Review of Eleven to Seven

The Eleven to Seven is one of the selections from the 16^th Hong Kong Independent Short Film & Video Awards, produced by Heiward Mak under the ifva greenlab 2010-2011 Commission Project. It was a boy-meets-girl story took place in the local convenience store. The girl in the movie has long working hour, from 7am till 11pm. She always went into the same store, seeing the same boy (worker) before and after work. The boy in contrast, works from 11pm to 7am as a part-time worker in the store. Mak explained this is a story about “two persons in a time-misplaced place”. (ifva, 2011) The film was separated in two parts, part A focus on the boy’s perspective, how he was fond of this frequenter of the store; part B reveals the girl’s intention of being there so often, in which they share mutual affections to each other.

Seven-eleven is a symbol of local convenience store, whenever we think of convenience store; seven-eleven must be the first which comes to our mind. It constitute of a collective memory, as a representation of Hong Kong working class’s busy life (they do not even have time to go to a supermarket or supermarkets were closed when they were off from work). The white collar was a perfect epitome of the working class, got up early in the morning and off from work late. They cannot even run their own life; therefore the convenience store has become the place for some “fresh air”. These two symbols constructed a local identity and portrayed the busy lifestyle in Hong Kong.

In addition, the film presented the trend/ reality in Hong Kong- the interchange of perceived gender roles. The girl in the movie wore nice suits with pretty high heels, showing that she has better social status than the boy. The boy works a part-time job in the convenience store, limited skills were needed, and this is usually perceived to be from a lower class. It illustrated a picture of this city: women are getting more educated and they are working on “important posts”, hence a breakdown of traditional “male as superior” value.

At the end of the story, the girl took up the leading role, she started the talk after a long deadlock; comparatively, the boy was a passive one. It contradicted the traditional assumptions of the male should pick up a dominant role in a relationship, have guts and ask the girl out. In here, the role of gender has been shifted, displaying a new concept to gender and relationships; it can also be seen as an epitome of the trend.

The film also used love to bridge the middle-class and lower class. She was nicely dressed, yet the boy was only wearing cheap T-shirts. Therefore romance has brought the different classes together; breaking the stereotype of same classes make better communications. The two of them did not talk in most of the time, so there was “love” left, love has become their discourse. It redefines how love should be- it should never be constrained by their social status because love itself was a magic that can bring two different persons together. It can also be conceived as a construction of fantasy in the boring working life in Hong Kong.

Reference:

7elevenhongkong. (2011). Eleven to Seven — 麥曦茵作品 Work by MAK Hei-yan, Heiward. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYDiGMusnQY&feature=related

Ifva. (2011). Ifva x 7-Eleven @community. Retrieved from http://www.ifva.com/2010/page_en/greenlab/seven_eleven.php

By Jessica, Wong Yi Yan (10383192/ 20855442)