Time consciousness in Hong Kong cinema is critical in how characters interact with each other and the environment in which they live. As characters change over time, they portray a sensitive concern for the changes that occur in their existence. Some have dreams they imagine when they are young and achieve them later in life. Through careful life designs in Hong Kong films, the audience can follow a character’s life from their early stages to mature life stages. Just like contemporary life, people have goals in life, which may include falling in life, traveling or migrating to a new place or city, or becoming great people in various careers. However, such dreams may not always come true because of the challenges in life. The Hong Kong film brings out multiple features in life associated with these goals through the characters’ efforts to achieve them. As directors develop plots in the movie, they show how characters change their lives, pursue goals, build and cherish love relationships, and create new identities. Contrary to the stereotypical perception that Hong Kong cinema is primarily about martial arts and action, most films build their plots on love and ambitions. The current treatise evaluates three Hong Kong films: Comrades: Almost a Love Story, directed by Peter Chan; Flirting Scholar, directed by Lee Lik-Chi; and In the Mood for Love, directed by Wong Kar-wai. The analysis focuses on the plot developments and how various characters pursue goals or change their lives throughout the film.
An intricate interplay of two Chinese mainlanders’ Hong Kong goals leads the plot in Comrades: Almost a Love Story. The film reflects the lives of two Chinese mainlanders who move to Hong Kong hoping to achieve different goals. Li Xiao-Jun, a naïve Northerner, moves to Hong Kong hoping to get a good job and a better life than his life back home. He rides a train to Hong Kong and falls asleep before entering the city. The sleep indicates a moment of change from life on the mainland to life in the city and the fatigue in his life. He wakes up in a new environment in the city and searches for his aunt, Rosie. Xiao-Jun hoped to make enough money to bring his girlfriend to the city and marry him. His aunt has made a life in the town, although not as successful as the mainlanders would expect. She holds a puppy when she talks to Xiao-Jun, indicating that she is modernized and has adapted to city life. As Xiao-Jun starts life in the city, he is happy to live alone and have a job at a local butchery. He works hard as a meat deliveryman to achieve his dream.
Xiao-Jun meets Li Qiao, a mainlander from Guangzhou whose primary goal is to become rich. Also, she scammed innocent and naïve mainlanders arriving in the city for the first time; their encounter was different. The two fall in love and express it openly. However, Li Qiao is concerned that falling in love with Xiao-Jun is against their dreams. She tells Xiao-Jun that he is not the reason she came to Hong Kong, and she is not the reason he came to Hong Kong, too. The assertions clarify that the two had a Hong Kong dream to pursue. Although their trajectories differed, their goals were based on their presence in Hong Kong.
Through cinematography, the director brings out the fears and desires of the actors. First, close-up shots bring out the characters’ emotional connection and reactions to occurrences in their interactions. For instance, when Li Qiao explains her desire to avoid falling in love and pursuing her Hong Kong at 00:53:58, the close-up shot shows Xiao-Jun’s sadness. Secondly, the film uses editing to portray the characters’ engagements. Between 00:17:01 and 00:17:17, Xiao-Jun offers Li Qiao a ride on his bicycle. Through continuity editing, the audience can see Li Qiao’s reactions in a close-up shot and the two in a different frame as they ride along the street. This technique reveals the characters’ lives in the city and helps the audience compare their status with their Hong Kong dream of becoming rich. Also, this stylistic approach portrays the characters in realistic contexts that the audience can relate to, adding to the film’s realism. Thus, this film shows how the two pursue a Hong Kong dream and change as they adapt to life in the city, with Xiao-Jun becoming more enlightened and Li Qiao falling in love and abandoning her scamming and love to pursue her dream.
In Lee Lik-Chi’s Flirting Scholar, Tong Pak Fu, with excellent artistic and literary skills, pursues love unremittingly. The film combines martial arts and drama approaches to build the plot. As a famous artist, Tong has had the opportunity to meet many women. He marries eight wives, but they are addicted to betting. Tong also felt his wives needed to appreciate his artistic skills. When Tong meets Chow Heung, a maid in the House of Wah, he falls in love with her smile and believes she has found her true love. This conviction triggers his desire to pursue his dream of making Chow Heung his wife. He disguises himself as a poor person to get hired in the House of Wah, a move that defines the rest of the film’s plot. Tong endures a difficult life as a servant in the House of Wah out of love. His ambitions expose him to physical and emotional pain, but he does not give up. For instance, between 00:39:58 and 00:46:51, Tong fights four men from the Wolf Gang who intend to rape Chow Heung. Even with the beating, Tong focuses on making Chow Heung his wife.
Madame Wah discovers Tong is learned and hires him as a tutor for her children. When the senior tutor dies, Tong becomes the senior tutor, which makes it easier for him to get closer to Chow Heung. He saves the House of Wah from the Evil Scholar and is rewarded with Chow Heung. Unfortunately, he realizes Chow Heung is a gambling addict like the other wives. Although the film has a sad ending, the twists in the plot, intertwined with martial arts, bring out the ambitious characters who pursue love and revenge. The approach aligns with the assertions by Bordwell, who explains that Hong Kong films were only known to the people in the West because of their revenge-driven plots and flamboyant martial arts. The film portrays the characters’ mastery of martial arts and how they use them to pursue love. The plot also portrays Tong’s desire to build a love relationship with Chow Heung and cherishes every moment with her. However, he is unaware of her gambling addiction.
Tong changes his identity to suit his ambitions, and Chow Heung hides her identity to maintain her public image. When Tong meets Chow Heung, the film portrays her as a good person with a beautiful and lovable smile. At 00:27:03, the film uses framing to portray Chow Heung’s innocent smile, while her actions between 00:26:40 and 00:27:05 depict her motherly and loving character. However, the fact that she was a gambler shows a juxtaposition used in Hong Kong cinema to compare characters. Poshek Fu and David Desser’s The Cinema of Hong Kong: History, Arts, Identity explains that juxtaposition effectively compares different identities. This stylistic characteristic supports the argument that Hong Kong films contain more than martial arts. Apart from Tong, the Evil Scholar is ambitious in getting revenge against Tong’s family. Madame Wah is also ambitious in getting revenge against Tong’s mother, her former love rival. The primary difference between this film and Comrades: Almost a Love Story is the extensive use of martial arts in the former, necessitating a critical analysis to assess the plot and identify ideologies beyond martial arts. Pursuing these dreams is evident across the film, implying that Hong Kong films consist of more than martial arts.
In Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love, cherishing love relationships is the primary ideology. Characters pursue love and marriage life, although some get disappointments and have unfaithful partners. Mrs. Chan cherishes her relationship with her husband. As her neighbors explain, she leaves early to pick him up at the airport and wears decent clothes to please him. The film uses juxtaposition, similar to Lik-Chi’s Flirting Scholar, by showing the different love relationships among the characters. For instance, while Mrs. Chan and Mr. Chow embrace love, Mr. Ho cheats on his wife and has Mrs. Chan, his secretary, managing the relationship. Mrs. Chan organizes gifts for Mr. Ho’s wife and mistress, Miss Yu. To create contrast, the film uses Manichean opposites, which Bordwell explains in Plant Hong Kong as a plot development approach in Hong Kong cinema. The film also compared the traditional lifestyle and postmodern lifestyles in the city. Mrs. Chan explains that her husband works for a Japanese boss, and her work at the shipping company implies a modernized lifestyle and globalization. Cheung et al. explain that Hong Kong cinema juxtaposes different scenarios to show the difference between traditional and postmodern experiences. The life in the apartment differs from village life because of the congestion and lack of privacy, which leads to changes in the characters.
Searching for a new identity appears in the film as the actors move on to new love relationships. Embracing love in awkward contexts leads to the need for a new identity. Between 00:45:35 and 00:47:12, Chow and Su are trapped in a hotel room because they do not want to expose their relationship to Mrs. Suen and other neighbors. The film uses a close shot to portray Mrs. Chan and Mr. Chow’s emotional reactions when they realize their neighbors may play all night, preventing Mrs. Chan from sneaking out and returning to her place. This film uses low-key lighting at 00:46:38, creating shadows in some parts of the frame to contrast the characters and their environment and imply the confusion and sadness they experienced. These techniques enhance the film’s indication of the character’s goals. The planning and execution of immoral meetings between Mrs. Chan and Mr. Chow and between Mr. Ho and Miss Yu indicate the characters’ efforts to pursue emotional satisfaction beyond the norm. The characters risked their reputation to cherish love and find new identities in their encounters. Lu explains that the search for identity is a common theme in Hong Kong films. This film highlights this theme by expressing the characters’ commitment to love and new identities when Hong Kong was under British colonialism and residents searched for identity.
Conclusively, the three films show how, in search of love and identity, characters dedicate a lot of time and resources to pursuing a Hong Kong dream, seeking love, searching for new identities, and cherishing relationships. The films also juxtapose various scenarios and contexts and how they emerge. Directors in the three films use cinematographic techniques like continuity editing, close-up shots, and lighting to support themes and depict various plots. Although the films use different approaches, they all show that Hong Kong cinema is more than martial arts and action.
Bibliography
Bordwell, David. Planet Hong Kong: Popular Cinema and the Art of Entertainment. 2000.
Chan, Peter. Director. Comrades: Almost a Love Story. Golden Harvest, 1997. Film. 1:55:54
Cheung, Esther MK, Gina Marchetti, and Esther CM Yau, eds. A companion to Hong Kong cinema. John Wiley & Sons, 2015.
Decker, Christof. “David Bordwell: Planet Hong Kong. Popular Cinema and the Art of Entertainment.” MEDIENwissenschaft: Rezensionen| Reviews 18, no. 1 (2001): 63-65.
Kar-wai, Wong. Director. In the Mood for Love. Block 2 Pictures, 2000. Film. 1:38:40.
Lik-Chi, Lee. Director. Flirting Scholar. Win’s Movie Production Ltd, 1993. Film. 1:41:13.
Lu, Sheldon. Contemporary Chinese Cinema and Visual Culture: Envisioning the Nation. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021.
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