In the Mood for Love, which earned Tony Leung the Best Actor award at the 53rd Cannes Film Festival - the first such prestigious accolade for an Asian actor - released a director's cut version on Feb 14, Valentine's Day.
For the first time in 25 years, the film, which debuted in 2000, added new content at the end, featuring footage from the short film In the Mood for Love. This short piece was later adapted into the feature-length film My Blueberry Nights, Wong's first feature in English which stars Norah Jones and Jude Law.
The original tale of In the Mood for Love is set in the 1960s and centers on a journalist played by Leung and a secretary at a shipping company portrayed by actress Maggie Cheung. The two characters grow closer after discovering that their spouses are having an affair with each other. As they interact, they develop feelings for one another, but societal norms and their own personalities prevent them from being together: a classic example of love and loss.
In the newly added content, the story of the two protagonists feels as though it is unfolding in a parallel timeline, abruptly shifting from the 1960s to the year 2000. Leung's character becomes a convenience store owner, while Cheung's character transforms into a woman who has loved but ended up hurt. This time, they seem to be together.
In a promotional video, Wong said that the director's cut would provide a different answer to the ending of the two protagonists in 1960s, whose inability to be together has long left fans sad and disappointed.
Describing the ending as a "different kind of reunion", Wong shared that the film was initially conceived as Three Stories About Food, exploring how inventions like rice cookers and instant noodles transformed relationships.
The film held a preview screening in Beijing on Feb 13, attracting dozens of celebrities. Actress Zhou Dongyu shared that she had watched the film at a young age, but this time, experiencing it on the big screen gave her a more profound and emotional impact. "A great movie can grow with time and watching it on the big screen allows it to resonate even more deeply," she said.
