The reading includes “Black Rose” and “Elevated Girl” which is released in the year of 1965. “Black Rose” describes two upper-class sisters who steal from the rich and help the poor. The film takes the audience through the different classes of people living at the time. The changing background of space and architecture in the film also reflects the inequality of Hong Kong society in the process of rapid modernization and industrialization—moreover, this inspired society’s stereotype of women as not just stopping at housework. When we talked about “Elevator Girl,” it shows the daily lives of a working-class female elevator operator in Hong Kong’s newly composite commercial building. The decoration styles of different floors in the movie reflect the urban aesthetics of the time, which provides insight into the identity of the emerging middle class and its desire for upward mobility.
The last topic, “City as Narrative, Women as Method”, further discussed Hong Kong’s urban transformation through female perspectives in melodrama and noir thriller. These women play a crucial role in these films which demonstrates the actual and ideal experience of modernity aesthetics. Therefore, women and related architecture in various films of the 1960s provide a deeper understanding of society as the city rapidly developed. Besides, not only Hong Kong, but also others such as Singapore, participates in the modernization of films. Even decades later, this has a great impact on the field of architecture now and in the future.
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You write three sections in Eunice’s text: Black Rose, Elevated Girl, and City as Narrative Women as Method. Rather than responding to the text, it seems you mostly summarize it. For the two films (Black Rose and Elevated Girl), rather than writing about what Eunice said about the films, you should respond to/ reflect on how these two movies examine Hong Kong’s modernity and spatial practice. For the ‘City as Narrative Women as Method’, you should analyze how women provide an experience of modernity and rapid development in the city.