Lecture 2 Filming the Modern Asian City

Reading Response: Ackbar Abbas

February 8, 2021February 8, 2021 u3577129

The architecture of Hong Kong has a feature that is the constant building and rebuilding. The disappearance of architectures in Hong Kong implies substitution of commercial for cultural. The disappearance of places like Kowloon Walled City which is seen as the disappearance of old Hong Kong culture brings a new type of Walled City, a city of which citizens and culture are surrounded and hidden by its high-rise buildings. Ackbar Abbas’s article brought me some new aspect to view the city of Hong Kong as so far still a tourist. When I visited the high -rise buildings in Hong Kong,

Reading Response: Ackbar Abbas

February 8, 2021 Bertin Tong

I think the concepts of “disappearance” is used quite interestingly in this article, as the author explores how disappearance is tightly tied to culture. However, in my personal opinion, I don’t think such architecture can disappear in the way the author puts it. Even though colonial type architecture has mostly faded, their styles and aspects are part of the foundation of the modern architecture we see today, it can even be argued that the concept of “disappearance” doesn’t exist, rather the architecture simply changed and evolved over time. Moreover, I disagree with how the author states that the two bank

Reading Response: Ackbar Abbas

February 8, 2021 yhl2501

Buildings in Hong Kong are being demolished and rebuilt relentlessly. Some significant architectures have dissolved under gentrification in Hong Kong. Documenting history, buildings have faded, as well as the cultural value they carried. One question arises: how do we preserve these witnesses of humanity? Architecture has always been a crucial element in film to set the time and space of a story implicitly. Therefore, Abbas believes film could encourage the reappearance of architecture. For instance, the Repulse Bay Hotel reappeared in a film as itself could tell its story soundlessly, which reinforces with Hong Kong stories. Under rapid gentrification and

Reading Response: Ackbar Abbas

February 8, 2021 Andrea

Actually I think the word “disappearance” is quite subtle. Architecture in Hong Kong has changed a lot especially after its return due to various reasons, like political transformation, property speculation and hyperdensity. Hong Kong has special history and geographical location as a port city, resulting in its functioning as a middle man between China and the rest of the world. Therefore, from my perspective, the key feature of its identity is a mixed culture. After its internationalisation, the original building had to be rebuilt in order to accommodate the increasing population. So the architectural groups keep expanding horizontally and vertically.

Continue reading[READING RESPONSE] Giuliana Bruno

[READING RESPONSE] Giuliana Bruno

February 7, 2021February 7, 2021 Amy

This reading has delved into the realness of scenes presented. Movie creates a world. If it is a world that imitates our real life, keeping the scenes real while maintaining the pace within 2 hours could be the most challenging part for both plot design and filming. In The Way We Are (天水圍的日與夜), it describes a story that lasts for a decade in 2 hours. The movie subtly depicts the lapse of time through the transformation of lights upon time on the same architecture. Time is further visualised by letting the audience view Tin Shui Wai and architectures through the

Reading Response: Ackbar Abbas

February 6, 2021February 6, 2021 u3576229

In this article, the author explains his different views on the building in Hong Kong. The author made different points about the flaws of preservation in Hong Kong, such as replicas being mistaken as preservation and unintended irony. One of the point he made that interests me the most is “market erodes place”, which means that the value of a building is determined by the “value” of the building, and he used the example of Ritz Carlton Hotel which got torn down before it was opened and was turned into an office building just because the higher potential income an

Reading Response: Ackbar Abbas

February 6, 2021February 6, 2021 u3575906

In this reading, Abbas reflects on the preservation of Hong Kong culture and identity through examining the change of Hong Kong architecture since the colonial period. The concept of ‘disappearance’ is a central theme articulated in this piece. Two things discussed in the reading has captured my attention: the preserved old architectures and the new-build architectures in Hong Kong. Many old architectures in Hong Kong are preserved without deep thought, which causes the disappearance of Hong Kong culture instead of appearance. The Hong Kong Cultural Center and the Flagstaff House are great examples to support this claim. The poorly preserved

Continue readingReading Response: Giuliana Bruno

Reading Response: Giuliana Bruno

February 6, 2021 yichuliu

Time is constantly flowing. Architecture is something still. However, architecture is a good tool for showing how time flows in movies. That is because that architecture is not totally still and can create an atmosphere that a film needs. In the film Empire, Warhol shot a building for eight hours which shows the actual rhythm of a site. That movie shows how “reel time” is different from “real time” and how they connect with each other. Scroll time is displayed in space and includes reconstruction. In Tsai Ing-Wen’s film What Time Is It, the time has been disrupted and reorganized.

Reading Response: Ackbar Abbas

February 6, 2021March 11, 2021 ssl78

-Some thought about hk culture and film Witnessing the drastic change of Hong Kong, a familiar but unfamiliar city that has profound colonial history and important international status, it seems Hongkongers could never solve their chronic identity problem. The uncertainty and worry have been vividly displayed in our culture, including our films. Behind the stories of each film are the documentary that recorded people’s complex feelings of optimism, pessimism; joyfulness and desperation, regarding the future issue of our beloved hometown. However, gone are the days in the 80s when our film industry was flourish and diversify. Hong Kong movies in