CCHU9034 Fieldwork Podcast: Chungking Express 1994

Zhang Tianhao: Hello everyone welcome to our podcast of our group for CCHU 9034, my name is Zhang Tianhao and this is my groupmate.

Yuan Jintian: Hi everyone, my name is Yuan Jintian.

Zhang Tianhao: let’s start.

Yuan Jintian:ok

Yuan Jintian: can you share some basic information about the architecture we analyzed in the report?

Zhang Tianhao: Sure

We analyze the Central-Mid-Level Escalator which appeared in the film Chungking Express.

The Central-Mid-Level Escalator, opened in 1993, starts from the Hang Seng Bank Headquarters building connected to the Central footbridge system and runs from Central Market and the terminus at Conduit Road. Traffic up and down the mountain is annoying for any city lean against mountains, especially in Hong Kong, where residents have built the peak into a luxury villa community. Central and Admiralty is located at the foot of the mountain, on the mountain, which is a place lots of residents live. Walking and climbing daily is tiring; Only a few people commute by driving in Hong Kong, and the road conditions are difficult, especially from Mid-levels to Central and Admiralty.

Zhang Tianhao: So YJT, can you share how we experience the scene of escalator in the film in reality.

Yuan Jintian: ok, in the film, the escalator scene first appears when He Zhiwu catches a wanted criminal and wants to share his joy with his ex-girlfriend May. In addition, cop 663, his flight attendant girlfriend and Faye often peep at cop 663’s home through the glass of the escalator. The home of cop 663 was also near the escalator in Cochrane Street, which was the residence of photographer Christopher Doyle at that time. During our field investigation around the escalators, we tried to find the shop HeZhiwu often went to, and later we learnt that a juice shop had replaced the shop on Shelley Street. However, we found the Stanley Street food stall during the visit, where cop 663 often has food. The stall owners were busy. They were soon filled with office workers in Central during mealtime. When we got off the central escalator, we passed the Graham Street food market, where cop 663 was helping Faye carry things. People were hurrying to and fro, and it was very lively.

Yuan Jintian: Can you introduce what technique director use in the film to exhibit the atmosphere?

Zhang Tianhao: Sure. Only a few shots of the escalator appeared in the film. It mostly contains half-characters and half-mirror images every time it appears. The director creates an aesthetic atmosphere by reflecting on mirrors, glass, smooth surfaces and other materials. In addition, the technique of slit composition also appears many times in the film. It highlights the characters by blurring the specular reflection of the picture, guiding and concentrating the audience’s line of sight and providing a third perspective of peeping, which is in line with Faye’s favorite way to find cop 663 through the glass of the escalator. As mentioned above, the blur of the picture is also a feature of the shot. Using a blurred foreground stretches the sense of space in the picture and increases the sense of hierarchy so that the audience will have the feeling of being on the scene. The visual perception will perceive the tilt of the picture as a deviation from the vertical and horizontal directions, resulting in unstable visual perception so that the film can express the character’s inner lonely turbulent mood. In addition, the use of light and shadow also reflects the loneliness of the characters in the movie when they are in the crowd. For example, Wong Kar-wai used ambiguous light and shadow when he shot the scene of Faye taking the Central-mid-level elevator.

Yuan Jintian: Cool man, I still remembered that when we step up the escalator, we feel as if we are standing in a naturally moving auditorium for the most immersive multi-act theatrical experience. The scenery on both sides of the escalator encapsulates the mask of Hong Kong. The Mid-Levels escalator connects different sides of Hong Kong, from the waterfront to the hilltop, from the glassy business district to the sweltering wine bar district to the quiet and elegant residential areas. People walking in it, as if on a huge viewing platform, around the different faces of Hong Kong again and again. Looking up, the pressure from the concrete forest reaches the line of sight. Only living at the top of the “forest” can we embrace the sky and the light. When we looked back, it was a block away from the top floor of a building below the bar.

In the crowd, as people stand on the bridge enjoying the view, those who also enjoy the view from upstairs are watching you. Yet, in this forest of concrete and steel, everyone walked firmly and hastily, passing one another in the crowd. The sense of loneliness and alienation is magnified several times, never expected in this 0.01cm brush, a person no matter know nothing about each other, within a day become a friend or confidant. We gradually capture the feeling of Wong Kar-wai when he first built the escalator. Wong once said: “I’m not particularly interested in the loss of city people, misplaced love and so on, because it’s becoming more and more common. I just wanted to do something realistic and urban.” Through Wong’s lens, we can see a beautiful and vivid city, as seen in the Central-Mid-Levels escalator and the movie Chungking Express. Canned pineapple can expire, but in Hong Kong it is so unique that it should not be marked with an expiration date.

Zhang Tianhao：Wonderful bro, thank you for your sharing and this is the end of our podcast, bye

Yuan Jintian: bye

Reference: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0109424/

ZHANG Tianhao 3036094368

YUAN Jintian  3036100521