[Field Report] HELLO! MR. TREE, SPACE OF TREE

HELLO! MR TREE, DIR. HAN JIE (2011)   Space of Tree, Liaoyuan City, Jilin Province, Northeast China “Hello! Mr Tree” was directed by director Han Jie and supervised by Jia Zhangke and was released in mainland China on November 4, 2011. As a rare Chinese magical realism work, “Hello! “Mr Tree” is based on a man in rural Northeast China who wanders between the absurd and reality. The main character in this film is named Shu. In Chinese, Shu means “tree”. The tree that started as space becomes the core and remarkable symbol of the whole film: Shu’s spiritual world symbolises

Continue reading[Field Report] HELLO! MR. TREE, SPACE OF TREE

[Field Report] IFC: The Building BATMAN JUMPED off of is JUST Another ‘Junkspace’ to the Most of Us

The first characteristic that comes to mind when one mentions IFC is undoubtedly its height. After all, it was Hong Kong’s tallest building for over half a decade, establishing itself as one of the city’s most iconic and recognisable skyscrapers. Standing at 415 meters in height, it is has become an international symbol of Hong Kong, much like the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, and Taipei 101 in well…Taipei. It seems that skyscrapers are always the ‘go to’ association when it comes to first mentioning a city’s architecture, as their outstanding height and presence in

Continue reading[Field Report] IFC: The Building BATMAN JUMPED off of is JUST Another ‘Junkspace’ to the Most of Us

[FIELDWORK] MY PRINCE EDWARD, GOLDEN PLAZA

MY PRINCE EDWARD, DIR. NORRIS WONG (2019)            Golden Plaza, Prince Edward, Hong Kong My Prince Edward, directed and written by Norris Wong in 2019, is a romantic tragedy. Cheung Lei-fong, as known as “Fong”, starred by Stephy Tsang, is engaged with his eight-year boyfriend, Edward Yan, starred by Chu Pak-hong who is submissive to his mother. But Fong has a sham marriage with a mainlander before that struggles her coming marriage. Having a clingy and annoying personality, Edward force Fong to give up her freedom in the relationship and made her reconsider Edward’s proposal. Eventually, Fong

Continue reading[FIELDWORK] MY PRINCE EDWARD, GOLDEN PLAZA

[FIELDWORK] ACES GO PLACES, OCEAN CENTRE

ACES GO PLACES, DIR. ERIC TSANG (1982)            Ocean Centre, Yau Tsim Mong District, Hong Kong Aces Go Places was the first film in its series. The comedy and action film accomplished remarkable achievements and gained wide popularity in Hong Kong. The plot of the movie was about King Kong (the thief), Albert Au (detector) and Nancy Ho (Policewoman) cooperated to find missed diamonds. In the process, they faced obstacles from local gangsters and foreign mafia (white gloves). The humorous elements of the movie was mainly brought by non-sense/ mo lei tau dialogues between Kong and Au. This

Continue reading[FIELDWORK] ACES GO PLACES, OCEAN CENTRE

[Field Report] Cyber Dream: From Ghost in the Shell to Hong Kong Architecture

On December 10, 2020, when I sat in front of the computer and opened Cyberpunk 2077, I could not restrain the restlessness and excitement in my heart. When my cyber body traveled through the three-dimensional and complex Night City, I never imagined that I would come to Wan Chai District on Hong Kong Island half a year later and find a bridge and ground structure similar to the Night City. Coming to Hong Kong, as the holy land of cyberpunk subculture, it folds and unfolds its body that is difficult to contain growth in a narrow space. Above its body,

Continue reading[Field Report] Cyber Dream: From Ghost in the Shell to Hong Kong Architecture

[FIELDWORK] THE EIGHT HUNDRED, SIHANG WAREHOUSE

THE EIGHT HUNDRED Guan Hu, 2020 Sihang Warehouse, Shanghai At the end of the Battle of Shanghai(淞沪会战) in 1937, fierce fighting between China and Japan had lasted for three months and Shanghai was on the verge of being captured. Xie Jinyuan, Assistant Regimental Commander of 524 Regiment of 262nd Brigade of the 88th Division, led more than 420 men and stuck to the last line of defense alone in The Sihang Warehouse in Shanghai. The battle field separated by a river from the concession, it created a rare case that “a war to be watched”. In order to build a strong momentum,

Continue reading[FIELDWORK] THE EIGHT HUNDRED, SIHANG WAREHOUSE

[FIELDWORK] TEN YEARS – SEASON OF THE END, BUILDING IN TAI KOK TSUI

Ten Years – Season of the End, Wong Fei Pang (2015) Tai Kok Tsui, Hong Kong The film Season of the End is set inside a tong lau in Tai Kok Tsui. The story happened in a studio where specimen is created and stored.  The story started with couple making specimen of everything that is inside different broken houses as a sense of preservation. They believe the creation of specimen does not only preserve physical object, but it preserves the history, thoughts and culture. The story end with the female lead making the specimen of the male lead as they

Continue reading[FIELDWORK] TEN YEARS – SEASON OF THE END, BUILDING IN TAI KOK TSUI

[FIELDWORK] HER, LUJIAZUI & WUJIAOCHANG

HER, DIR. SPIKE JONZE (2013)            Lujiazui & Wujiaochang, Shanghai Warner Bros. released Her in 2013, a science-fiction romantic comedy film written, directed, and produced by Spike Jonze.1 Set in the near future, the protagonist, Theodore Twombly, is a letter writer who has just experienced the failure of his marriage. To dispel his loneliness, he buys a new operating system for his computer: the seductive, gentle, and humorous Samantha. Throughout the film, she has no face, only a voice. They fall in love, although Theodore keeps trying to have a relationship with a real woman. But this

Continue reading[FIELDWORK] HER, LUJIAZUI & WUJIAOCHANG

Field Report

Selected Film: Vampire Cleanup Department (2017) by Anthony Yan Site: Tai Wo Street, Wan Chai, Hong Kong         This film tells a story about imaginary zombie events happens in urban city. The scene was set in Hong Kong in 21st century in Wan Chai, when zombie activities were secretly monitored and controlled by a group of special operation organization. This group of people disguised themselves as cleaners in the city. In this story, the male lead is a new member to join the team, and later he fell in love with a female zombie. This kind of

Continue readingField Report

[FIELDWORK] BETTER DAYS, TUBE-SHAPED APARTMENT

[FIELDWORK] BETTER DAYS, DIR. DEREK TSANG (2019) Tube-shaped apartment, Hai Tang district, Chong Qing The film Better Days directed by Derek Tsang was released in October 2019. It tells the story of Chen Nian, who is a senior three student being bullied by her classmates. After she meets a street character named Xiao Bei, he decides to protect Chen Nian from school violence. The whole story took place in Chong Qing, which is a city full of stairs. The characters in the film have to go up and down the stairs when traveling through this city. The complicated space relationship

Continue reading[FIELDWORK] BETTER DAYS, TUBE-SHAPED APARTMENT