1. In the Mood for Love
Wong Kar-Wai's unparalleled masterpiece In the Mood for Love stormed the independent movie scene at the beginning of the century. The film propelled Kar-Wai into the legion of the greatest living directors, and deservedly so as the auteur is a treasure of cinema and one of the best storytellers from anywhere in the world, yet alone Hong Kong. In the Mood for Love can be best summed up as a beautiful, poetic, strangely exquisite depiction of unrequited love. Starring frequent Kar-Wai collaborators, the unbeatable Tony Leung and the graceful Maggie Cheung, In the Mood for Love is case for when you should believe the hype. Set in 60's China, In the Mood for Love tells the tale of two neighbours who discover that their respective spouses are cheating on them with each other. Upon being greeted with this shocking revelation, they in turn begin to fall in love with each other and we're left experiencing an incredibly melancholic and bittersweet film that is as good as anything made in the last 100 years. One of the most beautiful films ever to be seen, the cinematography of Christopher Doyle and Mark Lee Ping Bin is exquisite and spell-bounding. Not just the greatest movie to ever come out of Hong Kong but the greatest romantic movie of them all too.