https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTk1NjIxNTAw.html

This is a scene in the film which is directed by Wong Karwai called “In The Mood For Love”. In this clip, the protagonists are having a talk in the cafe, discovering that their partners are cheating on them. The scene starts with the cigarette smoke in the air. The smoke is really tiny to see so the background is blurry and thus put the focus on the smoke, creating the atmosphere in a  smooth way. The close up shots enable us focus on the characters’ facial expressions and their conversations. This kind of shots conveys the protagonists’ emotions strongly to the audiences and shows more details such as their costumes, hairstyles and acting. Su Lizhen is wearing the traditional Chinese “Qipao”. The patterns of the flowers on her qipao are messy which also indicates her inner feelings. To illustrate that, her action of stirring the spoon can also be the evidence of that. Their performances are incredibly engaging. I find they have few facial expressions however their eyes tell their hiding emotions. I can definitely feel the strong emotions through their acting. Sometimes they are smiling but those smiles are very fake. The lighting should be similar as they are siting in the same booth however, Su Lizhen’s (the woman) face is a lot more filled than Chow Mowan’s (the man). This is very interesting as the lighting echoes to the story line. Su Lizhen is aware of her husband’s affair while Chow Mowan is not and wants to get answer from her. So the director chose to make Chow Mowan’ face less filled instead of lighitng up. The lighting on Su Lizhen is worth looking at. The shadows of her eye lashes and her head are with very hard edges. There are only half of their faces in the scene which I feel it is the modelling of the camera to creates a very soft feeling even though the lighting is quite hard. There is a whip pan coming from the other side of the booth to Chow Mowan after he gets the informations of his wife’s affair from Su Lizhen. The camera movements work well with their acting and lighting, creating fantastic cinema effects and the film is constructed and expressed in a beautiful and artistic way. Highly recommended to you.