Forever After in Far Far Away?

In 2001, there is a green monster live in a land where no one knows until DreamWorks put him on screen. After that he saved a princess, marry her and turn her into another green-looking housewife. Yes, he is Shrek. And in 2010 the new movie of Shrek, he find himself living in a different Far Far Away kingdom, his friends do not recognize him. His wife Fiona become a rebel and his race is following her as a rebel leader against the new kingdom which is ruled by a goblin, Rumpelstiltskin, but not the father and mother of Fiona, the original King and Queen. The new movie called Shrek Forever After or The Final Chapter.

DreamWorks has released many wonderful and meaningful animations, such as Kung Fu Panda, Shrek and Megamind. All of its work tells story and teach lessons in all these films. Shrek is the most successful series film in history of DreamWorks.

Forever After inherited the style of re-telling fairy tales in its previous movies. Shrek movies do not re-tell fairly tale in a scary or humor way, instead it re-tell them from changing the stereotype of those famous characters. For example, Shrek was not like usual orges. He is tired of being a lovely monster, when his home has became a tourism spot in Far Far Away. He wishes to become horrifying again. That leaves the main villain Rumpelstiltskin has a chance to trick Shrek into a trap. This movie does not only turn its back on other famous fairy tales like its previous three movies but most important is to turn against to its own story. It had almost turned everything upside down of itself. Shrek is not a “hero” anymore (After all he was the one who saved Princess Fiona). Princess Fiona is no longer a princess but a rebel and a leader. She is not rescued by Shrek but break out the tower (which kept her just as many fairy tales do) by herself. She also leads her race to resist the enslavement from the new King. In this world, Princess Fiona is a hero according to the race of ogres. Puss in Boots also becomes a fat cat without any training.

There is no doubt that Forever After is an animation film, but what kind of animation is it? Can it be concluded in the category of fairy tales? But Shrek’s characters are little bit different from their original characters. However, all of the Shrek movies indeed have characteristics of fairy tales. In different fairy tales, there are fairies, magical living creatures such as goblins or giants. Everything they need is in Forever After, almost all the characters are come from other fairy tales, such as Gingerbread Man, Puss in Boots, Three Little Pigs and some Princesses. These are all good and kind characters. There are also villains such as Captain Hook, Evil Queen and some witches. However, these characters could be in the other side of the camp. Some good characters could become a bad character, such as Pied Piper. Originally he was the one who helped the King to get rid of mouse in his kingdom. He became one of the helper of Rumpelstiltskin to control Ogres. And some have been the otherwise, for example, Wolf in Three Little Pigs, he is no longer eating pigs but also be friend with the Three Little Pigs.

Besides the characters in the film, the plot of the film also signifies audience that it indeed is a fairy tale. In many

fairy tales, the story is always educational, that the protagonist usually learns a lesson in the story. Audience and the reader also learn a lesson from the story. In Forever After, it teaches audience a lesson too. It is all about greed. When you want more you will become Rumpelstiltskin who use his magic power, a contract, to get whatever he is dreamt of. And Shrek is greed too. He dreams of not being a lovely monster but a monster that everyone is afraid of. He is not satisfied with his current living, he want more excitements. And that only brought him into a world he no longer familiar, he has to find his way back. The ending of the film tell us that greed will lead us to bad result. Rumpelstiltskin is being captured by Shrek and become an exhibit for tourists who come and see Shrek.

Shrek Forever After maybe considered as fairy tale animation film, but for many children audience it does not matter, they only concern if it is going to be funny and entertaining. I enjoy the series of Shrek. Every Shrek movies introduce some “old” characters from other fairy tale in the story, but present them in a way that we, who had a chance to read or watch the original fairy tale, had not seen it before. My favourite character is indeed Rumpelstiltskin, he is not as annoying as other villains, he is funny and showing off in a musical way.

Student name: Lee Tsz Shan (Apple)

Student ID: 10348690

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"An Education"

I would like to share a film here which is “An Education”, it was shown in Hong Kong’s cinemas from the end of January to the early March this year and the director of this film is Lone Scherfig. Lynn Barber is one of the writers of the film, most of the parts in the story were her real experiences and another one is Nick Hornby who is responsible for the screenplay, one of his famous previous works is “About a Boy”.


The story falls on the Sixties in Britain, a 16 year-old girl name’s Jenny studies in a famous school and her parents want her to study in Oxford University in the future. Thus, she studies very hard and also has some extracurricular activities in her spare time. It makes her has very good performances in school.



Until, there is a man, David appears in her life and then everything changes towards Jenny. David brings her to the upper class society, buys her expensive goods and also brings her to have a travel in Paris. All the above changes make Jenny feels that it’s useless to study hard if study just for the live for the future as David can provide her a stable live already.




Thus, Jenny quits the school and plans to get married with David later on until she found that David has already got married and even have a child. Jenny is very regret what she has done so far; she leaves the responsibilities to her parents and also blames them that why they have not stopped her to do those silly things. Jenny hates herself as she left everything behind but just for getting married with a married- man who has lied to her from the beginning. At last, she back to school and have a new start for her life.


According to the “Auteur Theory”, it has said that the director is most centrally responsible for a film’s form, style and meaning and also the person able to stamp his or her own ideas and thoughts in the film. During shooting the “An Education”, Lone Scherfig was practicing this theory. Due to this film’s background was set on the Sixties; she needs to pay attention to many details. She said that “I previously made a film which took place in Denmark in 1957 so I know something about the fear of excess, the shadow of the war and the very simple fantasy lives that people led then.” Apart from the story from Barber, Scherfig would like to show the social circumstances in England at that period to the audiences as well. Moreover, she also mentioned that “my job is to see that but also to see it from the audience’s point of view.” Apart from the shooting process, Scherfig would also laid stress on how the audiences feel when they are watching the film.

After watching this film, I think that it bring up a several questions to the young audiences. Actually, we study for satisfy our parents or study for ourselves? What should we really focus on in our lives? And is there a contradiction between education and life? To me, I think that you can also see those social phenomenons which mentioned in the film in Hong Kong now, for examples, the youngsters nowadays are addicted to buy the brand name products; they think that they are following their parents’ wishes to study hard and to have the tutorial class after school. Moreover, the media nowadays always exaggerate the issue of woman should get married with a rich man. The luxury products make people lose themselves so easily. Although the director would like to reflect the social phenomenon and problems in British at that period; it is not difficult to see those problems are rounding us in our daily lives too.


Student: NG YUEN YAN GOOFY (10321492)

一絲不掛, Eason Chan

Everybody has a favourite singer. I love Eason Chan the most! That’s mainly because of his magnetic voice.

If an artist or a singer has won many awards and topped in the Entertainment Industry, you would presume that his or her music is worth getting excited about. Throw in the additional element of an energetic, middle-aged and talented male, and the record company has a winner on its hands.

Eason Chan’s CDs is one of the few singers that I would actually go and buy. No doubt for watching his concert.

一絲不掛, this song, has carried Eason’s powerful, thick voice as well as hearing the beats of the song. I have also ‘digested’ the lyrics. The songwriter is林夕 which is often being forgotten but a fairly important role as a whole of the music. Song carries meaning, I think that can easily win the audience’s heart, isn’t it?

I have picked a few lines of the song.

這些年望你緊抱他出現
還憑何擔心再互相糾纏
給我找個伴侶找到留下你的足印也可發展
全為你背影逼我步步向前

As much as I agree what it said, sometimes I feel, there is a situation, which can probably make you feel vulnerable.

Love is supposed to be happy for a couple, but sometimes who knows? What can be a 100% guarantee? Waiting for someone you love without knowing when to come back is torture. In fact, these few lines explain a little bit. When it so happens, what can be done? I am afraid there is only two things which can do, hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

Falling apart is no doubt painful but it’s always better than keeping to a relationship that is already half dead. Love is mutual, admit it or not.

Sad songs would usually absorb all your tears. You may imagine yourself in the same situation and virtually become one of the characters. The emotion rises and it eventually allows you to have a deeper thought of the song story.

One day we all have to say goodbye to each other, no matter how close you are with that person, we are all individuals and this is universally true. Partly this song expresses to me the fact that sometimes we have to make a cruel decision, for better or worse, who can tell?

Overall the song is fairly outstanding, I think. Hopefully, a few more years he can work even harder to his music in order to gain more listeners.

Written by Sophie Tam Wing Yan

From Ruby to Post-Wuby Generation in Hong Kong, Empower Ourselves Through Internet

Few weeks ago, there was a new video posting on Youtube, which was about a complain toward HKCEE Use o f English examination, recorded by a 16-year girl, Ruby (Wuby), In the clip, we could find what ruby complain of the examination officer, candidates or even about the English level of Hong Kong people are. However, the content of the video in this case actually is not really essential for my review, yet through this clip, and the reaction in the forum, Facebook, or other virtual communities, we could realize that how influential the Web2.0 generation toward Hong Kong traditional society, and also Ruby initiate a new self-expression in Hong Kong.

These years, Internet, the virtual community reshapes our life rapidly, opposing a new threat to the traditional community, such as traditional media. Once we step into the Web2.0 generation, Stepping to the stage of Web 2.0, the sense of the virtual community has been strengthening, which also empower ourselves. “Web 2.0, the term is current and can be purposefully used to denote a number of characteristics concerning the storage, creation and dissemination of information, opinion and comment, and to identify process, which is interactive and to an increasing degree egalitarian.” (Watson, 2008) For example, Web 2.0 includes web-based communities, web applications, social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, blog, etc. In ruby case, we could find that how rapidly the user of the internet response to the video, such as they can directly reply to the post in forum, in Youtube, or they also share it in Facebook, or other virtual community, which keep on creating new thoughts or replying to this case, and also forming a force toward to this event. This force not only can draw the public attention, but also can inviting more people to join to discuss it. From the local newspapers, such as ApplyDaily, OrientalDaily, there were also some news reporting this clip. This news not only can reflect that web 2.0 posing a new power relation toward the traditional media, but also proving the public value of virtual community.

Moreover, user-friendliness is one of the main reasons that Web 2.0 empower ourselves. Nowadays, people can inter-link post, pictures, video among Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, or other Web 2.0 website, whenever they can log into the Internet. “Upon a technology that is unlike print and unlike the electronic media of the first age: it’s cheap, flexible, readily available, quick” and, because narratives can, with ease, incorporate sound and vision, there is the potential- in such “phenomena as “desktop broadcasting”, widespread citizen camcorder “reporting”, and digital film-making” for narratives to transgress” “ the constraints of broadcast monopolies”.(Blood, 2005) In ruby case, nowadays, we do not have to stay at home, connecting to the internet, but we can get online everywhere by our mobile device. This convenience benefits us to update and response to the event on the Internet. It’s also one of the reasons of the popularities of Ruby Case.


Last but not least, after ruby posing a clip to Youtube, we could find that there are more people, who also upload their self-record clip to Youtube to express themselves. Even it’s not a new issue to upload self-record clip to express ourselves in some foreign countries, such as US. In fact, this is a new phenomenon in Hong Kong. This way of expression somehow shows the empowerment of us when using Internet.

A breakthrough of HK drama – 飛女正傳

Fly with me (飛女正傳) is a sci-fi and comedy drama which has drawn my attention recently. The main actress, Ada Choy, has two identities in this drama. She not only is a vice manager called 梁巧芝 in the department of investment in a bank but also is a superwoman called Janet Bin with supernatural power after she kisses masculine men.

Although superwoman has been used as the theme in foreign film such as My Super Ex-Girlfriend, it has not been adopted in Hong Kong drama. Apart from the new story in Hong Kong drama, Fly with me has been a breakthrough in Hong Kong TV drama especially its shooting style and abandonment of using theme song at the beginning of each episode. For example, there was a scene that Yvonne and policeman “Yeung Sir” was traced by three gangsters in a narrow and long corridor in the hospital. The use of slow motion to escape the bullets imitates the shooting style used in action film. Furthermore, this drama does not use theme song as the introduction of each episode but uses voice-over at the beginning of each episode. The words of voice-over (1) are meaningful because it summarizes the theme of the drama.

Since Fly with me is a comedy drama, the dialogues are particularly designed to be terse, cynical and funny in each episode and bring out some implications as well. For instance, Yvonne Leung (Ada Choy) was asked to give $500 to her colleague to sing karaoke and celebrate the birthday of her boss. She was reluctant to give the money and attend the activity so she said “我淨係知道我夾左五百蚊就要唱到夠本為止，我理得你做生日定做生忌”. This scene satirizes the social phenomenon that people are forced to spend money on gathering with their colleagues so as to keep a harmonious relationship. Besides, Dr Kan (Moses Chan) rejected to do breast enlargement surgery for a middle-aged woman who has done plastic surgery for many times. Dr Kan said “你沒有任何空間進行僭建工程, 譬如危樓一樣, 與其翻新維修, 倒不如好好保育”. Dr Kan insists his own belief to decide whether to help his patients to do plastic surgery. He believes in golden ratio which implies a perfect body figure. He won’t help women to do plastic surgery for pursuing their ideal body figure. He will consider the necessity of doing the surgery from their mind to their body.

Fly with me also satirizes some social phenomenons in Hong Kong. For example, when Yvonne Leung wanted to be a witness in court, she suffered from the bureaucracy of the government. She was referred to different departments to analyze her case such as Fighting Authority, Law Department, Immigration and Emigration Department and Education Department. Each of them shifts the responsibility to the others. It reveals the actual bureaucracy of government in Hong Kong. Another example is the son of Mr Yung questioned the explanation of the doctor about the situation of his father. He was unsatisfied with the explanation of the Chinese junior doctor but was satisfied with the explanation of the western senior doctor although the explanation was the same. This scene satirizes people believe in authority despite the same explanation.

Fly with me is a innovative drama in Hong Kong which uses new shooting style and introduction of each episode. It not only provides relaxation for audiences during their leisure time but leaves some rooms for us to think about the things around us in our daily life.

Footnote: (1) 她們驕傲, 自命不凡
對於來自四方八面
尤其是北方的同類物種競爭
她們試圖包容, 共存
但是種族大清洗的威脅之下
她們忍無可忍, 激發基因突變
為生存, 發出驚天動地的怒吼
她們身處食物鏈的最頂端
學名是"北半球太平洋橫流亞熱帶
英屬後殖民地域
温室培育哺乳類雌牲猿猴科"
俗稱"港女"

Student: Ng Yuk Wah, Eva

10346614

"72 Tenants of Prosperity"—Collective Memories of Hong Kong

As a matter of fact, at first glance of this film’s poster, “72 Tenants of Prosperity”, I am not interested in it, since so far I think Hong Kong films is usually dull when compared to western films. Nevertheless, after watching this film, it really deserves me to watch. It makes me generate a sense of intimacy and belongings towards Hong Kong culture. Apart from mainly comprising of comedy elements in this film, it also reflects Hong Kong’s spirit, popular culture and current socials problems. All these elements will make people feel resonance. These are part of the reasons why it gains popularity and it becomes the second highest in Hong Kong’s box office within ten years, just behind the film of Stephen Chow周星馳.

This film is directed by Tsang Chi Wai曾志偉 and was shown on 11^th February. Actually, this film was the modern version of “The House of 72 Tenants”(七＋二家房客) released in 1973.

With regard to the genre of this film, it is clearly a comedy film. Nonetheless, it also includes the elements of musical, action, romance, horror. It is interesting through the musical way to show the element of comedy, thereby, constructing a vivid effect.

There are several elements that generate resonance among Hongkongers. For instance, the Sai Yeung Choi street in the film, demonstrating Hong Kong culture,it is one of the significant streets in the Mong Kok. There are numerous Hong Kong people crowding in this street every day, especially middle-aged people and teenagers. Moreover, you can buy many things in this street such as shoes, beverage, foods, mobile phones etc. with a cheap price. Actually, this street accompanies many Hong Kong people to grow up.

Furthermore, this film reflects Hong Kong peoples’ spirit— Hard- fought spirit. In this film, the main characters were confronting with the possibilities of increasing the rents of their shops and extreme competitive commercial environment, despite of these constraints, they earn their living through different methods such as using teen model模 as promotion. Apart from demonstrating the gimmick promotion of Hongkongers, it also shows some of the social phenomenon.

Additionally, Hong Kong peoples’ hard-fought spirit is shown in the beginning of the film. Through the way of musical, this film shows the hardship of working class people under the exploitation of employers, the working class people, performed by the main characters, have to be hard-working so as to earn their living revealed by the lyrics in the song of musical.

For characters, this film wisely attracts different age group. For instance, it utilizes Angelababy, Stephy Tang鄧麗欣, Raymond Lam林峯, Bosco Wong黄宗澤 etc., these artists can attract young to middle age group; also, this film uses some leading and significant artists such as Jacky Cheung張學友, Anita Yuen袁詠儀 etc., these characters can attract middle age group.

Also, this film offers intertextual scenes. For example, you can see Prudence Lau劉美君 once again performing the role of prostitute in this film, Michael Tse 謝天華 performing the role of “ LaughingGor”. These characters’ speaking attitude and posture are the same as their previous films’ characters. These familiar characters make you laugh and feel funny as well as generating a sense of intimacy.

Lastly, apart from comprising of Hong Kong’ collective memories, this film also promotes a mutual-aid spirit and raises the awareness and retrospection of people regarding the social issues such as acid-attack.

Tsang Jessibel Mia, Chloe 10347221