The Mood For Love 2001 Short Film: In
In the Mood for Love endures as a modern classic: a film cited for its formal daring and emotional clarity, and one that has influenced how directors represent desire, memory, and urban melancholy in cinema worldwide.
If you want, I can prepare a concise scene-by-scene breakdown, a visual-shot study, or a short essay on its music and costume design. Which would you prefer?
In the Mood for Love 2001 is a rarely seen short film by Wong Kar-wai that serves as a modern-day coda or "dessert" to his 2000 masterpiece. Key Features of the Short Film
Original Concept: The short was originally intended to be the final piece of a triptych titled Three Stories About Food. While the second story was expanded into the feature-length In the Mood for Love, this segment—intended as the "dessert"—was kept as a separate short.
Plot & Characters: It features Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung playing different, modern characters. Leung plays the owner of a convenience store who collects keys left by customers, while Cheung plays a woman who returns to the store, gets drunk, and eats several cakes before passing out.
Style: Described as brisk and comic compared to the main feature, the short visually evokes the atmosphere of Chungking Express and served as an early sketch for what eventually became the 2007 film My Blueberry Nights. Running Time: The film is approximately 9 minutes long. Availability
For over two decades, the film was almost impossible to find, having only been screened during Wong Kar-wai's masterclass at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. However, it has recently resurfaced as part of the 25th Anniversary 4K restoration screenings.
Watch the trailer for the 25th-anniversary re-release, which includes the rare 2001 short film: In the Mood for Love 2001 | Trailer | Opens June 27 Film at Lincoln Center YouTube• Jun 26, 2025
The short film In the Mood for Love 2001 is a rare and elusive 32-minute coda directed by Wong Kar-wai. Originally conceived as the "dessert" for a triptych project titled Three Stories About Food
, it follows the 2000 feature film and provides a modern-day contrast to the 1962 setting of the original. Plot & Themes
Set in 2001 Hong Kong, the short stars Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung as different characters—or perhaps reincarnations of Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan. The Setting
: Tony Leung plays a convenience store owner, and Maggie Cheung is a frequent customer. The Conflict
: The customer leaves her keys with the owner for a lover who never arrives. The Climax
: After both characters suffer minor injuries—he while chasing a thief and she from a fight with her lover's mistress—they share an intimate moment in the store where he kisses her under the guise of "cleaning" cake from her face.
: It focuses on the "sensation of tasting" and the "erotic properties of desserts," acting as a lighter, sweeter counterpoint to the unconsummated longing of the main film. Relationship to Other Works My Blueberry Nights
: This short served as the primary inspiration for Wong Kar-wai's 2007 English-language debut, which also features a romance centered around a cafe and leftover desserts. : Some elements of the intended coda for In the Mood for Love were eventually reworked into the 2004 sequel, Where to Watch The short remains rare but has seen limited releases: in the mood for love 2001 short film
: It was recently screened in theaters alongside the 4K restoration of the main film for its 25th anniversary. Criterion Collection : It is included as a special feature on the In the Mood for Love
25th Anniversary Special Edition Blu-ray/4K UHD, available through the Criterion Collection
: While the short itself is not widely available on streaming, the original In the Mood for Love (2000) can be watched on: Subscription Free (with ads) ($3.99) or Google Play or his other short films like
Original Intent: The short was originally conceived as the third segment of an unrealized anthology film titled Three Stories About Food.
The "Dessert": Wong Kar-wai described the feature-length In the Mood for Love as the "main course" (the second segment) and this short film as the "dessert".
Premiere: It was famously screened only once during a masterclass at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival and remained largely unseen by the public for over two decades. Plot and Performance
Modern Setting: Unlike the 1960s period setting of the main feature, the 2001 short is set in a contemporary convenience store.
Characters: It reunites stars Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Maggie Cheung. Tony Leung plays the owner of the store. Maggie Cheung plays a frequent customer.
Thematic Focus: The film is described as an "analysis of the sensation of tasting," exploring the "erotic properties" of desserts like cakes and cream puffs. Significance and Legacy
Prototype for My Blueberry Nights: Film scholars and viewers often view this short as a thematic and stylistic precursor to Wong Kar-wai's 2007 English-language debut, My Blueberry Nights, which also features romantic connections centered around a food establishment.
Recent Release: After years of being considered "elusive," the short has recently been restored in 4K and included as a supplement in the 25th Anniversary Edition of In the Mood for Love released by Janus Films and The Criterion Collection. Comparison: Hua Yang De Nian Hua (2000)
It is often confused with another short film released by Wong Kar-wai during this period:
Hua Yang De Nian Hua (2000): A 2.5-minute montage of footage from lost vintage Chinese films, set to the song that gave In the Mood for Love its Chinese title.
In the Mood for Love 2001: A 9-minute (or 32-minute in some cuts) original narrative featuring the same lead actors from the feature film.
Wong Kar-wai's 2001 short film "Hua Yang De Nian Hua" is an experimental, two-minute montage of vintage Chinese film clips commissioned for the Berlin International Film Festival. The piece uses restored footage from 1930s-40s cinema to explore themes of nostalgia, often featured as a special feature on The Criterion Channel Criterion Collection releases. Hua yang de nian hua (Short 2000) - IMDb In the Mood for Love endures as a
In the Mood for Love 2001 is a 30-minute short film by Wong Kar-wai
that serves as a modern-day "coda" or "dessert" to his acclaimed 2000 feature, In the Mood for Love
. Often screened as part of special anniversary editions, it offers a starkly different, contemporary take on the central themes of longing and chance encounters. Critical Reception & Style
Critics and audiences often view the short as a "delightful dessert" that provides a form of emotional closure or "therapy" for fans of the original film's tragic ending. Aesthetic Shift
: Unlike the "velvety warm hues" and slow-motion elegance of the 1960s setting in the main feature, this short uses a colder, rougher aesthetic. It has been described as a "poppier" work, closer to the style of Chungking Express Thematically Lighter
: While the original film is defined by moral restraint and unconsummated desire, this short is described as "sweet" and even "hilarious," featuring a more direct and physically expressive relationship between the leads. : Viewers on platforms like Letterboxd
frequently mention that seeing the two leads (Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung) finally share a kiss is incredibly satisfying after the "bitter aftertaste" of the feature's ending. Plot & Context
: Set in a 2001 Hong Kong convenience store (specifically a 7-Eleven), Tony Leung plays the store owner and Maggie Cheung is a regular customer. They bond over shared desserts and a botched shoplifting incident.
: It was originally conceived as the third part of a triptych titled Stories About Food
, which eventually fell apart when the second story expanded to become the full-length feature In the Mood for Love
: The short is widely considered a creative "sketch" for Wong's later English-language film, My Blueberry Nights
, particularly the iconic scene involving a kiss over a piece of cake. "informal trilogy"?
Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love (2000 internationally, widely cited as 2001 in some festival contexts) is a restrained, sensuous film about longing, self-restraint, and the fine architecture of memory. Set in 1962 Hong Kong, it follows neighbors Mr. Chow (Tony Leung) and Mrs. Chan (Maggie Cheung) as they slowly discover their spouses’ infidelity and — instead of lashing out — cultivate a private, exquisitely controlled intimacy that never becomes physical.
The In the Mood for Love 2001 short film picks up at an ambiguous point. Mr. Chow (Tony Leung) is now a successful writer living in a sterile, modern apartment. The traditional Chinese music has been replaced by the hum of a refrigerator and distant traffic.
One night, he receives a call. It is Mrs. Chan (Maggie Cheung), but her voice is distorted by time. She asks to meet him at a hotel—the same hotel from the original film where they rehearsed their spouses’ affair. When Chow arrives, the setting has changed. The walls are now a muted grey. The red curtains are gone. In perhaps the most iconic sequence of the 2001 short film, they sit in silence. There are no rehearsals. No "let’s pretend." The Triumph: This short understands that the original
Instead, the director employs a radical narrative device: the removal of dialogue. For nearly six minutes, the two lovers simply stare at a malfunctioning wall clock. The second hand ticks backwards. Wong Kar-wai suggests that in 2001, time has literally reversed for them. They are no longer hiding from their spouses; they are hiding from the future they missed.
Critics often debate why the In the Mood for Love 2001 short film looks "cheap" compared to the original. This was a deliberate choice. Wong Kar-wai has stated in interviews (archived in the Criterion Collection’s supplemental materials) that he wanted the short to represent the "fading of memory." The digital video captures the low-resolution reality of nostalgia—the way a specific face becomes blurry when you try too hard to recall it.
Notice the costumes. In the original, Mrs. Chan’s cheongsams are vibrant, floral, and sexual. In the 2001 short film, she wears a plain, black, high-necked dress. Mr. Chow’s pinstripe suit is replaced by a wrinkled t-shirt. The erotic tension of the original is replaced by the quiet exhaustion of people who have waited too long.
If you want a short film with the same mood as In the Mood for Love (slow-burn romance, 1960s Hong Kong aesthetics, restrained emotion), try:
If In the Mood for Love is a film about the suffocating geometry of secrecy, the short film/coda often titled In the Mood for Love 2001 is about the release of that secret into the wind.
While the theatrical release ends with Tony Leung’s Chow Mo-wan whispering his sorrows into the hollow of a ruined wall in Angkor Wat, the "2001" short piece—often presented as a music video or epilogue—lingers on what happens after the whisper.
The Shift in Texture The main film is claustrophobic. We are trapped in hallways, noodle shops, and rain-slicked streets. The camera moves in circles; the characters are framed by doorframes and mirrors, visually caged by their morality and their affair.
In the 2001 short film, the walls disappear. Set against the majestic, crumbling temples of Angkor Wat, the aspect ratio often opens up. The visual language shifts from the domestic to the divine. The setting is no longer a man-made cage but a stone jungle that is slowly being reclaimed by nature. This parallels Chow’s emotional state: he has moved from the intense, manufactured heat of the affair to a cooler, more ancient kind of sadness.
The Ghost in the Frame One of the most fascinating elements of this short piece is the presence of Maggie Cheung’s Su Li-zhen. In the narrative timeline of the feature film, she does not accompany Chow to Cambodia. Yet, in this dreamlike montage, she appears.
We see her walking through the temple corridors, her iconic cheongsams replaced by softer, travel-ready attire, though no less elegant. Her appearance here functions as a phantom limb. It suggests that Chow is not walking through the ruins alone; he is walking with the memory of her. The short film blurs the line between reality (Chow alone) and his internal projection (Su Li-zhen with him). It visualizes the film's central thesis: that they are now people who exist only in each other's minds.
The Silence of the Monks A crucial detail in this short film is the juxtaposition of the Western pop balladry (often "Angkor Wat Theme" featuring a sample of an old Mandarin song) against the silent, passing monks. In the feature film, Chow asks a monk to watch over his secret. In this short film, we see the monks passing by, indifferent to the emotional wreckage of the man standing there.
This creates a powerful contrast: the "mood for love" is a feverish, Westernized, modern ache, set against the backdrop of Eastern spiritual permanence. The love affair burns hot and fast; the stone temples and the monks endure for centuries.
The Architecture of Letting Go If the main film is about the "impossible" nature of their love, the 2001 short film is about the "inevitable" nature of their separation. The editing is less frantic, allowing the viewer to breathe. By stripping away the dialogue and plot mechanics, the short piece reduces the story to pure atmosphere.
It serves as a reminder that In the Mood for Love
The Triumph: This short understands that the original In the Mood for Love was always about the unseen. By removing Mrs. Chan and replacing concrete betrayal with abstract solitude, Wong distills the essence of the first film: the agony of a question never asked. The short’s final image—an empty chair in a room where two people once almost touched—is devastating.
The Frustration: It is willfully incomplete. Viewers expecting narrative closure or even a coherent scene will be lost. This is a tone poem, not a story. It also relies heavily on your memory of the 2000 film. Without that emotional scaffolding, the short risks feeling like a perfume advertisement—beautiful, but hollow.
If you are looking to find this elusive short, here is the current status: