(Field report) Hollywood Hong Kong

Y: Welcome to our podcast on architecture and film, we are your hosts, Yanisha

A: and Anson. Today we are talking about the film Hollywood Hong Kong, directed by Fruit Chan, released in 2001.

Y: The film takes place in Tai Hom Village, a small Hong Kong shantytown that is overshadowed by a large apartment and mall complex called Plaza Hollywood. The story follows a family of obese pig butchers: Mr Chu and his sons, tiny and Ming; a foolish but charming pimp, Keung; and a Mainland Chinese prostitute Tong Tong. Tong Tong enters the life of these men by advertising her services online which attracts the attention of Keung who pays for a night of sex in the bushes outside the plaza. She also befriends Tiny the youngest son of Mr Chu and seduces Ming for sex when invited into their home. Tong tong disappears from the village and sends letters to Keung and Ming claiming statutory rape, extorting them for money to avoid legal repercussions and jail.

A: Both Tai Hom village and Plaza Hollywood play a large part in the film. Can you tell us more about the background of these spaces?

Y: Yes, Tai Hom Village once located in Diamond Hill was one of the largest squatter areas in Hong Kong. Dating back to 1715, the historical village was unfortunately demolished in 2001. The village was torn down to make room for new estates and schools. Plaza Hollywood is a large shopping centre and residential estate in Diamond Hill, themed after Hollywood in the US. The shopping centre opened in 1997 and includes four levels surrounding a central atrium.

A: Tai Hom village and Plaza Hollywood are at two opposite ends of the spectrum. Fruit Chan
uses this film to explore the conflict between urban development and old architecture in hong kong. How do you think chan portrays the village in the film?

Y: Fruit Chan establishes the living conditions of Tai Hom Village in brilliant ways. Characters are often viewed through windows, roofs, alleyways. This framing accentuates the cramped feeling in the shanty town and highlights the lack of space that forces residents to live on top or next to each other. I think this scene near the beginning of the movie does this particularly well. The camera is situated inside the bedroom of Tiny and Ming: capturing the back of Ming as he preoccupies himself with pornography on his computer, in front of him is the window that views directly at the backyard where the Chus keep their pig, mama who is accompanied by tiny playing a video game. Chan’s mise-en-scène here only further stresses the closeness of this confined space. In this single frame, the audience is able to observe not only the physical built environment of the home but also the characters and their personal belongings and habits. The choice of viewing the village through its old-fashioned windows that have several metal bars going across them visually traps the residents within this village they all seem so desperately want to leave.

A: Comparing this to Hollywood Plaza, its space is organised. This is the scene that Tong Tong is having fun with Tiny in Hollywood Plaza. It shows an overview of the centre of the interior of the mall. The use of a symmetrical pattern on the ceiling illustrates the control of the space. The columns are also completely exposed and form a regular shape, while you never see a clear structure or construction framework in Tai Hom Village as they are covered by layers of additional materials such as metal sheets, fabrics and wires.The view from the two perspectives also symbolises the social disparity in Hong Kong. After bringing Tiny to Hollywood Plaza, Tong Tong invites Tiny to her home above Hollywood Plaza. They obverse Tai Hom Village from a high level. Tong Tong has the privilege to enjoy a wider view, literally looking down at the village, which creates a sense of power, the power to manipulate and supervise. Fruit Chan showed power relations and tensions in two different spatial conditions. Another thing fruit chan explores in this film is the boundaries between different spaces, what are your thoughts on that?

Y: Chan does not shy away from clever symbolism and metaphors. Throughout the film, there is an obvious comparison between pigs and men. It is not only in the way flesh is presented on screen, but in the way architecture is presented. We can look at this scene to dissect this metaphor. Here Chan uses a high angle to capture the Chu’s residence. Three spaces: the living room, the roasting area and the pig pen. The camera only lingers here for 6 seconds before cutting away to another shot. The short duration makes it difficult for audiences to separate the areas and it is with this that fruit chan begins to blur the lines between the three spaces as well as between human and animal. Boundaries are stripped further away with the materials and the colours that are used to construct these spaces, all the audience can see is a sea of muted greens, browns and greys. All of this is to say that men are pigs — objectifying women and consuming them in desperate and horrific ways to satisfy their vulgar desires just as pigs will consume anything they come across.

A: Similarly, Hollywood Plaza has concrete boundaries of space divided by its function and ownership. Just like the mall we experience every day, the stores have clear boundaries and it is illegal to take products out of said boundaries. Also, spaces with different functions are separated. The film captured three modern spaces: The residential skyscraper, the Hollywood plaza mall and the MTR. There is a vertical relationship between them, the residential building is built on top of the commercial area and the transportation system is built underground. The spaces are cleanly divided by level of height. In contrast, the living room, roasting area and pig pen in Chu’s residence are all on the same level where boundaries blur . The space in Tai Hom Village is always expanding horizontally while the new urban development tends to extend vertically. I am also facasinated by the way fruit chan uses light in the film, how do you think lighting is used to echo the urban setting in the film?

Y: Fruit Chan transforms the village into something entirely different during the night. A maze of pathways and rooms enriched with blue, yellow and green. This wide shot here is most impressive to me. The village is illuminated by an overwhelming blue light and right behind it are the towering buildings of Plaza Hollywood. The blue village on the brink of collapse and the dark buildings speckled with spots of light do not belong in the same frame, almost like a collage, as if the village was cut from another page and stuck onto a background audiences are more familiar with. The conflict between urban development and old architecture in Hong Kong is visualised on screen, Chan criticises the cruelty of our city as it makes no space for those of the lower class in its process of rapid urbanisation.

A: The light source of these scenes is interesting as the two spaces illuminate differently during nighttime. The Hollywood Plaza is always glowing by itself, it becomes a light source for the surrounding. However, In this scene, the blue light does not come from the village itself but the from an external light source. It is illuminated rather than illuminating. The Hollywood Plaza is like the light of the city, symbolising prosperity and hope. Everyone is craving the urban development of the city just like a moth. While, Tai Hom Village is hidden in the dark, standing at the side of the stage.However, not everybody agrees with this direction of development and the voice of the lower class is often neglected. The developers leave no space for the poor to live. The urban planning of Hong Kong is always economic-oriented and marginalises the lower class.

Y: Right, and I feel like what you just said is a very good sum-up to wrap up our podcast today. Thank you all for listening!

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