excerpts from his score to Sorekara (1985) as temporary music. They interchanged ideas, and while the composer wanted to write an original score, writing several demos in the process, the director ultimately favoured replacing the pieces of Sorekara, keeping Yujemi's theme as the main theme and deemed a original score unnecessary. Yet, after having used Michael Galasso composition Baroque in his 1994 film Chung Hing sam lam (Chunking Express), the director asked Galasso to write the only original piece of score for the film, called the Angkor Wat Theme.
The love affair between the two characters consists of suspended desire, which the director envisioned through numerous aesthetic time-freezing and cyclical sequences. With each new cycle, embracing every day life situations, or moments when the characters are together, something changes. To add to this, most of the time, the repeated use of various takes on Shigeru Umebyashi' Yujemi's theme support this. From the orginal score, it received a new meaning in this film, and transitioned even more in the variation in director's film My Blueberry Nights (2007). The composition, a waltz, fulfils a purpose as a dance between partners, a clear symbol of passion, and assigns the separate roles of man and woman. It is a symbolic and paradoxical composition, contrasting the desire for a love affair. but as Chow and Chan role-play and try to grasp the reasons for their partners' adultery, they are unable to advance, inevitably leading to deeply felt sorrow. It is all very subtle and even excludes the more explicit - they do not even kiss on screen - and sometimes remains unclear and thrives on their discomfort. The first two times they cross paths on the stairs, as an indication of what is about to happen, in one of the many time freezes, the slow-motion cinematography and use of Yujemi's theme are beautiful. By the time the affair is about to end, and we watch the aftermath of a failed love affair over a longer period of time, Umebayashi's repeated chain is broken and only returns as the end credits roll. Several Latin-inspired songs are used before, but especially just before and after, they (slightly) take over the often aesthetically used theme by Umbeyashi. As the film communicates a lot indirectly, a calibration of all time vacuums using Umbeyashi's theme tells most of what is happening between them, even though some of it is unclear. There is also a brilliant scene in which they talk, and as it progresses, suddenly you realise they are role-playing, pretending to talk and behave like their spouses.
The Latin-inspired pieces, regardless of taking over the aesthetic use once the affair is about to end, are especially impressive earlier in a wonderful diner scene, with the use of a visible jukebox, in which Nat King Cole's Te Quiero Dijiste Mucho, Mucho (Magic Is the Moonlight) plays, and ends as they are filmed from behind, walking in slow-motion.
Michael Galasso's original theme, Angklot Wat, is an extension of the Umbeyashi piece, bearing resemblance in the plucked instruments and emotion, but it is far more melancholic through utilising deeper layers of violins, cello, dhadak, and guitar. Early in the film, Chow mentions that there is this mountain where you can bury all your secrets. Once the love affair has ended, followed by several time lapses - the only beauty mark of the film, as Wong Kar Wai seems hesitant in how to move on once the affair has ended - even an almost-meeting between Chow and Ming occurs, ending the film with a scene in which Chow visits this place in Cambodia. It is underscored by the Galasso composition, leaving whatever secret Chow whispers inaudible. As Yujemi's theme starts playing during the end credits, the credits en on a second variation of the theme by Galasso.
Through aesthetic value in various aspects of the film – a failed love affair, but especially the time- freezes, beautiful photography by Christopher Doyle, Pun-Leung Kwan and Mark Lee Ping-bin, the impressive acting of both leads, use of music, the beauty of frames within frames, even the colourful qipaos dresses worn by Maggie Cheung and much more, makes Faa Yeung Nin Wa a very atmospheric and unforgettable film.
Given the films - Chung Hing sam lam (Chunkng Express, 1994), Faa Yeung Nin Wa and 2046 (2004), an unofficial trilogy, 2046 again reuses a lot of pre-existing music, including score by Peer Raben, Georges Delerue, and Zbigniew Preisner. Shigeru Umebayashi wrote a short original score based on a cue from Zbigniew Preisner' Dekalog, tying in with the newer purpose idea from an aesthetic view.
The music was released on two CD releases by Virgin Records: a first release and then a ''More music from''. It features a lot of the songs heard in the film, and it includes variations of both the theme by Umebayashi and Galasso. Yet there is also music, such as pre-existing pieces by Galasso not featured in the film, which makes these releases also a bit of ''inspired by', which does not explain the absence of Umebayashi's score to Sorekara, which was essential in an earlier stage of the making of this film. Special editions of the DVD include a music extra, the jukebox featured in the film, allowing you to skip to scenes with various pieces of music, while describing the history and context.
Tracklist In the Mood for Love
1. Yumeji's theme 2:31
2. Mo-wan's dialogue 0:11
3. Angkor wat theme i 2:14
4. ITMFL I 2:11
5. Aquellos Ojos Verdes 2:14
6. Shuang Shuang Yan 2:55
7. ITMFL II 1:05
8. Radio Zhou Xuan Announcement / Hua Yang De Nian Hua 3:20
9. Quizas, Quizas, Quizas (Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps) 2:47
10. Bengawan Solo 2:54
11. ITMFL III 1:35
12. Si Lang Tan Mu 0:23
13. Shuang Ma Hui 1:15
14. Blue 5:46
15. Hong Niang Hui Zhang Sheng 2:01
16. Li-zhen's dialogue / Te Quiero Dijiste (Magic Is the Moonlight) 2:44
17. Angkor Wat Theme II 2:08
18. Yue Er Wan Wan Zhao Jiu Zhou 3:12
19. Casanova's Flute 2:20
20. Yumeji's Theme / Li-zhen's dialogue 2:31
21. Angkor Wat Theme Finale 2:42
Total duration: 48:58
Tracklist More in the Mood for Love
1. I'm in the Mood for Love Bryan Ferry 4:19
2. Li-Zhen's Dialogue Maggie Cheung 0:08
3. Angkor Wat Theme III Michael Galasso 2:09
4. Gun Michael Galasso 4:03
5. Qing Tan Fu Quan Xiang, Lu Jin Hua 1:01
6. Maria Elena Nat King Cole 2:42
7. Dang Zhe Ni Hui Lai Bai Guang 3:00
8. Sang Yuan Ji Zi Tan Xin Pei 0:53
9. Perfidia Nat King Cole 2:20
10. Mian Diu Mian Tony Leung 4:49
11. Casanova III Michael Galasso 1:40
12. Angkor Wat Theme IV Michael Galasso 2:08
13. Solamente Una Vez Nat King Cole 2:47
14. Lan Hua Nu Rebecca Pan 2:52
15. Tiao Dou (Remix) Tony Leung 3:37
16. Shuang Ma Hui Zhang Yun Xian & Hou Li Jun 0:50
17. Yumeji's Theme (Extended Version) Shigeru Umebayashi 3:05
18. Hua Yang Nian Hua (Remix) Tony Leung & Maggie Cheung 4:00
19. Mo-Wan's Dialogue Tony Leung 0:07
Total duration: 46:30
26-10-2025)
The film retains a basic plot involving Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan, who are neighbours. Both their spouses – whom we never see - are having an affair with someone else, and they start a love affair with each other. In the making, a very long development process, including a lot of improvisation, resulted in cutting at least thirty minutes of directness, dialogue and more (its first cut was 4 hours long), favouring an already aesthetic role-play between two characters, including unexpressed feelings, strengthened by a brilliant mise-en-scène, intense cinematography, and music. The film is to be viewed as an aesthetic and slow dance between two characters, unable to move forward in their love affair, which, as it progresses, is a deeply aesthetic and saddening experience. Elements such as plot are irrelevant, but pace, visuals, music and atmosphere are.
Before delving into the use of pre-existing and original score, most of the older music is befitting of a melancholic sense of the time, set in 1962. The director's nostalgic remembrances of what he heard on the radio - the classic voices of Chinese film songs, traditional music, or the increasing change towards Anglo-Saxon influences, such as from Philippine-imported Latin music - are among the many noteworthy musical pieces displaying this.
In the process of making the film, the director engaged in a collaboration with Japanese composer Shigeru Umebayashi. The director admired his previous music, and used his main theme from a previous film, Yujemi (1991) and excerpts from his score to Sorekara (1985) as temporary music. They interchanged ideas, and while the composer wanted to write an original score, writing several demos in the process, the director ultimately favoured replacing the pieces of Sorekara, keeping Yujemi's theme as the main theme and deemed a original score unnecessary. Yet, after having used Michael Galasso composition Baroque in his 1994 film Chung Hing sam lam (Chunking Express), the director asked Galasso to write the only original piece of score for the film, called the Angkor Wat Theme.
The love affair between the two characters consists of suspended desire, which the director envisioned through numerous aesthetic time-freezing and cyclical sequences. With each new cycle, embracing every day life situations, or moments when the characters are together, something changes. To add to this, most of the time, the repeated use of various takes on Shigeru Umebyashi' Yujemi's theme support this. From the orginal score, it received a new meaning in this film, and transitioned even more in the variation in director's film My Blueberry Nights (2007). The composition, a waltz, fulfils a purpose as a dance between partners, a clear symbol of passion, and assigns the separate roles of man and woman. It is a symbolic and paradoxical composition, contrasting the desire for a love affair. but as Chow and Chan role-play and try to grasp the reasons for their partners' adultery, they are unable to advance, inevitably leading to deeply felt sorrow. It is all very subtle and even excludes the more explicit - they do not even kiss on screen - and sometimes remains unclear and thrives on their discomfort. The first two times they cross paths on the stairs, as an indication of what is about to happen, in one of the many time freezes, the slow-motion cinematography and use of Yujemi's theme are beautiful. By the time the affair is about to end, and we watch the aftermath of a failed love affair over a longer period of time, Umebayashi's repeated chain is broken and only returns as the end credits roll. Several Latin-inspired songs are used before, but especially just before and after, they (slightly) take over the often aesthetically used theme by Umbeyashi. As the film communicates a lot indirectly, a calibration of all time vacuums using Umbeyashi's theme tells most of what is happening between them, even though some of it is unclear. There is also a brilliant scene in which they talk, and as it progresses, suddenly you realise they are role-playing, pretending to talk and behave like their spouses.
The Latin-inspired pieces, regardless of taking over the aesthetic use once the affair is about to end, are especially impressive earlier in a wonderful diner scene, with the use of a visible jukebox, in which Nat King Cole's Te Quiero Dijiste Mucho, Mucho (Magic Is the Moonlight) plays, and ends as they are filmed from behind, walking in slow-motion.
Michael Galasso's original theme, Angklot Wat, is an extension of the Umbeyashi piece, bearing resemblance in the plucked instruments and emotion, but it is far more melancholic through utilising deeper layers of violins, cello, dhadak, and guitar. Early in the film, Chow mentions that there is this mountain where you can bury all your secrets. Once the love affair has ended, followed by several time lapses - the only beauty mark of the film, as Wong Kar Wai seems hesitant in how to move on once the affair has ended - even an almost-meeting between Chow and Ming occurs, ending the film with a scene in which Chow visits this place in Cambodia. It is underscored by the Galasso composition, leaving whatever secret Chow whispers inaudible. As Yujemi's theme starts playing during the end credits, the credits en on a second variation of the theme by Galasso.
Through aesthetic value in various aspects of the film – a failed love affair, but especially the time- freezes, beautiful photography by Christopher Doyle, Pun-Leung Kwan and Mark Lee Ping-bin, the impressive acting of both leads, use of music, the beauty of frames within frames, even the colourful qipaos dresses worn by Maggie Cheung and much more, makes Faa Yeung Nin Wa a very atmospheric and unforgettable film.
Given the films - Chung Hing sam lam (Chunkng Express, 1994), Faa Yeung Nin Wa and 2046 (2004), an unofficial trilogy, 2046 again reuses a lot of pre-existing music, including score by Peer Raben, Georges Delerue, and Zbigniew Preisner. Shigeru Umebayashi wrote a short original score based on a cue from Zbigniew Preisner' Dekalog, tying in with the newer purpose idea from an aesthetic view.
The music was released on two CD releases by Virgin Records: a first release and then a ''More music from''. It features a lot of the songs heard in the film, and it includes variations of both the theme by Umebayashi and Galasso. Yet there is also music, such as pre-existing pieces by Galasso not featured in the film, which makes these releases also a bit of ''inspired by', which does not explain the absence of Umebayashi's score to Sorekara, which was essential in an earlier stage of the making of this film. Special editions of the DVD include a music extra, the jukebox featured in the film, allowing you to skip to scenes with various pieces of music, while describing the history and context.
Tracklist In the Mood for Love
1. Yumeji's theme 2:31
2. Mo-wan's dialogue 0:11
3. Angkor wat theme i 2:14
4. ITMFL I 2:11
5. Aquellos Ojos Verdes 2:14
6. Shuang Shuang Yan 2:55
7. ITMFL II 1:05
8. Radio Zhou Xuan Announcement / Hua Yang De Nian Hua 3:20
9. Quizas, Quizas, Quizas (Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps) 2:47
10. Bengawan Solo 2:54
11. ITMFL III 1:35
12. Si Lang Tan Mu 0:23
13. Shuang Ma Hui 1:15
14. Blue 5:46
15. Hong Niang Hui Zhang Sheng 2:01
16. Li-zhen's dialogue / Te Quiero Dijiste (Magic Is the Moonlight) 2:44
17. Angkor Wat Theme II 2:08
18. Yue Er Wan Wan Zhao Jiu Zhou 3:12
19. Casanova's Flute 2:20
20. Yumeji's Theme / Li-zhen's dialogue 2:31
21. Angkor Wat Theme Finale 2:42
Total duration: 48:58
Tracklist More in the Mood for Love
1. I'm in the Mood for Love Bryan Ferry 4:19
2. Li-Zhen's Dialogue Maggie Cheung 0:08
3. Angkor Wat Theme III Michael Galasso 2:09
4. Gun Michael Galasso 4:03
5. Qing Tan Fu Quan Xiang, Lu Jin Hua 1:01
6. Maria Elena Nat King Cole 2:42
7. Dang Zhe Ni Hui Lai Bai Guang 3:00
8. Sang Yuan Ji Zi Tan Xin Pei 0:53
9. Perfidia Nat King Cole 2:20
10. Mian Diu Mian Tony Leung 4:49
11. Casanova III Michael Galasso 1:40
12. Angkor Wat Theme IV Michael Galasso 2:08
13. Solamente Una Vez Nat King Cole 2:47
14. Lan Hua Nu Rebecca Pan 2:52
15. Tiao Dou (Remix) Tony Leung 3:37
16. Shuang Ma Hui Zhang Yun Xian & Hou Li Jun 0:50
17. Yumeji's Theme (Extended Version) Shigeru Umebayashi 3:05
18. Hua Yang Nian Hua (Remix) Tony Leung & Maggie Cheung 4:00
19. Mo-Wan's Dialogue Tony Leung 0:07
Total duration: 46:30
26-10-2025)