[Fieldwork Podcast]: Out of the Dark

R: Hello everyone! Welcome to our podcast on Architecture and Film. We are your hosts today: I am Rachel.

H: And I am Hayley. 

R: Today we will talk about the film Out of the Dark, which is a black comedy released in 1995. The film explores an urban myth that tells of the dead returning to haunt the living on the seventh day after their demise, which is often known as the ‘Night of the Returning Soul’. The film’s plot centers around bizarre adventures of residents and security guards who encounter ghosts in their neighbourhood, and their subsequent attempts at purging them under the guidance of Leon, a self-proclaimed ghostbuster who enlists extreme methods to rid the living of the dead. I heard that there are also some interesting tidbits regarding the film’s production; Hayley, would you mind sharing them with us? 

H: Sure, Rachel. The film is directed by Jeffrey Lau, and stars comedic sensation Stephen Chow. Both of them are famous for their collaboration in ‘mo lei tau’ — jokingly nonsensical — comedies. Lau is also a frequent collaborator and close friend of renown auteur Wong Kar-Wai, and this is reflected in some of the blurred slow-motion scenes that the film used to introduce Leon. Through his character, the film also pays homage to the French action-thriller film The Professional, which was released a year earlier in 1994. Stephen Chow’s Leon is a parody of the hitman in The Professional. 

R: Ah, so that’s why he dresses in such specific costumes! And I believe that the character Kwan is also a tribute to Mathilda in the same movie as well. Apart from trivia, Out of the Dark also cleverly uses on-site filming locations to bring forward some interesting ideas. I’ll once again pass the time to Hayley to lead us into the film. 

H: Throughout the film, we can see that most of the ghost-chasing happens in a public housing estate in Tseung Kwan O — Hau Tak Estate. The film begins with a 15 second low-angle still shot of the Hau Tak Estate blocks that seem to grow into the dark night sky, with light from the windows and staircase column of the building brightening up the otherwise dark and dull high rise. The camera moves on to show glimpses of what is happening within Hau Tak Estate, through a montage of Kwan dancing in her room, Mr and Mrs Lee paying respect to Mr Lee’s dead mother in the corridor, and the security guards gathering at the building entrance. Rachel, do you know anything further about this housing estate?

R: Yes, actually I do. The Hau Tak Estate is quite representative of the urban housing trend in the 90s, as it is one of the first ‘Harmony Blocks’ built back then. These blocks are known for their standardized height and inner facilities such as positioning of lifts, stairways, and number of floors, which would establish a basic framework for flats of different sizes to be constructed on each floor. In addition, these blocks are often built near malls and transportation to allow their residents convenient access to community facilities. The scenes where ghosts were being hunted down in shopping malls were shot at TKO Gateway, which was previously known as the Hau Tak Shopping Mall.

H: Back to the film, I’d like us to pay extra attention to the specific spaces that the plot runs on. For example, it is in the back stairway that Mrs Lee prays to her dead mother-in-law’s wooden tablet, asking her not to haunt them. The back stairway recurs in the film as an intertwining place for the living and the dead to travel. Halfway through the film, one of the security guards runs into a drug addict in the stairway, and has a conversation with the ghost of Mr Lee’s mother. 

From there, the ghost chasing develops into the more open public spaces like the elevator, the corridors, the roundabout right outside of Tak Yue House, and into the shopping mall. As the back stairway is not a common place where we would often go nowadays, its frequent appearance in the film indicates a departure from reality, and contributes to the narrative as an eerie, mystifying space where the unusual manifests. And don’t forget, this is also where Kwan first encounters Leon.

R: Yes, I remember that scene as well. It was quite bizarre to see how Leon, who is speaking to his flower Lily on the ninth floor, coincidentally seemed to respond to Kwan’s determination to get over her ex-boyfriend on the eleventh floor. I think the scene speaks a lot about the closeness and compactness of the public housing estate, as the dense living space puts residents in close proximity with each other. Much of what they do in the building are heard by others, as sounds are easily transmitted through the open space of corridors, windows, and other public areas. As residents travel through the building, they have a high chance of meeting and communicating with their neighbours or floormates, which would enable them to form close relationships with each other. The building therefore forms an important intersection that facilitated the characters’ interactions with each other, as Kwan, Leon, and the security guards meet up in the building and band together in their pursuit of ghosts, while tension between the ghosts and their family is heightened by the claustrophobic haunting of the former, and the frenzied chases that follow.

H: Apart from the staircase, the elevators in the building also seem to be a space interrupted by the ghosts. As one of the security guards takes the elevator, he is led to a different floor from his intention, seeming to be controlled by the ghost. The lift buttons and floor signs are often highlighted in the film, giving a sense of eerie mobility as people and ghosts travel through the heights of this estate building. The corridor, on the other hand, provides many places for ghosts to hide. In one moment where the security guard expects a ghost to have hidden itself behind the doors enclosing the fire hose reel, the ghost appears behind his back. The local audience is likely to recognize these facilities and building components from their home surroundings, allowing them to find it easier to immerse into the narrative, and continue to recollect parts of the film even after leaving the cinema.

R: Since the film has been released for almost 30 years, I think these locations have evolved a lot over the years, and they now carry a different significance to when they were first built in the 90s, and to how they are portrayed in the film. While Hau Tak Estate remains a real residential estate that many currently reside in, we’ve observed that the buildings appear much more worn down nowadays, and have undergone some renovation. Metal gates are installed at the front entrance of Tak Yu House, which was the building used for the film, and the lifts also reflect their rough usage through scratches that are unattended to. During the day, the back stairway lost its mysteriousness due to the sunlight streaming in, and public areas such as the roundabout and boardwalks are filled with pedestrians traveling in and out of the estate. The atmosphere of the estate feels very different to that which is portrayed in the film—the place feels grounded and aged in reality, while the estate feels a touch out of reality with its saturated colour palette and newly furnished interior in the film. The vibrant pink of the lift lobbies and green tint applied to corridors helps to build up the whimsical tone of the film, and distances the film’s setting from the reality of the housing estate quite well. 

In addition, the film also uses quite a lot of close-up shots to amplify the supernatural elements of the plot, which is quite important too. These shots capture the micro-expressions of actors, which amplify the comedic and absurd quality of the film. Considering that the film has been released for some time, it is likely for us to feel a sense of nostalgia for these older, and perhaps arguably simpler times, which is highlighted by the film’s aesthetic. 

H: Yes, I think you’re right! I also think that the sense of community formed in housing estates says a lot about the urban culture back then—it is a very specific combination of traditional practices and modern lifestyle that reveals what it’s like to live in the 90s. The stigma surrounding the haunting of ghosts is a traditional one, and one that aligns with the aging housing estates as representatives of a bygone era. The supernatural elements incorporated into the plot therefore allows this film to convey ideas that are not restricted to a certain era, but are philosophical and timeless. The film, an embodiment of absurd jokes, dark humour, gore and the supernatural, recreates the sensations associated with the housing estates, giving life and meaning to an otherwise monotonous style of government subsidized housing that encroaches Hong Kong.

R: And I think that concludes our episode quite well. Be sure to check out the film if you’re interested, and thank you all for tuning in today!

Chan Hei Man Hayley Victoria 2010522587

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