In the Mood for Love (2000)

In the Mood for Love (2000) is arguably the most visually sumptuous film ever made about unspoken longing. Wong Kar-wai and cinematographer Christopher Doyle shoot the narrow corridors of 1960s Hong Kong in a palette of crimson and emerald, using slow motion and 44 distinct costume changes to mirror repressed emotion. The average shot length of 8 seconds is longer than the genre average, creating a hypnotic rhythm. Unlike the epic sweep of #1 Farewell My Concubine, this film crams a universe of feeling into 98 minutes, with every frame bearing a specific color temperature—often 3200K tungsten—to evoke intimacy.