Script:
CC: Hello, and welcome to our Architecture and Film podcast. We are your host today. I am Chen Chun.
CHC: And I am Uson.
CC: Today we will discuss the 2019 film My Prince Edward, directed by Norris Wong. My Prince Edward explores the meaning of marriage for Hong Kong women and reflects today’s social phenomenon that marriage often means the compression of personal space and freedom. Now, could you introduce the director to us, Uson?
CHC: Sure! Norris Wong is a Hong Kong novelist, songwriter, screenwriter, and director. She made her directorial debut with My Prince Edward, which won her the Award for Best New Director and was nominated for Best Screenplay at the 39th Hong Kong Film Awards. Interestingly, Wong is a resident of Allied Plaza, right opposite Golden Plaza, where most of the movie was shot. That is part of why we focus on her connection to the film and how the area where she grew up was presented on screen.
CC: Right. Now for a short take on My Prince Edward’s plot. The film begins with the relationship between Cheung Lei-Fong and Edward Yan, who work in a shopping mall for wedding accessories and services. Dramatically, when they started to consider marriage, the issue of Cheung’s “fake marriage” with a mainland guy many years back emerged. Moreover, Cheung began to reflect upon her about-to-be marriage and how it hinders her pursuit of happiness in life.
CHC: In the film, Cheung once said, “If I marry him even though I don’t like him, is it a fake marriage?” She came to an epiphany at this point. The film concludes with an open ending, allowing the audience to reflect on the choice between marriage and freedom of life in light of Lei-Fong’s choice.
CC: Now, let’s call it a pause of the film’s general background and dig deeper into our focus today: how is the primary living and working environment—Golden Plaza and its neighborhood presented in the movie, and how we found it part in parallel and part in contrast with reality after paying a visit to the site. So, Uson, why don’t you briefly discuss the film’s general approach to portraying the Golden Plaza?
CHC: OK. In essence, the film used two perspectives to capture the building’s appearance and characteristics, one from a pedestrian’s view and another from more unusual angles.
CC: Hmm, I think that’s quite an obvious method to showcase a building in a film. Let’s elaborate on these two perspectives with film clip examples to demonstrate better Norris Wong’s unique take on a moderate shopping mall.
CHC: Sure. On the one hand, starting from the intro part of the film, the camera follows Cheung’s footsteps through the streets of Prince Edward on a typical working day. Wong applied eye-level shots that followed the character’s movement, especially in indoor environments and on sidewalks. This close-to-first-person narration brings the audience closer to what the characters are experiencing and track records the buildings, especially the Golden Plaza, from a subjective view.
CHC:On the other hand, the film features multiple shots of the Golden Plaza’s exterior from camera positions not easily accessed by pedestrian eyes, such as from an overpass north of the building or a bird’s view above the Civic Triangle a block away in the south. These shots are more static, only feature subtle camera movements, and present a more comprehensive and objective description of an ordinary urban setting.
CC: Excellent analysis of the camera language utilized in My Prince Edward! Now I’ll share a few case studies comparing the film and the fieldwork that interest us.
CC: The film takes in the streets and alleys of Prince Edward from time to time, with the China-Hong Kong bus stop next to the Golden Plaza, implicitly illustrating the relationship between Cheung Lei-Fong, Edward, and Yang Shu Wei. We discovered that Norris Wong authentically kept the street traffic, the bus stop, and the shops in their original state in the film by using mobile shots that follow the currents of traffic at a slower pace. We assume that having grown up in the district; she finds it meaningful to film fiction in a familiar and realistic setting to achieve a more in-depth ponder over what is occurring and bothering generations in Hong Kong society.
CHC: I also made an interesting discovery about the back alley around the corner, where the conversation between Yeung Shu Wai and Cheung Lie Fong was filmed. When we arrived, we found a man smoking like Yeung Shu-wai from the film, showing that alleyways are confined corners from the bustling, providing an ideal place for people seeking a private conversation. In the movie, the walls of the back alley are plain and untouched, but now, after a few years, they are covered with graffiti and secondary creations. This change in appearance hints that either the director cleared the wall for a fresher look in the film to focus more on the two figures in the front view or the government has recently been loose on maintenance in the region.
CC: That is an interesting discovery. As for me, I concentrated more on the interior space in which the film was shot.
CC: In the film, the turtle that Lei Fong buys goes from a large tank in the shop to a small tank in her home; not only does it not get a free life, but it also speaks of the hardship that Lei Fong faces as she chooses between buying a new apartment or continue with the current one. Ironically, the housing problem in Hong Kong is like a cage that traps many people. Many people wish to move to a bigger apartment but are only switching from a small pen to a bigger cell because of the tremendous financial burden. On the shop levels of Golden Plaza, we find in common with the character’s experiences in the film that the ceilings hang low, and the corridors are packed with ornaments that are difficult to pass through. However, we did notice that the shopping center was busier in the film than when we visited on the weekday. We found many shops empty for rent and customers in the building are scarce. This led us to guess that the movie manually created a bustling environment to manifest that the marriage market is crowded. Many factors push young couples, especially the side with a weaker voice and lower willingness to proceed with haste, to make their life decisions.
CHC: Apart from the interior spaces, I also noticed neon signs in the outdoor design.
CHC: Neon signs that are a signature of Mongkok hanging outside Golden Plaza are observable in the film and real life. However, in the movie, it was mostly at night when the director captured those lights. The sign stands out in the city’s corners, contrasting against the still night. When we were filming, we found that when the panels were not illuminated at midday, they had already blended into the building and could only be seen if you looked closely. Opting only to include the neon sign when turned on draws attention away from the silhouette of the Golden Plaza. It focuses on the abstract concept of the Plaza as a representation of deep meanings. The director used such scenes as transitions between scenes, guiding audiences to get a sense of disengagement from the characters’ routine and reflecting on the overwhelming tension.
CC: Your reference to the outdoors reminds me of the shops and designs outside on the street of the Golden Plaza.
CC: There is a Chinese pastry shop next door to the Golden Plaza. The wallpaper of the shop stayed the same for three years after the film was shot; this proves that these old-fashioned bakeries are not renovated to attract more customers. The mise-en-scène of the film stands as a symbol of nostalgia and preserves itself among high-rises. In this way, the director pays tribute to her cultural roots and, again, emphasizes the social challenges portrayed in the film as reflections of reality—the suffocating pressure and oppression on younger generations and difficult-to-handle relationships that exist but are often overlooked in such subtle and peaceful urban settings.
CHC: I agree because many social problems can be manifested in cities’ appearance.
CHC: Generally, throughout the film, director Wong Yee-lam illustrates the contradictions between the beginning of marriage and the freedom of life, the relationship between Hong Kong and China, and social issues such as living in Hong Kong, reflecting the uncertainty of Hong Kong today and in the future. Her choices between showing buildings and streets as the original and slightly altering them to achieve artistic and symbolic effects are great examples of how architecture plays a vital role in screen expressions.
CC: Well said! And I think that wraps up our discussion today. Thank you for listening!
Chen Chun (3035974690) and Chong Hoi Ching (3036106575)
Your work has a very clear structure that allows audiences to easily follow – firstly to understand the storyline, the notion that the film plots are exploring and the background of the director. There is also elaborate analysis on the camera language and how architectural elements (e.g. the neon sign) are used to express ideas and symbolisms.
However, some of the analysis seem to be over-interpreted, e.g. the traditional bakery near the entrance of the Golden Plaza. I also recommend you to go through your script several times in details before recording. In that way, you can familiarize with the speaking pace and pronunciation of the key terms.