[fieldwork report]: Love in a Puff

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DTOlxsD2AO6n-PRTWxBEPXu6I3JHms4F/view?usp=share_link 

Hello everyone.  My name is Moon, Today Michael and I would like to introduce the film “love in a puff”.

“Love in a Puff” is a Hong Kong romantic comedy which revolves around the love story of Cherie and Jimmy. They are two smokers who met at an outdoor smoking area after the ban of all indoor smoking areas in Hong Kong.

It is directed by Pang Ho-cheung. He won the Best Screenplay Award at the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards for this film.

Throughout the film, several iconic Hong Kong locations are shown in a way that captures the essence of Hong Kong and its unique blend of traditional and modern cultures.

In “Love in a Puff”, the Wai Yip Street Footbridge serves as a significant location that links different characters.

Firstly, the footbridge connects the two main characters, Jimmy and Cherie, who meet each other to smoke there. Their relationship develops as they share their personal stories and experiences, eventually leading to a romantic relationship.  

Additionally, the footbridge is located in a bustling urban environment, which is depicted through shots of the surrounding buildings and streets. The urban environment is portrayed as fast-paced. 

The footbridge allows people to interact and share their stories. The footbridge becomes a space where people can escape from their daily routines and connect with others.

The footbridge is primarily filmed using a combination of wide-angle and close-up shots, which capture the vibrant colour and the characters’ interactions with the environment. The camera angles are carefully chosen to show the footbridge’s structure and the urban environment in which it is embedded.

Slow-motion techniques are also used to emphasize the characters’ emotions and interactions, particularly during the scenes where Jimmy and Cherie smoke and talk. The slow-motion technique adds a sense of intimacy to the scenes, making them more impactful.

The lighting used in the film is soft and warm, and the time should be in the evening. The sunlight shines the bridge through the window creating an intimate atmosphere that is in line with the film’s genre. The lighting also highlights the colours of the bridge and the environment, making them more visually appealing.

Overall, the Wai Yip Street Footbridge serves as a significant location that connects the characters. It becomes a symbol of the characters’ escape from their daily fast-paced lifestyle.

In the film, Back Alley near Taikoo Place is presented as a quiet place where Jimmy and Cherie have a private moment. This ordinary space of commuting is made spectacular using various filmmaking techniques.

Firstly, the film uses a long take to capture the entire length of the alleyway, allowing the audience to fully immerse themselves in the environment. The camera remains fixed on the characters as they walk through the alleyway, creating a sense of nostalgia for a bygone era. This long take creates a sense of realism, allowing the audience to fully enjoy the moment with the characters.

Secondly, the film uses sound design and lighting to enhance the visual storytelling. The sounds of the city are muted, creating a sense of quiet in the alleyway. The only sounds that can be heard are the characters’ footsteps and their chatting sounds, creating a sense of silence.  They have a moment just watching a bag float in the air and no one talks.

This helps to make the ordinary space of commuting feel spectacular and special. 

Another location we will talk about is the Carpark, first seen in the opening scene of the movie, presenting an anecdote of a ghost story which then transitions into the gossip of the “hot pot pack” in the back alley where they gather around the trash bin with an asthtray to smoke. The unexpectedly thrilling and frightening opening mood of the movie is quickly lightened, illustrating the casualness of small talk by the smokers. The quick and simple transition reflects the temporariness of every conversation shared by the smokers and how fast a topic of conversation can change, where their only shared interest for gathering is their habit of smoking. Thus, in the opening scene of the movie, the carpark is used as a conversation starter for the pack, demonstrating the casualness of the gathering, which somehow quickly leads to the development of a serious relationship between Jimmy and Cherie.

The significance of the carpark is seen again later in the movie where Jimmy offers Cherie a ride back home. Whilst trying to find his car, Jimmy tells Cherie to wait for him in the middle of the carpark telling her that he will drive to her once he finds his car. Knowing that Cherie was afraid of the ghost story told in the opening scenes of the movie, Jimmy reenacts the scene, pushing the car and talking as if a body was locked inside of it. One of the few bold flirtatious moves made by Jimmy whilst Cherie was still in a relationship, however, the setting is significant. The fact that Jimmy is only able to tease and flirt with Cherie whilst they are in a carpark symbolises how their relationship is kept a secret, underground, at this point in the movie. This is accentuated in the scene proceeding, where they smoke in the back stairways of the carpark, but swiftly hide under the stairs as the security guard approaches, as they do not want to be fined $1,500. Many romantic moments seen between the two main characters are done in secret, where they must hide from the public. Either under the stairways, in the carpark, or running away from the police. The underlying message of their relationship being in darkness is further emphasized as the couple only meet at night separately, whilst they hang as a group during the day.  In this scene, Jimmy accidentally burns Cherie’s neck with a cigarette as they try to hide from the security guard, which Cherie’s then boyfriend regards as a hickey. Cigarettes act as a motif in the movie – as the beginning and end of experiences, much like how cigarettes cause the early death of many. Cigarettes were the beginning of how Jimmy and Cherie met, and is the reason why Cherie and her boyfriend broke up. However, linking to another scene at the end of the movie may foreshadows that Jimmy and Cherie’s relationship may be long lasting.

In the ending scene of the movie, Jimmy’s car breaks down on the highway to Tai Wai where him and Cherie planned to buy cigarettes in bulk before the price increase after midnight. If we talk about cigarettes as a symbol of beginning and end, this cycle is broken as Jimmy and Cherie are prevented from buying more cigarettes. During the scene, they also promise each other to quit smoking and call to sell their cigarettes to their friends at a discount. The repetition of cigarettes being an end to relationships is broken as they no longer smoke. Smoking can now no longer ruin their relationship or their health, foreshadowing their long lasting relationship. Furthermore, the highway is a symbol for movement, forward, where, especially in Hong Kong, life moves fast, and on the highway, people ignore everyone but their own desires. However, the fact that they were the only ones on the highway at the time signify how they are completely consumed in the presence of each other. Furthermore, juxtaposed to the carpark they are now in an open space, above ground. The difference in altitude when Cherie was in a relationship versus when she is single is evident. Towards the end of the movie they are finally able to reveal themselves to the public and show affection in public without feeling ashamed. Jimmy also reveals the meaning of his secret message to Cherie, meaning they no longer have to act in secret, but can do so openly, much like the setting they are placed in. Furthermore, the stopping in the middle of a highway, a place of high altitude, suggests a change of pace of their relationship. They are now able to stop and think about their relationship without being pressured by the high paced environment of the highway or the presence of Cherie’s boyfriend. A stoppage in time is seen, and as Jimmy has said previously in the movie, they are now in no rush.

Overall, the movie utilizes architecture to illustrate the privacy vs publicity of Jimmy and Cherie’s relationship. Perhaps, it is through these differences in setting that the director Pang subtly conveys his disaccord for infidelity and smoking. The movie helps to illustrate a change in the scene of Hong Kong when indoor smoking was banned and the increase in cigarette tax was introduced, through Jimmy and Cherie’s relationship, the audience is able to gauge society’s transition to being a healthier, more open place.

Ng Sing Yuet Moon 3036063670

Leung Mihael Man Ho 303588808