My Prince Edward is a drama movie directed by Norris Wong premiered in 2016. The film set in Hong Kong’s Golden Plaza mall in the district of Prince Edward narrates the struggles Asian women face in matters of marriage (Imdb, 2021). The movie narrates the love story of Fong and Edward. In order to get married to Edward, Fong must divorce her husband, whom she got married to because she was paid eight years ago. Fong was offered some payment by Jin Kai-jie, a mainlander who needed a shortcut to obtaining documents allowing him to travel to the United States of America. The movie highlights the struggles young women undergo in their marriages in Hong Kong. In the film, it is seen that Fong is struggling to be free- to be in a space where she can make independent decisions. Fong’s mother-in-law and her husband do not offer the freedom to make her own decisions. The message communicated by Norris Wong to women in Hong Kong and globally is to keep away from toxic marriages and make bold decisions to commit to only marriages or relationships that keep them happy.
Golden Plaza mall is located in the district of Prince Edward in Hong Kong. The shopping mall is mainly for offering bridal gowns at cheap prices. In fact, in the movie, Fong works in a bridal dress shop and Edward owns a wedding photography shop. The movie My Prince Edward depicts the shopping mall, almost exactly as it is in real life (SIIBILLAMLAW, 2022). The Golden Plaza mall doubles as both a residential and shopping center which is not common in most malls. Norris Wong, in this film, does not change anything from how the mall looks to the experiences people have at the mall in reality. As portrayed in the movie, the mall is also complete with doctor’s clinics and houses other offices as well. The mall’s actual neon lights are red in color, the Chinese cultural celebratory colors. Important scenes in the movie are also themed in red. As portrayed in the movie, Fong is eating at a restaurant while ignoring the texts from her fiancé Edward, then decides to buy a table on her wallpaper. The Golden Plaza in reality houses restaurants and shops selling virtually everything. Apart from a few edits in the movie, the appearance and experience at the Golden Plaza mall is accurately captured in the film My Prince Edward by Norris Wong.
The mall represents the conflicting themes the movie puts across. Most malls are known for housing offices, and shops and maybe amusement parks and hotels. The Golden Plaza, however, is ‘weird’ as it is one of the few malls that doubles as both a shopping center and residential building. In the movie, Fong has a satisfactory live- she is financially stable and have people who care about her. Despite having financial stability that most people crave for in life, Fong feels one variable is still missing in her life, that is freedom. The mall represents wholesomeness and the fact that it sells bridal dresses at cheap prices may represent the fact that you cannot put a price on happiness or freedom (The Film Stage, 2020). The red them used in the film, which is also the Chinese cultural celebratory color represents the end game of the movie. The director of the film also wanted the movie to have a feel of the places she grew up in- parks, fish shops, and bus stops. Red color used in the film which is also the theme of the mall represents the fact that marriage is both interesting and scary. Just the same way the mall is multipurpose, it represents the fact that women always have a choice in marriage, and if it cannot work, it is okay to walk away.
References
Imdb (2021). My Princess Edward: Movie synopsis. Retrieved March 18, 2022 from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11070230/
SIIBILLAMLAW (2022). The Asian Cinema Critic: My Prince Edward. Retrieved March 18, 2022 from https://theasiancinemacritic.com/2021/03/27/my-prince-edward/
The Film Stage (2020, July 14). Norris Wong on Her Debut Feature My Prince Edward and the State of Hong Kong. Retrieved March 18, 2022 from https://thefilmstage.com/norris-wong-on-her-debut-feature-my-prince-dward-and-the-state-of-hong-hong/
Li Jinyue 3035950735
I appreciate your analysis of the Golden Plaza as a metaphor for Fong’s marriage as well as the comparison of the Golden Plaza shown in film and reality. However, I would suggest you use more images of real to illustrate the contrasts you observed and indicate how you conducted the fieldwork. Furthermore, please go beyond its functional characteristics and dig deeper through the lens of visualization techniques or ideas/theories/concepts from coursework.