Limbo, DIR. CHEANG POU SOI (2021)
Mei King Mansion, To Kwa Wan District, Hong Kong
Cham Lau finds and saves Wong To, who is running away from gang members and drug dealers, in Mei King Mansion. Scenes from Sun Entertainment Culture’s Limbo 2021, directed by Cheang Pou-soi..
Sun Entertainment Culture released Limbo in November 2021. The film is a noir horror thriller set in a fictional country that has a large resemblance with Hong Kong. Most scenes are shot in Kwun Tong and To Kwa Wan. The first act of the movie takes place a black-and-white Aberdeen, Kowloon Bay, Kwun Tong and Shum Shui Po, scattering throughout different Tong Laus and alleyways. The typical Edwardian architecture and the Bauhaus buildings with the aid its monochrome palette exaggerates the dark, grimy and constraining atmosphere. The leading character officer Cham tracks down a society reject Wong To, who are in trouble due to offending gang members and drug dealers. The second act begins when the antagonists hunt for Wong To at the Wan Mei King Mansion in To Kwa Wan, where the sense of both physical and mental pressure rise tremendously.
Being separated yet still in the same building, Wong To and Cham stumble through cramped hallways: hiding, escaping and running are all they can do. The hallways of Mei King Mansion is shot in extremely tight spaces, with rapid camera movements that follow the cast surging through the messy aisles and dank alleyways. The cinematography adapted makes Mei King Mansion even more cramped and grim than what a person would experience in real life. Such methods of presentation are adopted to strengthen the sense of cramped and how much pressure the characters are facing; Cham is chasing after a drug addict who has information about a case, while looking for Wong To at the same time, Wong To is being hunted by gang members because she spilled their secrets to Cham. All of those are happening while the psycho serial killer is picking out his next target. The film shows many shots of the characters having their foot sunken in trash bags, bumping onto corners. That is how a thrilling and suppressing atmosphere is created.
The greatest characteristic in this film is without a doubt it being a noir film. Monochrome scenes emphasizes on the contrast between solid and void, as well as darkness and light. Obviously, these contrasts are essential in the study of architecture. Mei King Mansion, under such palette, provides a very restrictive spatial quality to the characters experiencing its interiors.
All in all, the way that Mei King Mansion is presented to the audience provides a great level of compact and uncomfortable as the settings. The black and white palette, rapid and eye-level camera movements as well as the physical elements designed are all very crucial to the movies tone.
— Li Ching Ho Leo, 3035933517
Cham experiences the cramped environment of Mei King Mansion. Scenes from Sun Entertainment Culture’s Limbo 2021, directed by Cheang Pou-soi..
Reference list:
Ng, P. (2021, November 23). 紀錄香港被遺棄的美景丨鄭保瑞執導《智齒》土瓜灣、裕民坊、華富邨取景︱Esquire HK. Esquire HK. Retrieved March 21, 2022, from https://www.esquirehk.com/lifestyle/limbo-soi-cheang
You have mentioned how cramped the building is in your essay, but the photos you chose have oppositely displayed the spaciousness of the atrium. I would suggest a more careful choice of image to support your piece. You have made a few spatial analyses with regard to the plot. I wonder if you have visited the space virtually to contrast it with its appearance in the movie? Moreover, you could apply some film techniques like chiaroscuro to discuss the visual effects with regard to the space. ps. I wonder which Edwardian architecture you are pointing to? It seems to me that this style is quite rare in HK.