Made in Hong Kong; or, The Days of Being Dangerous
Mom was right when she said that everything is predestined. Ever since Sylvester picked up those two letters, bad things have been happening one after the other. Weird things that no one can explain! They just happen.
I have been meaning to watch Fruit Chan’s The Handover Trilogy (Made in Hong Kong (1997), The Longest Summer (1998), Little Cheung (1999)) for a few years now, but just recently, I decided to give it a go. In this review, I take a look at the first film of the trilogy, Made in Hong Kong, which is actually the first independent movie (made out of leftover film tape) released in Hong Kong after the transfer of power from the United Kingdom to China.
Mom was right when she said that everything is predestined. Ever since Sylvester picked up those two letters, bad things have been happening one after the other. Weird things that no one can explain! They just happen.
I have been meaning to watch Fruit Chan’s The Handover Trilogy (Made in Hong Kong (1997), The Longest Summer (1998), Little Cheung (1999)) for a few years now, but just recently, I decided to give it a go. In this review, I take a look at the first film of the trilogy, Made in Hong Kong, which is actually the first independent movie (made out of leftover film tape) released in Hong Kong after the transfer of power from the United Kingdom to China.
Release Info
Directed by: Fruit Chan Starring: Sam Lee, Neiky Yim Hui-Chi, Wenders Li, Amy Tam Ka-Chuen
Language: Cantonese Original Title: 香港製造 Runtime: 108 min
The story of the film focuses on youngsters who are social outcasts. The main protagonist, Autumn Moon (Sam Lee), is a good for nothing misfit who collects debts for the triads. He frequently protects his friend, Sylvester (Wenders Li), who is mentally-challenged. Together, they meet Ping (Neiky Yim Hui-Chi), a resident of a public rental housing estate. The trio accidentally gets into possession of letters written by a certain Susan (Amy Tam Ka-Chuen), a high school girl who committed suicide. The friends try to deliver the letters to respected addressees. At the same time, Autumn Moon is tired of being a loser and makes an attempt to become someone in Hong Kong on the verge of change.
In Made in Hong Kong, Fruit Chan explores the lives of people at the very moment of great political transformation. The British are leaving and the Chinese have not arrived yet, the people of Hong Kong are left to themselves and they are actually deprived of identity.
Autumn Moon tries to do anything in his life, literally anything, like becoming a killer for the triads, but he is unable to kill anyone. Fruit Chan stated in an interview that Moon desperately wants to live but he is incapable of living in such a world, Ping also wants to live, but she suffers from cancer, Sylvester is unable to live because of his limitations, whereas Susan kills herself because she can’t think for herself.
In a desperate attempt to avenge the passing of one of his friends, Moon confronts the triad leader, and while pointing a gun at him says: “I remember that you said that the world is now ruled by the young. Now, I’ll show you!,” and he kills the gangster. In her essay about Made in Hong Kong, the author Vivienne Chow thinks that this one scene is the prophetic foreshadowing of the attitudes represented by modern-day protesters in Hong Kong.
With Made In Hong Kong, the director successfully provided an insightful study of youth living at the margins of society in the time preceding the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong, but he also managed to emphasise that Hong Kong is essentially a parentless state. Loss of identity takes place because it is neither British nor Chinese. The only way for Hong Kong to move on is to forget about its ambiguous roots.
It has to be noted that director Fruit Chan really has an eye for visuals. One could think that there is nothing appealing in small apartments, huge high-rises with courtyards, or cemeteries, yet the dream-like atmosphere of Made in Hong Kong combined with these images is truly captivating.
With regard to performances, Fruit Chan worked on each entry of The Handover Trilogy with nonprofessional actors and actresses. Allegedly, it took them months of rigorous rehearsals before the crew could start shooting. Nevertheless, all of the performers involved did a fine job. In fact, the movie marks the debut of Sam Lee who, thanks to his memorable performance of Moon, went on to have a successful career. He also appeared in Fruit Chan’s subsequent movies.
Recommendations
I definitely recommend Made in Hong Kong if you want to experience some Hong Kong-related food for thought. My advice is that you should grab the HD release of the movie, instead of a standard DVD. In order to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the film, L’Immagine Ritrovata made a 4K restoration of the film which looks absolutely outstanding. I hope that I will be able to review the remaining entries of The Handover Trilogy soon.
I definitely recommend Made in Hong Kong if you want to experience some Hong Kong-related food for thought. My advice is that you should grab the HD release of the movie, instead of a standard DVD. In order to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the film, L’Immagine Ritrovata made a 4K restoration of the film which looks absolutely outstanding. I hope that I will be able to review the remaining entries of The Handover Trilogy soon.
«Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us»
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comment moderation is switched on due to recent spam postings.