Like the title promises, the hypnotic and subtle Taiwanese film In the Mood for Love deals with the potent and perplexing qualities of an amorous mood, and the music plays a vital role in the enchantment, as heard on the soundtrack album. That moody persuasion bubbles up unexpectedly in the film’s tale of star-crossed lovers, just as it does on musical terms, in a diverse score that includes velvet suavity from Nat King Cole, Chinese and Taiwanese vocalists and a melancholic, dreamy waltz theme by Shigeru Umebayashi. The music takes you someplace pleasantly mysterious, melancholic and dreamily seductive.
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