The part portraying Hong Kong as a ghostly space impressed me greatly. I didn’t relate politics to ghost stories or places before. Usually, when I watch ghost films, I only focus on the appearance of the ghost or the manipulation of light and darkness, enjoying the excitement and the ambiance brought by watching horror movies and watching those scenes at a superficial level. I never thought that an unheimlich house can be a metaphor for Hong Kong in the tense Hong Kong – China relationship in a specific period. The director ingeniously combines horror and politics these two seems like unrelated genre together, delivering a sensitive message to the public, at the same time avoiding the film from being banned. In the film Made in Hong Kong, the director used the ghostly space to illustrate the British colonial government neglecting the social and economic conditions of the unprivileged. This reading has inspired me that we should try watching movies from different perspectives, go deeper and try to get the hidden message.
Ip Yuen Yi 3036064313
Your response shows an understanding between the urban landscape as experienced by the public housing inhabitants and the horror genre. More contextual understanding will help elicit an insightful response to why the space is being depicted in this manner in Chan’s film and how it stands in opposition with the common image of Hong Kong as a developed city.