[Fieldwork Podcast]: My Prince Edward

Simon: Welcome to our podcast today on architecture and film. We are discussing the 2019 Hong Kong romance drama film, My Prince Edward, directed by Norris Wong in her directorial debut. The film is set in Prince Edward and portrays a pair of lovers, Edward and Fong, experiencing challenges as they prepare to enter into marriage.

Simon: Yifan, do you notice that the main character, Edward, actually has the name same as the place?
Yifan: Yes, that’s an interesting point.

Simon: Could you tell us more about Prince Edward and the main set?

Yifan: Sure.

Prince Edward

Yifan: The film locates in Prince Edward, where the main character Fong and Edward, grow up, work and live. Prince Edward is a vibrant and bustling district in Hong Kong, known for its street markets, local shops, and unique culture.
Yifan: The Golden Plaza in Prince Edward is the main set of the film where everything happens.
Simon: I think you are referring to the place which is built for providing wedding services.

Golden Plaza

Simon: The Golden Plaza is the main set of housing in the film My Prince Edward. As a typical Hong Kong-style composite building, the plaza serves as the most important scene for the main characters to work and live.

Yifan: Yes, we visited Golden Plaza last week.

Yifan: As a paradise of wedding services, to our surprise, the scene, in reality, appears to be more deserted than we expect. The light is dimmer, and the space is smaller than presented in the film. The main set of characters’ offices in the film is bright, surrounded by white wedding dresses. It is designed to create a sense of elegance and romance. The film’s portrayal of the Golden Plaza is a stark contrast to the reality of the place, which is less vibrant and lively. The plaza is presented in the film as a bustling centre of activity, but in reality, it seems to be struggling to attract customers. Despite this, the plaza serves as an important symbol of hope and possibility for Fong, who dreams of a better life and freedom.

Simon: And because it is a composite building, Edward and Fong also live here.

Simon: Different from the shop, the flat where Fong and her boyfriend live, on the upper floor of the Golden Plaza, is presented in dark and red. The contrast between the office and the flat is consistent with the contrast between the characters’ work and personal lives. The flat is a cramped, dark space, reflecting the struggles and challenges faced by Fong to deal with her fake marriage. Fong didn’t have the courage to inform her boyfriend of it, thus whispered to him when he fell asleep. The red and dark light at this moment actually represents Fong’s struggling and anxious mental world.

Yifan: Besides the shops, I also notice an important component in Golden Plaza.

Escalator

Yifan: Inside the Golden Plaza, the escalator serves a vital role in presenting the narrative and important transition between plots.
Yifan: The escalators featured a slow pace, designed route and clear direction, which serves as a buffer zone for transit between the plots. A typical scene to present this function of the escalators in the film is the scene where Edward sparks to Fong. In this scene, a great light board with the words “Marry Me” is placed at the gate of the Golden Plaza, surrounded by lots of excited friends of Edward and Fong. At this moment, as the audience, we all know what is going to happen. Edward will show up and propose to Fong. As we are expecting, Edward stands on the escalator and moves down slowly with a bunch of blossoms. The escalator transports Edward to the place where we expect at a slow pace but with clear direction. The movement of the escalator leads the narrative to the next stage and serves as a buffer zone to accumulate the audience’s expectations.

Simon: Indeed, the escalators serve a significant role in presenting the narrative in the Proposal Ceremony. Moreover,

Simon: The centre of the Plaza is occupied by the escalators. They connect the shops and the street, which also represents the crossway between Fong’s fixed daily routine and the outside world. This metaphor is interpreted vividly when Fong encounters her fake husband, Mr Yang, on the escalators in different directions. An interesting scene is that they recognise each other but fail to meet up because they all return to the escalator to find each other. From my perspective, this scene is a metaphor for Mr Yang, who pursues freedom and has a clear mind about what he will do, and Fong, who wants to escape from Prince Edward but doesn’t know what she needs and wants, heads to different directions and their paths will never come across.
Yifan: Besides the escalators, the mirrors are also utilised several times to present the scene.

Mirror

Yifan: The reflection from the mirrors creates an extra sense of space inside the Golden Plaza. When we visited the Plaza on our field trip, we surprisingly discovered that the bottom of the escalators was smooth and clean enough to serve as a large mirror. The reflection from it expands and changes the sense of space and position while taking the escalators.

Yifan: Meanwhiles, the mirror also serves as an important object of the set where customers put on their wedding dresses, which is a practice of Mise En Scene.

Yifan: Do you know another interesting place presented in the film?
Simon: Oh yes, outside the Golden Plaza, we also find Mong Kok block is another main scene in the film.

Mong Kok block

Simon: At the beginning of the film, Fong walks along the street in Mong Kok block. It is also the place where she lives. The street presents in the film is a little dim, and there are not many people in the street. A typical scene in the street is when Fong sees a little turtle that can’t turn over, so she tells the shopkeeper to help it. But the shopkeeper misunderstands her and gives her a turtle. To our surprise, she just accepts it and leaves. It can reflect Fong’s personality. The turtle represents Fong herself, and the water tank represents the place she lives and her marriage. She wants freedom but can only be trapped in a water tank.

Simon: However, the block, in reality, is much more bustling and bright. There are various street shops, and many people are buying fish and turtles. The contrast between the scene and reality implies that life is boring for Fong, which further indicates her depression, stress and numbness. She is trapped in this block and her everyday life but can only surrender to life.

Simon: Moreover, at the end of the film, Fong’s boyfriend buys her a new turtle in the same shop to try to remedy their relationship. It is a rainy day and even dimmer than the beginning scene, which is a big contrast with Edward’s mood. He is excited and wants to give Fong a surprise. At the same time, Fong is leaving Hong Kong to start a new life. Edward then becomes the person that is trapped in the block, trapped in relationship and marriage.

Yifan: But Fong’s beloved turtle is abandoned by Edward’s mom outside in a small and dark channel.

Channel

Yifan: The channel is the place where Edward’s mother released the turtle. As we mentioned before, the turtle represents Fong herself, and the release of the turtle also has a hint that she will leave the place and pursue freedom. They also have a conversation about marriage here, and they have totally different thoughts. Edward’s attitude towards marriage is calmer and more positive. However, from Fong’s tune, it can reflect her despair towards marriage. Yifan: The environment in the film is dim, but we can still clearly see the two characters. However, the real environment is darker than the scene. The light is warmer in the film so that we can better observe the interaction between them and can also create a special atmosphere. The darkness of the environment indicates that she is tired of their relationship and marriage, which can also represent that their relationship will end soon.

Simon: The place where Fong and Yang meet and communicate is also interesting

Supermarket

Simon: Near the end of the film, Yang gives up his dream of going to America because his girlfriend is pregnant. Fong and Yang meet in a supermarket and have a conversation about the relationship between freedom and marriage. A supermarket is a place that sells daily necessities, and Yang finally gives up his dream and surrenders to life and marriage. Before, he thought there was no freedom in marriage. However, he changes his thoughts in the end and makes Fong and we think about whether we can have freedom without marriage. The supermarket, in reality, is brighter, and the light is warmer, which is a contrast with the scene in the film. The cold light and the clutter of various goods in the supermarket can represent Fong’s confusion about marriage and freedom. Before, Yang is the representation of freedom. But now, even he changed his thoughts, which makes Fong more perplexed about her life.

Yifan: Right. I think what you said is a good sum for the film.

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Chen Liheng 3035844948
Yang Yifan 3035993816