Gifts (Symbol)
Throughout the film, gifts exchanged between spouses and lovers play a significant role in exposing secrets. It is established early on that Su's husband is able to bring fine goods back from Japan, so he brings home presents for Su and Su's boss, for him to give to his wife and mistress. When Su asks her husband to bring back two handbags for Mr. Ho, her husband asks why she needs two, and Su suggests that the answer is obvious (i.e., that one is for his wife and the other for his mistress). When her husband asks if the bags should be different colors, Su says that it doesn't matter; they can be the same.
Later in the film, Chow notices that his wife has a Japanese bag just like Su's and, seeing this, suspects that his wife is having a relationship with Su's husband. At around the same time, Su notices that the tie her husband has been wearing every day is almost identical to the ties Chow wears. When she asks where Chow gets them, he confirms that his wife brings them back from Japan. In In the Mood for Love, gifts, particularly gifts of clothing, symbolize identity and romantic possession. The men don't buy their own ties; instead they wear the ties given to them by their significant other. When Su's husband starts wearing the tie that Chow's wife gave him every day, it marks a shift in his loyalties. Gifts are a way of demonstrating thoughtfulness and caring, and by buying gifts for Mr. Ho to give to his wife and mistress, Su participates in maintaining the façade that Mr. Ho is attentive to the women in his life.
Su's Qipaos (Symbol)
For the entirety of In the Mood for Love, Maggie Cheung's character is seen in nothing but ornate, intricately detailed qipaos. Her elegant, old-fashioned taste doesn't go unnoticed by neighbors, who wonder why she's always so overdressed for staying around the house, going to the noodle stall, or venturing out to the movie theater. The qipaos reflect Su's traditional values and nostalgia for a bygone era. The dresses also highly restrict her movement, and the physical rigidity of the dresses and the straight posture it forces her to adopt reflect the rigidity of her values.
The Office Clock (Symbol)
Wong's return to the office clock in several close-ups throughout the film—(6:55), (20:31), (36:56)—symbolizes the stasis and sluggishness of routine. The extreme close-up on the clock also reflects the anxiety induced by the claustrophobia of Su and Chow's pseudo-romance. Day in and day out, nothing around them changes remarkably, but all the while their feelings for each other percolate and change as their relationship transforms from a platonic curiosity about their spouses' motives to a real love that endures for years.
Mirrors (Motif)
Throughout the film, Wong uses mirrors to frame shots and manipulate the composition of scenes in ways that emphasize Su and Chow's intimacy as something refracted and somewhat manufactured. Their relationship begins as a solipsistic exercise in recreating a romance that arose organically between their spouses. Wong's repeated use of mirrors underscores the uncanny quality of Chow and Su's relationship as something that arose from an instinct to double, reflect, or recreate roles and scenarios as mirrors do with images.
The Pied-a-Terre (Symbol)
Chow rents an apartment in another building to buy him and Su privacy in their writing practice, and perhaps also to play out his burgeoning fantasy of starting a new life with her. The secret apartment symbolizes the desire for a new for double life that pervades the film, an instinct to start anew. The number on the front door, 2046, is significant in the history of Hong Kong, as it marks the year in which the "One Country Two Systems" agreement between China and the United Kingdom with regard to the governance of Hong Kong was set to expire. With this pointed reference, the apartment also symbolizes the uncertain future that is shaped by massive geopolitical forces but felt on personal, immediate levels.
