Moss, a kind of low class plant with strong vitality. It seeks no attention and no extra care; it grows in dampness and darkness, with only sunlight and water they could survive. The characters in THE MOSS (a film written and directed by Derek Kwok) are the same as this little plant. Their story may start or may end in Shamshuipo which is an old district heavily infested with crime. In the heart of darkness, there are corrupt cops, illegal mainlander prostitutes, assassinators, triad gangs, etc. To survive, they need to find their own ways. The great vitality is the ultimate victory.
These people may be neglected but they have never given up their life. However, they could hardly found their identity in the society. Identities are about questions of using the resources of history, language and culture in the process of becoming rather than being (Stuart Hall, 1996). It is also a sign of agency, but they are always made within structures and discourses.
Jan has a specious relationship with the illegal prostitute from mainland who named Lulu (acted by Bonnie Xian). Lulu is a rather special prostitute. She has never told anyone about her past. Although her job is a sex worker, she never is full of remorse. Lulu’s cousin, Fa (acted by Shi Xueyi) also comes to Hong Kong from village in China as child prostitution. All she wants is to earn enough money and leave this place. However, Fa and Lulu is not capable to leave as they are illegal immigrant and also they do not have knowledge and economic capital. In the scene shown in the picture, Lulu told Fa that everything happens here is none of their business. The reason for this is Lulu think that they are not belongs to Hong Kong society.
In this heart of darkness, there is a mudlark killer who is also come from China. In fact, he is very poor as he was being paid for very little to do the killing job. His appearance make him seems like a crazy guy but he is a kind person. While he was chasing by Jan, he met Fa. He got a very strong mind that he has to protect this girl. Gradually, Fa found that he has no intention to harm her. And they developed a very pure relationship. Besides, both of them are come from the mainland China so that they are sharing the same cultural background.
Actually, these three characters (Lulu, Fa and mudlark killer) are having the same identity problem. As they are immigrant from the mainland, they do not have the same cultural and history background with Hong Kong people. Also, they are unable to share the discourses thus lack of culture capital. These reasons have constrained the building of identity of them.
Yim Yat Sze Charlene
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1041 8685
The article has pointed out a few sharp observations on the problematic identities of the characters. It’s quite ironic that both Hong Kong citizens and non-Hong Kong citizens act like a passerby in their environments. Not only do they lack economical and cultural capital, but most important of all, they don’t have sufficient social capital to develop a sense of belonging to this city.
ReplyDeleteI love your first paragraph in introducing the metaphor of “moss”. Perhaps you can elaborate more on its associated allegorical meanings by connecting its features to the characters in the film, which can make your arguments more coherent.