[Fieldwork Podcast]: God of Gamblers(1989)

Script (Approximately):

Filbert:
The movie God of Gambler, produced in 1989 by Dir. Wong Jin is one of the many Hong Kong classics. It is a mix of drama, comedy, and action. Probably the most popular genres at the time. The movie revolutionized the Hong Kong cinema scene with its whole premise being subject focused on gambling. The movie follows our main character Ko Chun who is known world-wide as the god of gambler. Well, known world-wide by the Asians anyways as shown in the beginning shot of the film where Ko Chun was playing in America and none but presumably a local of Hong Kong (by how they communicated) recognized him. Though, it is not only about how great and lucky Ko Chun is but also was telling his misfortunes and the misadventures and people that came along with his memory-lapse after falling to a trap set by people who would later take care of him.

Abel: In analyzing this movie, we have chosen 2 particular locations where they were shot. Namely, Fun City and Lucky Plaza. These 2 locations, when they were first introduced in the movie, something was quite off with them. Perhaps it’s for a humorous effect for those who knows Hongkong well. For example, the lucky plaza mall was introduced after the enemies are engaged with Ko Chun’s gang in a brothel in Mongkok and they magically appear from that brothel into Lucky Plaza’s staircases, and this is repeated a couple more times while Ko chun was running away, presumably from lucky plaza, into Fun city’s entrance.

Filbert: Additionally, I think they chose Lucky plaza and Fun City because perhaps those words describe “gamblers” the best. Presumably, a path of luck and every now and then, fun. Anyhow, what happened in Lucky Plaza was a sort of cat and mouse chase scene involving firearms between Ko Chun and his enemy. The battles happen throughout the plaza from the highest accessible level all the way to the ground floor. One of the characters, Dragon, an experienced henchman, utilized his environment to win battles. Then, the fight takes to the parking lot with many cars and pillars making the situation more intense as there could be many opportunities to sneak around and there are more of the guys shooting because now they can just seem to miss their shots at the cars instead compared to earlier within the mall filled with civilians. With all of these fight scenes, many dramatic angles can be seen. Top-down view at a literal level or just to show the mightiness of a character for example when Ko Chun remembered a little bit of his former life and took the guns.

Abel: Last but not least, the scene at Fun city’s entrance. It was actually a rather quick scene where Ko Chun ran outside of the entrance to the mall, as I’ve mentioned, hit a passerby along the way and fell and splat his head into the concrete sidewalk. He stood back up nauseatingly as he was surrounded by walkers. Finally, Ko Chun attempted to run from the crowd he attracted, and got hit by a taxi along the way.

Abel: During the analysis, we are assuming no significant changes has been made to these locations. So physically, they are approximately the same.

Abel: The first part is this one. This location is pretty much the same as in the movie, though it feels way bigger in the movie. When we were there, the two of us could barely stand on the pathways together. Seeing that Andy Lau was 1.74 meters and Filbert was just a bit taller, there seems to be something intended with these setups. Perhaps to show how free the characters are. In context, before this they were always running away from mobsters, gangsters, etc. But at this point with the introduction of Dragon, instead of running away they could fight back. 

Filbert: Same as above, though to add a bit more, stairs have been completely repaired, with the floors and walls being just minimalistically clean concrete painted white, while the pipes were repainted as well. The building itself was wholly redecorated and repaired recently. Many shops were still unopened and its interior in the process of being decorated. The pillars in the scene have been repainted and an extra layer of concrete was added to the top of the railings. Trees and greenery around the area has increased in stature. 

Abel: This next part was the first location that we stumbled upon and was also the first one to surprise us because of how the movie displayed the location, it seems much bigger. But, when you’re actually there, it was actually way smaller. Perhaps this was done for the same reason as before. It’s to immerse you into the point of view of the characters. To further enforce my points, the scene made the pillars seem taller than it is. It looks about shoulder height in the scene, but in actuality, quite short. 

Filbert: It also uses widespread Lense to make it looks horizontally larger and was shot parallel with the railings, so it feels much taller even though it was only at the 2nd floor of the building

Filbert: This next scene is actually in the same area. There exit of the staircase was supposed to be next to a restaurant where later knife will crash into a glass door. That whole place has entirely changed. The flooring changed into wood, the plates were changed to concrete, and the restaurant is now a female toilet.

Filbert: So, the next scene, the Parking lot. The space in general changed by quite a lot. This image is not the exact spot the film was shot at, but it is close enough. All the pillars seemed so close together when we got there. As background information, Lucky Plaza was reopened in 2020. Before that, it was under renovation. Perhaps in that period, bars were added to the edges of the pillars, as well as a new fresh coat of paint. The flooring was also leveled and flattened, into the smooth surface seen in the image. And directional lines and parking directions were painted on the concrete flooring. The ceiling was also expanded down, with black pipes going everywhere.

Abel: Just to reinforce that it really gotten smaller, both of use had to constantly slouch or else we will headbang into one of the lights.

Abel: This next one is one of the lasts still that we captured. The shot on the film was actually impossible to take for us. We tried quite a few times to take the shot, but it seems to have been cinematographic magic, or just our lack of skills. We couldn’t get the background correct.

Filbert: We suspect that the roof/patio in the exterior might have been lowered.

Abel: This last scene from the film shows Ko Chan hitting his head on the pavement. It’s practically the same, but we couldn’t really get the same angle as in the movie because it was quite dirty. But for this scene, I think its shot this way to indicate that Ko Chun has almost returned to his former glorious self, indicated by the sky in the background perhaps showing how limitless his world has now become again. And especially coming from the shots previously in the mall, parking lot, etc. That feels more like a maze.

Filbert: The shot was also very shaky, showing the anxiety of the situation.

Abel: Yeah, and now it has come to a pivotal point.

Filbert: This movie showed a particular point of the relation with architecture and films. It has successfully recorded history. In particular the physical record of the buildings. Compared to now, the buildings really have changed. From the shops to the infrastructure. That parking lot especially. I would say one of the things in which the change caught me off guard the most. The height differences, the painting, how modern it looks now, etc.

Abel: Because we could not find any other locations in which the movie was shot, we can’t really judge Wong Jin’s other reasons for the way he presented the shots in the movie. But these ones in particular, I think it certainly makes sense why they are portrayed the way they do regardless even though our assumption in the beginning sorts of fell apart with locations like the parking lot. To feel what the character feels, to immerse yourself in the movie.

Abel Haris Harsono(3035834345) and Filbert David Telajaksana(3035945699)