Lecture 3: The Post-war Asian City as Set – Page 2

Lecture 3: The Post-war Asian City as Set, Uncategorized

[Reading Response: Leung Ping-kwan]

February 22, 2023February 22, 2023 u3600267@connect.hku.hk

The Urban Cinema and The Cultural Identity Of Hong Kong written by Leung Ping-Kwan listed the history of Hong Kong cinema around the 1980s, and how movies related to Hong Kong city. Movies within this period mainly focus on social context, history, mix culture of western and Cantonese. For example, the difference between social class and local Hong Kong culture compare with the western. It surprised me as the connection between Chinese films and western films is huge! Foreign influence was strong from the 1960s to the 2000s, I would like to use “Infernal Affairs” (2002) to discuss more Hong

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2023 Blog, Lecture 3: The Post-war Asian City as Set

Reading Response: Leung P.-K

February 22, 2023 u3605049@connect.hku.hk

Throughout the chapter, Leung Ping-kwan illustrates, with relevant examples, how some films portray the identity of Hong Kong, especially those from the 1950s to the 1990s. The films from that particular time period are worth exploring, since it, to an extent, gives an answer to the complexity embedded in Hong Kong’s cultural identity, about which the critics vary in their opinion — whether it is a unique culture or merely a part of Chinese regional culture. The films serve as one way to reflect on Hong Kong’s identity distinguishable from that of China. One aspect of this is the film’s

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Lecture 3: The Post-war Asian City as Set

Reading Response:Leung P.-K.

February 22, 2023 u3609845@connect.hku.hk

These several sections discussed the Hongkong films in 1950s and later serve as a cultural medium to express directors’ understanding of the city Vs. country and rural Vs. urban. Mainland China at that time is a socialistic country and represents “rural”. Hongkong, on the contrary, as a capitalistic city colonized by Britain, represents “Urban”. Western culture has been greatly advertised since the last century by the HongKong government through pop parties, fashion shows, the Miss Hongkong Pageant, and so on. Zhu Chenrui 3036098455

2023 Blog, Lecture 3: The Post-war Asian City as Set

Response to Urban Cinema and the Cultural Identity of Hong Kong written by Leung Ping Kwan

February 22, 2023February 22, 2023 cmttt22@connect.hku.hk

One of the ideas in the reading fascinates me is that the writer has mentioned how directors use their camera and mise-en-scene to show their own ideology. For example, Street Angel (1937) uses the shot panning from the top of the skyscraper down to the grassroot people to show the contrast between different social classes. In 1950, Kaleidoscope also used Hong Kong’s urban space to depict the hardship of the poor in order to spread the leftist idea and criticism about the capitalist. This is surprising to me how the role of urban space is important in film in terms

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Lecture 3: The Post-war Asian City as Set

[Reading Response: Seng, E.]

February 21, 2023 u3598074@connect.hku.hk

The writing, Noirs: The City, the Woman, and Other Spaces, focus on the history of the film industry in Hong Kong during the 1960s. It introduced the major film genres to readers, namely the melodrama and the noir thriller set in a working and high society. Personally speaking, it makes me start to learn that film has become a mirror that reflects significant national issues, specifically in the text it is the great political, and cultural tensions in Hong Kong at that time. This article makes use of multiple classic films to support the use of the special method —

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Lecture 3: The Post-war Asian City as Set

Reading Response: Seng, E.

February 21, 2023February 21, 2023 bbqyqyqy@connect.hku.hk

This post discusses the evolving portrayal of female characters in movies. “Black Rose” and “Elevator Girl” are examples of two films that depict female characters in different social classes. The female protagonists in “Black Rose” represents the working-class desire for a more empathetic and justice-driven upper class, while the protagonist in “Elevator Girl” shows autonomy despite the patriarchal expectations of traditional Chinese society. By endowing female characters with beauty, intelligence, and physical strength, both films demonstrate the rise of female consciousness and the rejection of females as the stereotypical sexualized subject. However, as urban spaces transformed and the male gaze

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Lecture 3: The Post-war Asian City as Set

Reading Response: Seng

February 21, 2023 u3598366@connect.hku.hk

The article mentions that in the mid-1950s, the two main genres of Hong Kong Cantonese films, one of which was a noir thriller showing the lifestyle of the upper class, and the other was a melodrama set in the ordinary space of the working class, reflected the transformation of Hong Kong into a modern metropolis and the difficulties and social inequalities of the city, respectively. Although the films are not as elaborate as Hollywood films in terms of narrative, styling and visual techniques, shades of a shift in film content have gradually been seen in these films. In my opinion,

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2023 Blog, Lecture 3: The Post-war Asian City as Set

[READING RESPONSE] Leung Ping-kwan

February 21, 2023February 21, 2023 u3598927@connect.hku.hk

In “Urban Cinema and the Cultural identity of Hong Kong”, Leung illustrates the relationship between architecture and movies, and how it influenced audiences. Firstly, individuals could learn about the specific period’s unique local culture and trends through films at that time. For example, “As Tears Go By (1988)” shows the organized crime culture in Hong Kong and its architecture, such as fighting in the Mahjong school or the back alley. The movie further expresses the brotherhood and loyalty between gangsters, which might resonate with local audiences as they experience the same culture or have the same identities, like being in

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Lecture 3: The Post-war Asian City as Set

Reading Responses: Leung Ping-kwan

February 21, 2023February 21, 2023 u3599381@connect.hku.hk

The article discussed the form of cultural identity of Hong Kong. There are both positive and negative images about the city. For example, in the film called Space is Gold, it emphasized the poor living conditions and the selfishness of people. It criticized the capitalist society. However, in the movie called Hymn To Mother, it showed a lawful and rational city with good education. It is the result of both western and Chinese culture, which is very ambivalent. Therefore, it is important to combine the Western and Chinese culture in order to understand the cultural identity of Hong Kong. During

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Lecture 3: The Post-war Asian City as Set, Uncategorized

Reading response Seng, E. (2020). Noirs: The City, the Woman and Other Spaces. In Resistant City: Histories, Maps and the Architecture of Development (pp. 60-77). Singapore; Hackensack, NJ; London: World Scientific Press.

February 21, 2023February 22, 2023 u3610462@connect.hku.hk

This article is expounding the phenomenon of the increasing frequency of female protagonists in Cantonese Films and the social reality. The film tells that in the 1960s and 1970s, Hong Kong was influenced by traditional Chinese ideas, and the ideology in society was subtle and socialized by women. However, through the movie ‘Black Rose’, she serves as the protagonist, and Miss Chen is a smart, brave female Robin in the drama, and helps the weakness in society. Obviously, from the character positioning, the author has reflected the author’s traditional patriarchalism in China and the dissatisfaction with male-dominated society, and then

Continue readingReading response Seng, E. (2020). Noirs: The City, the Woman and Other Spaces. In Resistant City: Histories, Maps and the Architecture of Development (pp. 60-77). Singapore; Hackensack, NJ; London: World Scientific Press.