In 1962 in Hong Kong, Mrs. Chan (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk), a shipping office secretary, and her husband rent a room in a building owned by Mrs. Suen (Rebecca Pan). She learns on the day of her move that Mr. Chow (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), a journalist, and his wife are to begin lodging in the flat next door. It turns out they have something in common — loneliness in marriage where their mates are always gone. But they are very discreet, trying to make the best of things even though they feel abandoned.
In an intricate dance of manners and small friendly gestures, they inch toward each other, sensing an unspoken bond that ties them together. Then one evening they both realize that their mates are having affairs. Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan become friends. It's almost as if they are trying to mirror the behavior of their spouses. In the process, they try to imagine and understand what it would be like to have a lover outside the bonds of marriage.
Hong Kong writer and director Wong Kar-wai has created a beguiling love story with dreamlike imagery that is framed through doors, windows, and corridors. The neighbors' affection for each other is spelled out in intricate gestures, such as a dab of mustard placed on Mrs. Chan's plate by the ever-courteous Mr. Chow. They are hyperconscious of being discovered by the landlady and her friends and go to extreme lengths to cover up their meetings. In one of the subtle ironies of the drama, Mrs. Chan must cover for the adulterous affair her boss is having with another woman by making excuses to his lonely and ignored wife who calls the office repeatedly.
Eventually Mr. Chow reveals that he has fallen in love with his neighbor but she is unwilling to leave her husband. Mr. Chow departs for Shanghai and a new job. In 1966, while in Cambodia, he visits a ruined temple, the Angkor Wat, where he whispers a secret into a hole in a wall. A young monk watches him from a rock, unaware of the great sadness of Mr. Chow's loss of love and the nature of his thwarted yearning. The bounty of this tale is in the telling. Wong Kar-wai has made a beautiful film.