THE ROMANCING STAR, WONG JING

The romantic comedy film The Romancing Star was released in 1987 by director Wong Jing, and starred actors such as Chow Yun Fat (Fred), Eric Tsang (Ugly), Natalis Chan (Traffic Light), and Maggie Cheung. In the beginning of the film, we are quickly introduced to our male characters (I will call them the boys from now on). Fred and Traffic Light, who are driving in a yellow beetle, pick up Ugly, who is waiting near a bus stop for them to pick him up. Ugly tries to court a young woman next to him, who is waiting for her boyfriend. After Ugly’s friends and the woman’s boyfriend – a short, wealthy man – show up, it becomes a wild race to see who has the best and fastest car. While the destination is not specified, the characters are seen to pass through La Salle, Oxford, and Durham Road during their race, ending when the yellow beetle runs out of gas, and the wealthy man is arrested for speeding. While this section of the film is only the first 3 minutes of the movie, it sets a great precedent for the audience as to what this film is be about: a wild, comedic adventure for an average group of young men.

As the film was made in 1987, many constructs shown within film have been renovated, so it was quite challenging to find the exact locations of all the shots within the film. The race begins on what seems to be Lung Cheung Road, which then continues into Kowloon Tong. The boys take a shortcut, as they have were stopped by an officer midway through the race for speeding. They race through what seems like La Salle Road, then drive down a pedestrian staircase, the location of which is unknown, as it may have been destroyed during construction of the Kowloon Tsai Park. In the film, La Salle Road seems far more curved and dynamic than it does in real life, making the race seem more intense, dramatic and a little reckless, as we will continue to see in the characters’ actions.

After going down the huge set of stairs, they race through a back alley barely wide enough for their car to fit through, while cleaners inside dodge for their lives. Then, the car bursts out at Durham Road. Today, the back alley (there are two videos) seems pretty much the same, albeit slightly different from renovation. In the scene, we sympathise with the cleaners, as the car slowly increases in size in the dynamically curved alleyway, but at the same time their reactions make the scene more light-hearted. Going through the alleyway, you feel a little cramped, but it’s also quieter than in the film, which may have made it seem more busy by placing adding more items and people.

Finally, they overtake the wealthy man and his girlfriend at the intersection between Oxford Road and Durham Road, next to the Kowloon Tsai House Owners Association building. Not only has the building changed from white to peach coloured, the surrounding buildings shown within the film have also evolved over the years. In the film, the shot of the race is more dynamic and exciting than in real life. The cars seem incredibly quick, taking hard and sharp turns. In real life, the area was quieter – although not as empty – than it was shown in the film, which also makes it an ideal place to shoot something like big car chase.

In the end, this film was made to be a light-hearted, wild romantic comedy, where there isn’t much consequence to many of the characters’ reckless actions, exactly what the beginning segment of this film illustrated. Furthermore, racing in an average district like Kowloon Tong makes the characters seem more grounded and relatable to the average audience living in Hong Kong during the late 1980s. As such, the dynamic shots, compactness of the roads and alleys, reckless driving, as well as relatable characters all accumulated to create a strong light-hearted, funny impression within audiences. So while the buildings don’t have the greatest significance within the overall story of The Romancing Star, it’s a great example of how to quickly set the tone of a story, simply by using the architecture around it.

— Ip Fung Yuen (Edward), 3035821415