3036231253 Tse Pui Yi
CCHU 9034 Reading Response 1
The film In the Mood of Love is an artwork shows the transition of Hong Kong at the past time. Having been a colony of Britain, Hong Kong’s buildings and streets had strong British style. Between 1962 and 1966, Hong Kong faced a rapid change of style of the streets and residential spaces. For example, Tsim Sha Tsui was redeveloped at that period, large shopping malls were replacing the old tenement buildings and outdoor markets. It became more modern. Personally, I like the mood, which is antient Hong Kong, of the film. The domestic space feels like public space and close relationship between neighbors are significant norm in past Hong Kong, which is totally different from Hong Kong nowadays.
Wong, the director of In the Mood of Love, mentioned that the reason he records the streets, restaurants, people, etc. of Hong Kong because he knows that these things will disappear soon. In my opinion, it is vital to have some collective memories for Hong Kong people to enhance our sense of belonging and cohesion. Wong’s film done a good job of it as his film become precious collective memories of the whole older generation of Hong Kong.
The editing techniques and movement of the shots impressed me. For example, the mirrored hallways where Chow and Su were sitting are symmetrical. In fact, they were living in the same flat. This shows the relationship between Chow and Su was alienated and troubled at that time using storyboarding skills.
Your response to the film ‘In the Mood of Love’ is quite good in terms of the spatial living of Hong Kong people. My recommendation is that you should elaborate more about some of your ideas, including providing an example of ‘domestic space feels like public space’, what the collective memories are, and how they respond to the film. I also appreciate your reflection on the technique of shooting in the film. You could extend this further to how the spaces were used, etc.