What or who controls the city? Does the city controls us in reverse? Are we ever not under control? Can we ever escape the control?
The city of Hong Kong is full of controls, from road signs telling you the correct path, to traffic lights telling you when to move and new laws telling you what you say now becomes a crime. We are surrounded by commands in our life, and they are often descripted as great for managing people and it is for the greater good. But who made these commands and who decide if it is good?
During this pandemic control even seeps into our own homes, under the name of “infection controls”, by enforcing lockdowns and quarantines. Is there anywhere else in this city where we can be away from her control?
Storyline
The film is set as a short depiction of a person (can be anyone) taking a tram ride through the city back to his assigned dormitory call “home”.
For the first half of the film, the person stare out from the slowly travelling tram. Along the tram rail, lie the concentration of the power of this city. There is the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government, the legislative councilor, the headquarter of the police department and the Government Office Towers. These structures are the symbol of power in the city, they rule the city, they control the city. There are also the bank and stock market, an land development and gentrification projects, representing the money powerhouse of the city. The politic and market seemingly controls everything and everyone in this city. They decide what is built and what is demolished. They decide how we behave in the city.
Then the person leaves the tram and starts walking “home”, the streets are full of noise, pollutant and patriotic propaganda. The person speeds up and try to escape all these “city phenomena”. Finally the person returns home, away from the noise and all the nonsense. A place of tranquility. A place of calm, A place of oneself. However, the tranquil only lasted for a moment, the infection control unit has arrived under the name of “greater good”, the person is locked up in the room. The only room away from the controls has turned into a soft prison. The person starts to think, is this city just a giant prison? And is there a way to escape?
Research
Tai Kwun. or The former Victoria Prison was looked at. Articles, letters and books written by prisoners are also studied. The living environment for prison has not significantly changed for the past decades in Hong Kong, A locked room, or a dormitory for multiple prisoners. Each room usually has one tiny window for the sunlight to pass through but no enough transparency to see through and look at the outside world. A prison as a architectural structure is often the neglected area of the city, where criminals offended the rules and laws of the city get sent to and “reeducate”- as least that was the initial purpose. A prison can barely feel the world outside, where his/her world is confined within the prison yard and the prison cell. It is the place where the maximum control is exerted in the city.
References
Dimova, G. (2020, August 20). Book Review: The New Despotism by John Keane. LSE Review of Books. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2020/06/30/book-review-the-new-despotism-by-john-keane/.
Byler, D. (2020, December 30). State of Surveillance. ChinaFile. https://www.chinafile.com/state-surveillance-china.
Orwell, G. (2017). 1984. Penguin.
3035821685 Wilson Chan
The decision to film the beginning of the video on a tram is brilliant as the tram is a controlled means of transport on rails. All aspects are addressed and presented with competent depth. The video demonstrates an understanding of and the ability to apply and synthesise documentation, concepts, and key issues relating to a well-identified topic. I particularly enjoy the comparison between dormitories and prison cells at Tai Kwun. You were able to adequately identify the most critical aspects of the theme and present a competently articulated analysis and interpretation of the topic. The scale of influence depicted in the video is intriguing and the political implication as well as translation of control through quarantine is quite clear. Your work is relatively innovative in regard to methodologies and maintains a good control of techniques and organisation of the form/content and narration. Regarding the structure, it would be great if the appearance of dormitories can proportionally longer to have a stronger emphasis of the space; alternatively, they can be weaved in earlier in the video for impact. The text is of competent academic standard, and adequately integrated into the overall presentation.