‘In The Mood For Love’ In Concert’s World Premiere At The Opera House

Twenty-five years ago, Hong Kong cinema legend Wong Kar-wai released his widely beloved magnum opus In the Mood for Love. The film, starring the incomparable Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Maggie Cheung as two lonely spouses from different marriages, has a reputation that precedes it, regularly appearing on lists of the best films of all time. 

As anyone who’s seen In the Mood for Love knows, the film’s licensed music plays a key role in its overall sense of style. Despite not being created for Wong’s masterpiece, the soundtrack fits like a glove – be it the yearning violins of Yumeji’s theme or the sounds of Nat King Cole that sharply accentuate the emotion of many a scene, In the Mood for Love’s music choices are absolutely essential to the film’s function.

It’s for those reasons that Australian producer Nelson Khoury aimed to bring In the Mood for Love, one of his favourite films, to a concert film setting for the first time ever at the Sydney Opera House. “Our other promoter Dale Harrison is very experienced at doing these film concert events, which lots of younger people are now going to,” Nelson tells City Hub, “but I was the one that definitely pushed this, saying ‘In the Mood for Love, you’ve gotta do it!’”

“After a lot of deliberation, we did get the go ahead to do it,” he continues. “Through connections I have in Hong Kong and China we reached out to Wong Kar-wai, and it took about nine months to get them interested and agree to do this. This particular process is kind of new to me, it’s the first time we’re starting from the actual beginning and getting the rights, but it has been absolutely enjoyable.”

Behind the music of In the Mood for Love In Concert

Thanks to the efforts of Nelson and his co-organisers, Sydneysiders will be the first people in the world to experience the music of this modern masterpiece with a live orchestra. Featuring a 39-piece orchestra led by lauded conductor Guy Noble, the ensemble will be able to tackle the film’s many different styles of songs, from the luscious string symphonies to the film’s many Latin jazz songs.

Orchestrating the music for the show is AACTA-winning composer Jess Wells who, like Nelson, Jess also has a deep connection to the film: “While I was studying at AFTRS, I did a course on writing music for film. One day, we were shown In the Mood for Love, and I remember being slightly bamboozled by the same music repeating over and over.”

“But when you look into the story, you realise there’s this mesmerising quality with the slow motion sequences and the characters are going in circles too – I love the fact that music represents the internal monologue of the film.” Jess adds: “Also, my mum is from Hong Kong, and so the 60s aesthetic of the neon lights and the cheongsams they were wearing was so evocative to me, so there’s that connection to Hong Kong that I love as well.”

For the concert, Jess has fully orchestrated In the Mood for Love’s music from the ground up, including the slower versions of the Latin songs from the film. “There’s not a lot of dialogue to compete with music, which is what makes it such a great film for this live concert thing. It was heaps of fun, trying to put in all the lines and make sure all the harmonies are beautiful. You’re never gonna hear it like this at home, and that for me is really, really exciting.”

A setting worthy of In the Mood for Love

Both Nelson and Jess are unbelievably keen to be bringing In the Mood for Love in concert to the Opera House, promising an experience of watching the film like no other. Nelson says: “There are other things we could be doing which would be more profitable, but this is being done purely out of passion for the film, and for all the cinephiles who love this film. 

“It’s a film that’s quite hard to find these days, it’s cinemas here and there. But to do it at the Sydney Opera House with a live orchestra is going to be an absolute experience for both long time fans and people seeing it for the first time. My parents are coming up from Melbourne, and it’s a huge deal for me to see this. All roads lead to March 22nd, and we’re very excited.” 

Jess adds: “I’m just super thrilled I was asked to take part in this. You have to do things you’re not very keen on sometimes, but this was an absolute pleasure to work on because I love this kind of music. I’m so happy to hear that younger people are going too, because it’s like opening up a whole new world. We get to share this great film, and this performance puts it in the spot where it belongs.”

In the Mood for Love In Concert makes its world premiere on March 22nd with two performances at 2pm and 7pm at the Sydney Opera House. Tickets start at $79.90; book online.