FIGHT BACK TO SCHOOL, DIR. GORDON CHAN (1991)
Shatin College, Shatin District, Hong Kong
Note:A panoramic shot of the school and its surroundings.
Released by Orange Sky Golden Harvest in 1991, Fight Back To School would go on to become the year’s highest grossing film and also marks the beginning of a series that would captivate not just local, but an international audience as well, if its various adaptations in different languages are anything to go by. The film follows Chow-Sing-Sing (Played by Stephan Chow), an undercover cop posing as a student to recover a stolen weapon. Along with his detective partner (Played by Ng Man-tat ), the duo would stir up various mishaps as they struggle to accomplish their task. As the mainstay of the film, Shatin College (Edinburgh College in the film) represented the typical secondary school in Hong Kong and threw a sharp contrast with the serious atmosphere present in the police operations.
Note: The school front, fences, and the playground respectively.
Asides from the modified name, the aesthetics of the school has not changed much, if at all, over the three decades the film has been out. Identifying the locations of the scenes have been relatively easy, with the playground which played host to the Chow’s detentions and the hilarious scenes that ensued being the most noticeable. The fences, the colour of the ground, and even the goalposts bore a heavy resemblance to their cinematic counterparts. A walk around the perimeter of the school also revealed that the areas around the schools have similarly remained the same, the originally white fenceposts in the movie have since rusted over, and the red brick in the background seems a bit grimier, but it is still easily recognised. However, where the space has remained the same, the place certainly hasn’t. What made Edinburgh College what it was certainly the characters, and the banter between the various characters injected life into the otherwise non-descript building, and the quietness of the school was doubled-down upon by the suspension of classes caused by the pandemic, serving to only heighten the contrast between film and reality.
As discussed, the airy and light atmosphere of the school goes against the initially darker palette that the film employs when portraying the counter-terrorist exercise, and Chow’s disbelief at the ridiculousness of the assignment as he first enters the school only adds to the comedic effect. The ambience was more subdued at the start when Chow was only becoming acquainted with the students and was still firmly in the role of a police officer. However, as the film progresses and Chow sinks further into his cover as a student, we see the film lightening up, both in terms of dialog and the lighting.
Note: A road near the school which was the background of one of the movie’s sequences.
Lastly, asides from the initial and ending proportions of the film, the vast majority of the scenes were shot in or within the immediate proximity of the school. Correspondingly, the scenes there were more light-hearted and sillier in comparison to the other ones, where firefights, secret deals and the like break out. In a way, the school and Chow’s role as an undercover student provides him with a respite from the reality of the real world, such as his superiors.
Li Ming Chak UID:3035785570
I enjoy the comparison between your observation and the movie scenes and appreciate that you have taken the pandemic into consideration in your reflection. I understand that the building itself is one of the major sets, however, it is unclear that the places you have documented – around and outside the college plays a significant role of movie; it would greatly benefit if you had included more movie stills to visually illustrate what you have described. Since you’ve mentioned that the vast majority of the scenes were shot in or within the immediate proximity of the school, your report would be much richer if you have included those sites as well.