Script:
Anita (2021) is a film based on the journey of Anita Mui, one of Hong Kong’s most influential music figures and “Daughter of Hong Kong”. We are first introduced to Anita and her sister who were child performers and eventually became successful in the music industry through winning a singing contest in 1982 and being recognised by Superstardom, and also being lifelong friends with Lesie Cheung. However after a tragic relationship with a Japanese singer, Anita moves to Thailand after a confrontation with a gangster. Her hiatus and exile in Thailand placed Anita in her most vulnerable state and rock bottom in her career. With that said, she made a return to Hong Kong where she contributed to many charitable causes and conducted her final performance where she bids farewell ahead of her death from cancer. Let’s start by exploring how the architecture in the film contributes to its narrative.
The Hong Kong Coliseum is the film’s most crucial building that appears in multiple stages of Anita’s career; and plays an important role in the narrative. At the beginning of her career, she was chatting with Leslie Cheung at East Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, where they could glimpse the Coliseum’s rooftop. The stadium was blocked by the neon-lit Tsim Sha Tsui center, and the long distance between them and the stadium implies that they are far from being successful in holding a concert there. They took a bow at the deserted waterfront in front of the Victoria Harbor, facing the most prosperous Central and Western district of Hong Kong, as if they were taking the curtain call to the general public. This scene corresponds to the last scene, in which Anita wears a wedding dress stating that she is married to the stage, emphasizing her bond with Hong Kong’s entertainment industry. Soon after, a montage was used, the film shows some precious moments of her and Leslie’s concert collaboration in the coliseum, indicating her reaching the peak of her career.
At the climax of her career, she presents the audience with a new look, fighting against cancer, here’s again a concert in the Coliseum. In this scene, the switching of her states corresponds to the switching of the architectural spaces, as if it’s another person when she stands on the stage and faces her fans, she is such a glamorous and strong figure, versus the weak and fragile side of her that was hidden backstage, perhaps it is the instinct of an artist that was trained when she performed as a kid. Similarly, the former state was presented in the large arena, lit by the fans’ lightstick and signboards, while the latter state was in a small and dark space confined by the steel scaffolds that support the stage.
The film serves as a ‘time machine’ that transports us back to the city’s past. In order to recreate these iconic scenes, the production team searched for old photos and interviewed people who witnessed that era, and combined all of this with CG technology. It was important that the film can bring the feelings of old Hong Kong and produce nostalgia, a color palette in high saturation, which was rendered by the neon lights, contributes to the presentation of those ordinary spaces and the aura buried in the audiences’ memories. The East Tsim Sha Tsui promenade was completed during the 1980s, and this new deserted public space became a place for people to have some heart-to-heart talks, as Anita and Leslie did in the film. Also, as Anita and her sister stand in the middle of the street, the vertical panning taken of the Lee Theatre foreshadows Anita winning the singing competition that brought her into the public eye and the beginning of her astonishing rise to fame. Regardless of the same composition of the buildings, it’s vertically stretched and has become a shopping plaza with a modern facade.
Ultimately, the architecture and landscape featured in the film are a representation of Anita’s milestone and an archive of what Hong Kong city streets used to look like. Each piece of Architecture was a significant moment for Anita. Whether it was the Lee Theatre as her rise to success, and the Hong Kong Colosseum as her peak and end of her singing career.
UID:
3035987013 Hui Jaden Tatsuya
3035980120 HE LOK YIU Melody
There is some analysis on how the different spaces represent different emotional states of Anita, inside the stadium, backstage, by the promenade etc. You also mentioned the movement of camera which seemed important to the film I appreciated your comparison of the past and present and how the buildings transformed with time, and it was interesting to see how the director used collective nostalgia to create appeal for the film by recreating old streetscapes of Hong Kong through CGI. A more conversational dialogue and elaboration on the architecture instead of the characters would benefit your podcast.