Tag: Reading response

Cat Links Lecture 3: The Post-war Asian City as Set

Reading response: Seng, E.

Posted on u3595197@connect.hku.hk

The reading material shows that two particular film genres- the melodrama and the noir thriller set in working class and high-society Hong Kong- presents an assemblage of urban interior spaces inhabited by the female protagonist in the 1960s.  In Black Rose which describes about two high-society sisters steal from the rich and help the poor, they assist the poor to flight with the poverty and the unfair society. With the depiction of the scene that when they come back home after the stealing, they changes from their black vigilante attire into silk dressing gown and the moving of the mechanised

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Cat Links Lecture 3: The Post-war Asian City as Set

Reading Response:Leung P.-K

Posted on u3610378@connect.hku.hk

As a multicultural city, Hong Kong’s film industry has evolved together with the city. Firstly, let me talk about what I have gained from my six months in Hong Kong. The city seems to be both traditional and innovative, which may seem contradictory, as the article states, people in this city hold both traditions and superstitions of their older generations. The westernized decorations and festive atmosphere I have seen demonstrate the inclusiveness of Hong Kong culture. Secondly, I agree with the article that TVB directors refuse to accept their government-designed identities and express the need for social change from the

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Cat Links Lecture 3 Filming the Asian City

Reading response: Leung Ping Kwan

Posted on u3597773@connect.hku.hk

What is the “true reflection” of the city? Western films never seem to depict Hong Kong in the right way, on one end of the spectrum it is perceived as a hyper-futuristic metropolis and on the other, a traditional city where Chinese influences are prominent and fetishised. Yet, Hong Kong is actually neither of the above but rather a hybrid of sorts, it stands alone as a new genre, a new genre of cinema and even of cities. The author, Leung Ping Kwan points this out beautifully with his dissection of the film title “Chungking Express”, “The title of the

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Cat Links Lecture 3: The Post-war Asian City as Set

[Reading Response: Po Shek Fu AND David Desser]

Posted on u3610839@connect.hku.hk

This reading draws readers’ attention to how the intrinsic characteristics of Hong Kong architecture were showcased in the urban cinema while reflecting the complexities of cultural identity of Hong Kong citizens. Through shots of Hong Kong buildings in the movies and various narratives, Hong Kong has developed its own cultural traits and artistic representation, which can be observed similar patterns in Mainland China but not exactly identical since there exists elements of western culture in today’s Hong Kong modernism. Thus, cultural identity crisis arises among Hong Kong citizens when movie shots back then attempted to focus on their lack of

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Cat Links 2023 Blog, Lecture 3: The Post-war Asian City as Set

Reading Response: Leung Ping Kwan

Posted on ericcsr@hku.hk

Hong Kong as one of earliest city in Asia that started the process of modernization has experience combination of multiple culture throughout the process.The film industry could reveal the process of multiculture collision and integration. First started with migration of film makers from Shang Hai then move on to UK colonial government intervention after 1967. Films at that time started to combine element from different culture in a unnatural way examplified by A purple stormy night. However, new generation of film directors and producer took such oppotunity and estabilish a film style rooted in Hong Kong. They elegantly combine traditional

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Cat Links Lecture 3: The Post-war Asian City as Set

Reading Response: Seng

Posted on u3577210@connect.hku.hk

In 1966, the ten-year Cultural Revolution began in mainland China, and Hong Kong’s left-wing film companies were directly affected, as they drastically reduced their output and their influence faded. It was not until the mid-seventies that Hong Kong films became more focused on local culture by escaping from the creative principle of realism. And the demographic structure also shifted to mainly young people, whose aesthetic preferences were an essential factor influencing the development of Hong Kong films. In addition, the economy of Hong Kong at that time was dominated by labour-intensive industries, with a large number of workers doing repetitive

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Cat Links Lecture 2: Filming the Asian City

Reading Response: Leo Ou-Fan Lee

Posted on u3311212@connect.hku.hk

Lee delves into the importance of cinema in urban Shanghainese life, discussing how early film production first came about partly because of the demand for leisure and entertainment. I think it’s really interesting how the development of modern Chinese cinema is so intertwined with the urban and cultural setting at the time. Lee discusses how cinema was first embraced by intellectuals before essentially becoming a new commodity of urban life. The arrival of cinema undoubtedly came along with the Hollywood influence, introducing an interesting “hybridity” where native cinema mimicked and served as a foil to the western film industry. He

Continue readingReading Response: Leo Ou-Fan Lee

Cat Links Lecture 2: Filming the Asian City

[Reading Response: Lee, Leo Ou-fan]

Posted on u3598074@connect.hku.hk

The writing, The Urban Milieu of Shanghai Cinema written by Lee Oufan, is condensed with a series of deep and critical analyses of the mixed relationship between Shanghai movies and Hollywood movies. It emphasizes the significant impact on the birth and development of Chinese film through the transmission of foreign film, more specifically in areas of the use of movie techniques and exotic cultures. For the sake of concrete knowledge of movie history, it is undoubtedly that readers are given insight into how the shadow of foreign cultures and traditions was embedded into Chinese movies in its initial generation. Long

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Cat Links Lecture 2: Filming the Asian City

[Reading Response: Leo Ou-fan Lee and Zhen Zhang

Posted on hkg4337@hku.hk

The cinema has been a space of hybridity since its arrival in China. Zhang describes the history of cinema in China, where shows were first projected by some Frenchmen in a Shanghai teahouse. Right from the start, it was a mix of the west into the east. By operating its showings in the teahouse, a place of entertainment, it made way for itself into the everyday urban space, paving its way for Western film to become localised within the Chinese context. According to Lee, the rise of the cinema saw the decline of the amusement hall. The new visual medium

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Cat Links 2023 Blog, Lecture 2: Filming the Asian City

Reading Response: Lee, Leo Ou-fan

Posted on clh648@connect.hku.hk

The author discussed a phenomenon that Chinese directors preferred to implement Long-take instead of Montage in their movies. Compared with Montage, Long-take has advantages in focusing on the main characters while maintaining continuous sequentiality of time and contiguity of space. From my point of view, Long-take also enables the audience to focus on the story-telling, elaborating a key feature of the movie – providing another world for the audience to enter and experience, which aligns with the motivation for people to watch a movie in the past time. The author also quoted that this phenomenon might come from the traditional

Continue readingReading Response: Lee, Leo Ou-fan