This short film is one of
the three PopCorn film by Heiward MAK Hei-yan (麥曦茵). It was
posted online on YouTube in March 2012. The three short clips are about love
between a man and woman, friendship and family relations. The theme of “當下”
is talking about the interaction of a family.
Do people sitting together
means reunion? This is the central question the clip would like
to ask the audiences. For the film setting, the story is happened in a Chinese
restaurant. A family gathers in the restaurant as usual once a week. The Chinese restaurant, which families gather,
eat Dim Sum and sit in a round table, are an important traditional family value
of Chinese culture. This is also the common localized collective memory of Hong
Kong families.
The
first half narration of the film is about five family members gather together,
however, each of them are just focus on their own stuffs such as reading
magazine and playing games, with no interaction with the others. It reflects
the current reality that people are busy and seldom talk in family gathering.
Stereotypes are a common public belief about special social group
that based on people’s gender, national origin and occupation. In the clip, the
characters are being stereotyped in different symbols and behaviors as visual
representation according to their characters’ characteristics. For instance,
the Grandfather is wearing checkered
wool vest which is common found on elderly. The mother is reading
entertaining magazine which is also the common leisure magazine of housewife. And
the older brother, he is just focusing on playing his game on iPad. It
represents the social phenomena of the new generation in society. It is people
are always using their technological devices but seldom communicate with others
face to face.
Under
the silent conversation, the Grandfather gives tea to them one by one and tries
to ask them if they apply the Scheme $6000, which is the current issue of Hong
Kong. They answer to Grandfather that just let the older brother applying on
the web. Here we see that the digital divide between the Grandfather and the
members. Finally, the members leave the restaurant one by one. Here shows the
Grandfather’s disappointment and helplessness.
In the second half narration of the film, they gather together as usual and still focus on their own stuffs. But this time the little boy learns from Grandfather and tries to give tea to the others. His behavior awakens the others that they should cherish the time with family rather living in their zone.
It is found that the director
is using the simple action and the contrary to criticize the current situation in
Hong Kong. Nowadays, the family value is weak and people seldom take care of
their family, or even talk to them. This film “當下” can evoke the common experience
and resonance of audiences in their daily lives as well as re-think the important
role of adult in front of children.
Here are some comments from
YouTube:
This is really a good film and let us thinks over our relations with family in our daily lives. Enjoy!
Ashley Wong Yuk Yi (10495101/20862212)
Haha here comes another short clip produced by Mak Hei Yan! I just love her subtle ways of describing human relationships. Your review has identified various aspects of the story (e.g., setting, characters, themes, narratives), with reference to some basic theoretical concepts like stereotypes and collective memory.
ReplyDeleteIt’s a good strategy to include some response from the viewers, which reflects the meaning-making process of audience. Perhaps you can try to relate these comments to your own narrative and semiotic analysis. This can yield further insights into the source of identification offered by the cultural text.