Media Review: She
Remembers, He Forgets
(哪一天我們會飛)
There are some coming-of age films released
recently, “The times”我的少女時代 released
in Taiwan; “She Remembers He Forgets”哪一天我們會飛 released in Hong Kong. Coincidently, both story
were shown in a series of flashbacks. “She remembers, He Forgets” is a localized Hong Kong film released in
November 2015, which is directed by Adam Wong Sau-Ping. This story is not only focus on love, but also friendship,
dreams and Hong Kong collective memories, to create a bigger sense of
resonance. It is Adam’s second film after 2013’s “The Way We Dance”, a very entertaining
film about local dance culture. He managed to
revitalize the Hong Kong local film industry with fresh and intriguing ideas
about dream, hope and life.
Source: http://makingbetter.hk/assets/img/article/movies/1/m/heading.jpg
Dreaming of the future and remembering the past are
central themes at work in “She
Remembers He Forgets”. The film can be divided into two parts, one part
of it takes place in the present 2005, but most of it takes place in the past
1992. Miriam Yeung Chin-wah plays Gigi, a woman whose ten-year marriage to
Shing-wah, played by Jan Lamb Hoi-fung, has settled into the typical drudgery
of professional, urban existence; working too many hours for too little
money, surrounded by people you do not like and not having enough time to
spend with the people you do like. At an informal school reunion, Gigi reminisces
about her school days and starts thinking about what she, and her life, and her
friends, were like back then. Director Adam Wong hoped that the audience could find
some feeling and familiar scene that lived in Hong Kong from 1992 till now, and
some insight on how to continue to live in Hong Kong after watched the film.
Source: https://movie.yahoo-leisure.hk/assets/movie/photo/201509/IMG_8137_1443093704.jpg
The film manages to make some political statements, but
does it in subtle and yet undeniable ways. In a scene from 1992, students’ talk
about what Hong Kong will be like in 20 years, and it puts the present into
very sharp focus. They talk about things like electing the Chief Executive, one
Country two Systems, Hong Kong’s role as a financial center, and even the
nature of co-production of local films with China. The contextual definer
enables the existence of Dominant-hegemonic Reading since Hong Kong people are
regarded as active audience. They all had questioned about Hong Kong’s future
and their lives. Due to the social and cultural circumstances, it is more
effective for Hong Kong people to decode the message that the director wants to
deliver.
Additionally, director Adam Wong usually produces work
with an idea of pursuance of dream with adding some nostalgic iconographies
such as classroom, Kai Tak Airport, Lion Rock, Game Boy to represent Hong Kong.
Besides, he tends to choose the local HongKongers as the main character
in the film, such as Miram Yueng Chin-wah, she represents Hong Kong women’s
spirit. Miriam Yeung is always at her best when playing true Hong Kong local
persona and here she encapsulate the audience with her sincerity, memories and
conviction. Similar to her other great role last year as Headmaster in “Little
Big Master”, her crying sequences brings the audience on a journey with her. Those
iconographies and characters contribute a lot on recalling the collective
memory of Hong Kong people and symbolizing the spirit of Hong Kong people.
“She
Remembers, He Forgets”, is innovatively shot films that provide the audience
something to simply embrace. Small quotes like “Hong Kong is not a city that
allows you to dream” to regrets and missed opportunities are all beautiful
moments that the audience can clearly relate towards. In creating this film, director
Adam Wong have craved out a message for all of us, keep dreaming, keep hoping
and never let the society change who you are. What is dream? Dream should be
like when you cannot breathe, something should continuous to do.
Words:638
Chung Hong Hing, Hobi
10550099/21620424
Reference:
Assmann, J., &
Czaplicka, J. (1995). Collective memory and cultural identity.New German
Critique, (65), 125-133.
艾心：在學校裏遊戲 (2015). HKet.
Retrieved 13 April 2016, from http://topick.hket.com/article/995859/艾心：在學校裏遊戲
Dear Hobi, It is not easy to produce a short film review with reference to theoretical terms but your did it well. The writing has a clear theme and a good balance between description of the film and analysis. Terms are properly used. As we have not yet covered the idea of intertextuality of stars at the moment of your submission, you may now want to put this back as it is relevant to the discussion of Miriam Yeung's image. Nice work!
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