The RAS Film Club is pleased to announce a season's appreciation event. On 19 December, we cordially invite RAS members to watch Wong Kai-wai's In The Mood For Love, an elegant classic of Asian cinema. A discussion of the film will follow, led by French artist and author Mr Michel Temman.

In the crowded Hong Kong of 1962, Mr Chow and Ms Su, both from Shanghai, rent rooms with their spouses in apartments next to each other. Soon after, they find that their spouses often go out of town at the same time, leaving them alone at home. Chow and Su each nurses suspicions about their spouse's fidelity. As their daily lives continue to intersect, feelings towards each other begin to creep in. However, is it the time and mood for love?

Writer and director Wong Kai-wai (王家卫) is one of the most influential film-makers in Hong Kong. His films are characterised by non-linear narratives, atmospheric music and vivid cinematography involving bold, saturated colours. Elvis Mitchell of the New York Times wrote that Wong "is one of that gifted new breed of moviemakers who think through the lens, and use that talent to give the film a heated, rapturous quality. … (It) is probably the most breathtakingly gorgeous film of the year." In 2000 the film was nominated for the Palme d'Or in Cannes and actor Tony Leung (梁朝伟) who successfully portrayed Chow, was awarded Best Actor. In a 2016 survey by the BBC, it was voted the second-best film of the 21st century by 177 film critics from around the world.

About the Speaker:

Born in Paris, Michel Temman started his photography career at the age of 15. After completion of his master's degree at Sorbonne University, he began to write for several magazines and collaborated with Galatée Films. In 1992, he moved to Japan, he joined the Keystone photo agency and worked from Tokyo with Studio Voice, ELLE and VOGUE Homme International. He was a laureate of the Canon Foundation in 1995 and became the Tokyo correspondent of the French newspaper Liberation from 2002 to 2012. His book Kitano par Kitano("Kitano by Kitano"), a biography of the Japanese film director Takeshi Kitano (北野武), was published in 2010 in seven countries. The book was awarded the UFJ Prize for the best cinematographic biography in France in 2012. Temman is currently based in Shanghai managing his own media agency and at the same time directing the international operations of Takeshi Kitano's new production company T.N. Gon. His abstract photography has been exhibited in Japan, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Xiamen.

Convener: Katherine Song