[Fieldwork Podcast]: Durian Durian (2000)

Z: Hello, everyone. Welcome to our podcast today. We are your hosts. I am Zoey.

 

R: I am Reic. The film we will talk about is Durian Durian, directed by Fruit Chan in 2000. It won the Best Picture award at the 38th Golden Horse Awards.

 

Z: The film follows the perspective of Yan, a sex worker. It reveals the challenges and sacrifices people face to survive and change fates, and portrays the hazy condition of a group of youth represented by her.

 

R: Yan is a prostitute from the mainland, living near Fan and her family, who are staying in the area illegally. There is a long shot at the beginning following Yan through the narrow, dark alley. It’s really chaotic, with randomly piled debris and uneven walls that are fading and cracking. The faint light is also creating a dim and depressing space. This is where she met the girl, Fan.

 

Z: They became friends after Yan helped Fan hide from the police. Let’s shift to Fan’s perspective. Look at her illegal shelter in Hong Kong. It is pretty interesting.

 

R: Sure. The shelter has blocked out almost all the light. We can easily relate shelter with protection, but in that scene, the shelter is like a prison, dividing the space into internal and external. The girl and her family are forced to hide due to their illegal residency, and they are always worrying about the police and law enforcement. Fan is trapped in the darkness provided by the shelter.

 

Z: She prefers her previous life at her real home. This family is constrained by the desire to stay in Hong Kong, reflecting a microcosm of contemporary society. And if we look back at Yan’s life. She is not living well, either. Look at where she works—small, dirty, and dusty hotels.

 

R: I can almost smell the terrible odor of the mattress, just like a durian. We can see a sharp contrast between the squalid hotel Yan works in and the luxurious modern hotels that many tourists would live in. With its rugged exterior and unwelcoming smell, the durian represents Yan’s experience as a low-class sex worker in Hong Kong. 

 

Z: Same for the little girl, Fan. She is always working and living in the narrow, dark, old alley. The sky looks like a scar, bleeding when sunlight comes in. The people passing by are low-class workers, pimps, and prostitutes like Yan.

 

R: Yes, the film portrays a bleak yet realistic view of the working-class neighborhoods in Hong Kong, where people struggle to survive in such a harsh environment. The durian becomes a metaphor for these characters’ lives and their tenacity in front of adversity. 

 

Z: Despite their challenges, they continue striving to look for hope. For Yan, she decides to go back home, to northeast China,  with all her savings. The second part of the film is all about Yan’s hometown. It is pretty different from the Hong Kong scenes in the first part.

 

R: True. For example, we can tell something from light and shadow. In the movie’s first part (Hong Kong), there are two remarkable scenes where Yan and Fan standing in the same position in the alley in the shadows. We noticed that in the Hong Kong scenes, the characters are either in shadow or have light coming from their back. It creates a sense of darkness and oppression. 

 

Z: The lack of light on the characters implies their struggles and hardships, as if they are trapped in the darkness of their environments. In contrast, scenes in Yan’s hometown are relatively brighter and more open, including many exterior scenes. The difference in light and shadow also reflects the differences in Yan’s life and opportunities.

 

R: Speaking of opportunities, we all know it depends on both your skills and capital. For Yan, she has made abundant money. She went back to the snowy town. She got married. She is planning to open her shop. She “invited” many relatives for a hearty, luxurious dinner. However, is everything getting better away from Hong Kong? 

 

Z: The scenes in Northeast China are brighter and more colorful than Hong Kong scenes. The snow also adds a sense of purity to the environment, which is a stark contrast to the dirty and grimy atmosphere of Hong Kong. Despite these positive changes, there is still a sense of sadness and emptiness in Yan’s life, as she couldn’t forget her past experiences.

 

R: True. Her cousin came to her for a job in Hong Kong, but how could she introduce her to sex work? Liu kept calling her to return to Hong Kong; finally, her husband knew her secret and proposed divorce. The durian is always here, following her. But do you remember the pimp that was assaulted by the first durian? Do you remember how he dealt with the durian?

 

Z: Yeah, he ate it. He accepted it. And as the king of all fruits, durian tastes nice. Yan did the same thing. She chose to stay in her real home, running her business and continuing to act in Chinese operas. There was a scene in which Yan went back with her classmates to see their old classroom. Moreover, the window is quite interesting- neither external nor internal. 

 

R: It is a boundary in itself, a transparent barrier. The boundary between the inside and the outside is reduced due to the transparency of glass, which also triggers the plot. In other words, the grown-up students saw their past, and the boundary between past and present is reduced by this materiality, making the memories more vivid.

 

Z: And there is another noteworthy point. Although everyone is standing outside the window, looking into the classroom, there is a vision of students who haven’t gone out for their careers. They are standing inside the window, eager to go out and fight for the future. Only Yan, who just returned from Hong Kong, is standing outside the window and recalls her past. 

 

R: After well thought-out comparison and consideration, she chose to stay in her hometown, a place where she might have wanted to escape before. This window resembles a boundary between different paths of development. She said goodbye to the past, seeing her high school classmates off to the south and getting a new phone card. The durian is still there, and she is still a durian, but a shelled, white, fresh, and clean one.

 

Z: Durian appears many times in the film, almost throughout the storyline, and it seems that the durian fruit is used as a symbol and plays a significant role in the storytelling.

 

R: Yes, you are right. Durian is a metaphor for the truth of life, with a tough exterior, a strong smell, but a sweet taste. People are often confused and form preconceived thoughts or stereotypes by appearances, and only a few can catch a glimpse of the inner through experience, observation, and so forth. At the end of the film, everyone takes the train, but only Yan knows the helpless and entangled condition of life in the south, a hidden truth.

 

Z: The film is like a documentary of many migrants or drifters like Yan, who went away from home to a more economically developed city for material aspiration. Although many of them are concerned about their declining hometown and express confusion about the future, they still board trains to the south without hesitation. Everyone looks forward to an opportunity to change fate and wait with hope, but there seems to be limited space to accommodate these hopes. Much suffering can only be known after the experience, and only then will people cherish their original starting point.

 

R: Nice conclusion to wrap up our podcast today. Thank you all for listening!

 

Z: Thank you!

Zhou Yimeng Reic 3036100686

Zeng Qingyang Zoey 3036052255