by Matsumoto Ami 3035831305
The Global Cities: Cinema, architecture and urbanism in a digital age by Abbas, a great example of using an interdisciplinary approach including films to dissect and analyse the phenomenon of global cities. The author picked the famous film in each majority urban city including Hong Kong to examine how globalization may affect our physiological and physical urban experience. Using films as an entry point is a wise choice since the architecture is a storyboard that keeps changing over the years and the film is the expression of the director’s understanding that captures the momentary setting.
Referring back to the course, the most inspiring knowledge I learn from all the reading and lecture is how to look from a different perspective and interdisciplinary approach. While I am watching the film play, instead of just focusing on the character and their line, I shift my attention to the setting or background to understand more of the intricate relationship between the hidden message with the settings of the film. Building from that the ability to see things as an integration of various disciplines, helps us tackle the issue with more comprehensive solutions.
It’s good to know that you see films with fresh analytical eyes. Films are, indeed, one of the most powerful tools of representation. To unpack it, you could elaborate more on how (or why) would you think films are helpful to comprehend the interdisciplinary aspect of the cities? Reflecting on how globalisation takes part in this matter would also be worthwhile. In what way has globalisation influenced our urban experience? And why does it matter?