Category: 2020 Spring

Cat Links Lecture 7 Monsters, Materials & Skyscrapers

[Reading Response: Abbas, M. A. / Tsutsui W.M. ]

Posted on u3599370@connect.hku.hk

Eujin Lee 3035993701 Tsutsui’s Oh No, There Goes Tokyo:   The title “Oh No, There Goes Tokyo” indicates the frequent occurrence of destructive events in Tokyo. The tone of the title is casual, implying Tokyo’s historical vulnerability to catastrophic events. By taking an example of a Japanese pop artist Murakami Takashi, the author insists that Japanese visual culture was heavily influenced by the lingering trauma of these events and vulnerability. The films mirror the anxieties towards war and natural/man-made hazards, and one of the major functions of the film is to alleviate them. The monster film in Japan is very

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Cat Links Lecture 6 Housing Stories

Reading Response: Ancuta, K

Posted on u3597773@connect.hku.hk

Ghosts are used to personify the presence of the past, the unknown and the unseen. It gives insight to the audience on what the character feels towards housing in Hong Kong. Loneliness and isolation are heightened in the context of a horror film, which may explain why Hong Kong filmmakers often gravitate towards this genre when exploring the city’s urban environment. The anxieties and fears that arise from living in this densely populated and rapidly changing city are not only physically represented through being haunted by a ghost but also by the setting that the genre prompts: dark, ominous lighting;

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Cat Links Lecture 6 Housing Stories, Uncategorized

Reading Response: L6

Posted on ybai2025@connect.hku.hk

How does an urban context contribute to a sense of “loneliness” and “isolation”? Why is that significant in a ghost story? An urban context contributes by being constructed without the “human” in mind. When you look at apartment complexes and especially public housing projects, it is clear that they are made to maximize efficiency, profit or some other goal rather than comfort or pleasure. Ancuta writes of the apartments oft portrayed in Asian horror films: “While not completely brutalist in architecture, the environment seems hostile, or at best indifferent and adds to the mildly apocalyptic mood of these films. The

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Cat Links Lecture 6 Housing Stories

Reading Response: Katarzyna Ancuta

Posted on wktn@connect.hku.hk

Since I am timid, I seldom watch scary ghost films. However, Asian ghost movies usually involve comedy and romance elements which are easier to approach such as the classic Hong Kong movie Mr. Vampire. Ghosts are depicted physically different from humans, but psychologically alike as us. The complicated relationships between humans and ghosts derived from this precondition is always the most controversial topic which arouses audiences’ attention in most of these movies. Housing problems have long-existed in Hong Kong due to the high population density. Dissatisfaction and pressure accumulated under economic transformation and Hong Kong’s handover are largely reflected on

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Cat Links Lecture 6 Housing Stories

Reading Response: Cheung, E. M. K.

Posted on davehl@connect.hku.hk

The article from pp. 86-93 discusses about the representation of ghosts in Fruit Chan’s film, Made in Hong Kong. Chan’s surrealist filmic language (or the ghostly figures) acts as a metaphor for the identity and history of Hong Kong. The use of ghosts highlights the issues of social inequality, marginalization, and economic hardship faced by the youth in Hong Kong. For example, one note that Chan highlights the darker side of Hong Kong local culture of prison homes (which also has bad sanitasion and dysfunctional families) Additionally, Chan’s representation of ghosts is about the historical and cultural contexts of Hong

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Cat Links Lecture 6 Housing Stories

Reading Response: Ancuta, K.

Posted on f1lbertd@connect.hku.hk

The reading this week covers the supernatural and horror films in Asia set in residential housings. I want to mainly focus on the last of series of movies selected by Ancuta, namely The Promise by Sophon Sakdaphisit. Set in The Sathorn Unique Tower in Bangkok, Thailand, the movie follows a pair of girls. The quick synopsis is that the two girls became poor quickly from their lux lives and both made a pact to have a double suicide. One kept their promise and the other did not. The suicide victim later became a ghost who haunts the tower while the

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Cat Links Lecture 6 Housing Stories

Reading Response: Ancuta

Posted on him5579@connect.hku.hk

In this chapter, the anthor has brought her view on the relationship between urbanization and supernatural beliefs in Asian cities, and that reminds me of so much common issues modern people are facing nowaday. The writer mentioned that ghostly figure is particularly relevant in asian cities due to their strong cultural connection with ancestors. This was initially not a bad things, but I agree with the author that this reveals a serious issue of urban people. In modern society, people are often filled with loads of pressure. Especially in some fast-growing asian country such as China, people needs to stay

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Cat Links Lecture 6 Housing Stories, Lecture 6: Housing Stories

Reading Response: Katarzyna Ancuta

Posted on u3598375@connect.hku.hk

It’s not usual to see analysis on ghost themed movies. Horror movies are relatively underestimated since people usually treat them ways to seek excitements so the plots and techniques tend to be ignored by the audience. However, this reading lists out many symbols of ghosts may represent, especially connecting to modern people’s living condition and life style. In mega cities, senses of insecure and unfamiliar create a fear that specific to city people which gradually develop into a social notion, which thus converge into the ghosts in these movies. I would like to share my idea over the horror movie

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Cat Links Lecture 3 Filming the Asian City

Reading Response: Leung P.-K and Seng, E.

Posted on u3594936@connect.hku.hk

Resources provided by Leung P.-K provided a clear picture connection between film culture, industry, social environment and architecture. Due to quick economic development of Hong Kong, the gap between the rich and the poor are getting bigger, some films illustrate clearly the culture and atmosphere at that period. To be more specific, films serve as a vehicle to depict this aspect of Hong Kong culture due to the complexity of the establishment of Hong Kong society, which included the presentation of both traditional Chinese culture and foreign cultures. Like the film “Black Rose”, the inequality of Hong Kong is represented

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Cat Links Lecture 3 Filming the Asian City

Reading response: Leung Ping Kwan

Posted on u3597773@connect.hku.hk

What is the “true reflection” of the city? Western films never seem to depict Hong Kong in the right way, on one end of the spectrum it is perceived as a hyper-futuristic metropolis and on the other, a traditional city where Chinese influences are prominent and fetishised. Yet, Hong Kong is actually neither of the above but rather a hybrid of sorts, it stands alone as a new genre, a new genre of cinema and even of cities. The author, Leung Ping Kwan points this out beautifully with his dissection of the film title “Chungking Express”, “The title of the

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