Synopsis:
The movie “Beyond the Dream” is a 2019 Hong Kong romantic drama film directed by Kiwi Chow and written by Felix Tsang, starring Cecilia Choi and Terrance Lau.”Beyond the Dream” tells the story of the main character Lee Chi Lok (played by Terrance Lau), who lives in Tuen Mun. He is deeply troubled by mental illness and meets Yip Nam (played by Cecilia Choi), a clinical psychology student. As the two weaves into a love relationship, they must face each other and their psychological problems. The film is about the inner longings of the mentally ill and uses love as a starting point to explore the plight of various communities from the perspective of different social issues.
Script:
Imy: The movie we are going to talk about this time is “Beyond the Dream”. My name is Imy.
Anson: My name is Anson.
Imy: The movie is a 2019 Hong Kong romantic drama film directed by Kiwi Chow and written by Felix Tsang, starring Cecilia Choi and Terrance Lau.”Beyond the Dream” tells the story of the main character Lee Chi Lok (played by Terrance Lau), who lives in Tuen Mun.
Several scenes were shot in Tuen Mun, which is another way of presenting the city’s beauty. We see this love story in Tuen Mun as a metaphor. Tuen Mun is located in the westernmost part of Hong Kong’s New Territories, which otherwise has a sense of isolation, like the distance between a mental patient and society.
Lee Chi Lok is deeply troubled by mental illness and meets Yip Nam (played by Cecilia Choi), a clinical psychology student. As the two weaves into a love relationship, they must face each other and their psychological problems. The film is about the inner longings of the mentally ill and uses love as a starting point to explore the plight of various communities from the perspective of different social issues.
Imy: So, how does the film make this ordinary space of commuting spectacular?
Anson: The central location of “Beyond the dream” is Tuen Mun. As Imy mentioned it is instead of Admiralty, Mongkok, or Causeway Bay, which most foreigners are familiar with because it is not the core area of Hong Kong, and it is not easy to see this small town in Hong Kong movies. The most significant feature of Tuen Mun is the “Light Rail”, which also becomes an essential medium of fantasy and desire in this film. The above, whether the participants or shooting scenes are full of the other side of Hong Kong’s characteristics. The film can capture the details of life in detail, revealing the everyday nature of the scene.
The cinematographer used a wide-angle lens with a shallow depth of field lens to simultaneously see the whole scene and the characters. In the film, you can see that they like to use the front and back scenes to create a sense of space.
Anson: And What is architectural about this space?
Imy: There are two main scenes in the movie, both of which have their own characteristics. The frist one is Tuen Mun Ferry Pier Promenade. The seaside promenade is built on the breakwater between Tuen Mun Typhoon Shelter and Castle Peak Bay Beach, with Tuen Mun Typhoon Shelter in the north and Castle Peak Bay Beach in the south, so it is both a sea breakwater and a land promenade. Its architectural features are unique in Hong Kong. Even parts of the world are extraordinary and rare. The other side of the promenade faces the southwest so that you can enjoy the golden sunset scenery at dusk. The ground in the promenade is paved with red bricks and flowers, forming a new Hong Kong landscape pattern.
The second one is Tuen Mun Wu King Estate. Wu King Estate has used a well-shaped design. The central patio is left empty for ventilation; the gates of the units on all four sides face each other; the purpose is to prevent theft so that thieves are not easy to enter the house and steal, and at the same time, the neighbors are closer; there is a large cylindrical stone at the bottom of the patio for rest.
Imy: So, what does the architectural offer to the film?
Anson: The film is set in Tuen Mun Light Rail Station and Wu King Estate, where the hero and heroine meet on the platform train and chase each other in the tunnel. “The Light Rail has a very community feel, with trains weaving through the city and leaving when they arrive, full of loneliness and a sense of finding love.
The images are beautiful, capturing the charm of Hong Kong’s public housing estates, Light Rail, and tunnels. The buildings are linked to the plot, with the well-shaped housing estate symbolizing the predicament, the Light Rail symbolizing the movement of people, and the tunnel symbolizing the short but exclusive space. After watching the film, people want to discover more about the architecture of Tuen Mun.
The film’s depiction of space is fascinating. The buildings in Hong Kong are so close together that you can peek in and know if the other person is at home while at the same time, there is a proper distance that you have to pay close attention to each other’s movements.
Anson: And what are the relationship between the people, objects in this space and the urban environment which it is embedded in?
Imy: The People in the movie are the main character Lee Chi Lok. The male protagonist has low self-esteem, introversion, and avoids crowds. He is not suitable for living in the city center but in a remote place. Tuen Mun is in the westernmost part of the New Territories of Hong Kong. Otherwise, there is a feeling of separation. The feeling of separation is like the distance between people with mental health conditions and society. It is also a new town, symbolizing the city’s rapid development. The movie has not only the beauty of small city events but also the portrayal of the current society.
The Object in the movie is Light Rail. Tuen Mun and Light Rail are placed in the northwest, and they could better bring out the protagonist’s character, so the director chose Tuen Mun. Among them, the beauty of the light rail and the metaphorical meaning of the light rail in love creates a sense of loneliness to match Lee Chi Lok’s psychological role.
Anson: The film uses the emotions of the male and female protagonists. It extends the film’s apparent theme of psychosis and psychotherapy to present the fear and avoidance of love by those who have been traumatized. It is believed that this is an increasingly common phenomenon in modern urban society. Whether it is the distinctive train platforms, the underground passageways, or the public housing used a well-shaped design that seems to trap people.
“Beyond the dream” is set far away from the city, where the characters and the story are paired in a way that allows the audience to recall their own experiences and gain deeper insights. The film ends with a natural and sensual romance, reflecting the most common and undeniable realities of the world of love through the transformation of the relationship between the protagonists, who are in a comfortable circle when they come into contact with the reality of society and each other.
Anson: There is our presentation. Thank you.
Cheung Cheuk Lai, Anson (3035990478) and Yim On Ming, Imy (3036031158)
There is some analysis on the spaces depicted in the film, namely the housing estate and the light rail. To further develop your discussion on the light rail offering a “medium of fantasy and desire”, perhaps you can look into how the camera portrays scenes of commute in the lightrail, where is the camera pointed towards (seems like through series of transparent panels in and out the vehicle), whether they are still or tracking shots, and how that shapes a vouyeuristic and dream-like quality in perception. You can also elaborate more on the housing estate and how that space is conveyed in relation to the mental state of the character. A more conversational script would also improve the engagement of the podcast.