City ghosts remind us that the strange is born out of the familiar. From the reading, the settings of ghost films are closely related to the local economic situation and cultural background. The hidden themes of ghost films are usually circumstances or things that people are facing or fear of. Ghost films are separated into three types in the reading. For those produced in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, the theme of films is living with ghosts. For Japan and South Korea, the theme is loneliness and urban isolation. For Bangkok, the theme is ghosts who are pursuing dreams. Take

Continue readingReading Response: Ancuta, K.

In this article, the author talks about ghosts in the urban context. In Chinese beliefs, ghosts roam the Earth if they have been denied a proper burial. However, the scarcity of land in Hong Kong makes a grave become a luxury. Also, apartments are divided to many tiny cubicles, which makes them look like ’coffin homes’. That’s why housing in Hong Kong can align with ghost stories and most ghost films are made in Hong Kong. Moreover, the living environment in Hong Kong contributes to social isolation. The loneliness of apartment ghosts mirrors the loneliness of humans. The declining social significance

Continue readingReading Response: Ancuta, K.

After reading In Search of the Ghostly in Context by Fruit Chan, I had more thoughts toward the relationship between Hong Kong urban context and movies. First of all, ghosts in Chan’s films most likely represent despair and disorientation.  One of his movies, Made in Hong Kong 1997 was released in 1997, which was around the time of the Handover of Hong Kong, thus, Hong Kong people at that time were feeling lost, they either moved away, or the Chinese mainlanders moving in to look for economic opportunities. Therefore, ghosts in Chan’s movies most likely relate to the negative emotions

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The article is about the “aura” of the architecture and the surroundings in urban cities where ghosts are presented, and the way ghosts are illustrated in the movies. I think what the writer said sums up the entire article perfectly, “Ghosts are more visible than the living” There are also continuous comparisons between eastern and western movies in the above points, that show how ghosts are depicted in urban space. Aura of the architecture In western horror movies, the protagonist lives in a mansion or an isolated house somewhere in a rural space. People would expect the house to be

Continue readingReading Response: Katarzyna Ancuta

The reading focuses on how ghosts are portrayed in Asian horror films. It highlights he failures of modern urbanization and the alienation of urban communal lifestyles. It acknowledges cultural nuances and historical context of the films and their message. The most interesting part was the social implications of apartment living in Asia. The rapid urbanization and focus on profit maximization led to public housing estates that lack consideration for living quality. Temporariness and disconnection from them resulted in a loss of homeliness and a feeling of isolation among residents. Horror films serve as a critique of this situation, highlighting the

Continue readingReading Response: Katarzyna Ancuta

It is inspiring to discover how ghosts are and represent in films that features Asian apartment buildings. Initially we would approach ghost films as just a medium of gaining stimulations due to hedonic revesral effect (Classen et al., 2020).  However, these films could actually be: the portrayal of contiguous community where ghost lives together in the space along side the living; the representation of the alienating character of modern urban communal lifestyles so as the fear of being isolated; and the representation of the failed dream of economic success that continues to drive Asian rural-urban migration.  Taking the Korean movie

Continue reading[READING RESPONSE] Ancuta, K. (2020)