The Second Sex?

Comment on the movie "In the Mood for Love" based on Laura Mulvey's "Woman as Image, Man as Bearer of the Look"

"The presence of a woman is an indispensable element of spectacle in normal narrative film, yet her visual presence tends to work against the development of a story line, to freeze the flow of action in moments of erotic contemplation."

Personally I never liked women in movies. Most of them are fragile, foolish and always in need of another person for help. I don't want to think of myself as that kind of woman and so I cannot identify with most of the female characters.

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Women always have to look good. Li-zhen's sexuality is emphasized through close-up shots of erotic zones. The angles in some of the scenes have that voyeuristic quality. The viewers intrude their lives.Like most female characters, she is a passive counterpart to Chow. The male protagonist provides the actions of the story to keep it going. In the end, the woman was punished (sadism) and the audience are not even sure if she still lives with her husband.

The music adds to the overall mood of the story. It's slow and sensual, like the pace of the story. It also makes the audience feel that their relationship should be kept a secret.

Camera movements evoke feelings of loneliness and isolation, which the main characters have felt throughout the film. The growing passions and the characters' frustration forces them to accept that their feelings alone are not enough. They realized revenge was a mistake and that they were the victims of their own actions.