Love in the buff (2012):
The representation and reconstruction of local identity
‘Love in the buff’ is a 2012 film which is directed by Pang Ho-cheung and starring by Miriam Yeung and Shawn Yue. It is about a love story between two leading characters. This film has gained a
lot of focus since its release in last year. It also won ‘Best Actress’
award in the recent Hong Kong Film Awards. In this review, I will focus
on the way how it reconstructs local identity though the idea of ‘local
allegory’.
First of all, the setting of the film reflects the
situation of Hong Kong people-working in mainland China . Jimmy Cheung (Shawn Yue) worked as an Account Executive in an advertisement company; Cherie Yu (Miriam Yeung) worked as a salesperson in a cosmetic company. Because of the keen competition with Asian
regions, their
industries started to wither. So, they were asked to work in Beijing (mainland China ). However, they could not accommodate the living style in
China . They still remained their social network as same as Hong Kong . Jimmy always hanged out with
Gong Gong (Roy Sze-to) and Cherie (Miriam Yeung) always sticked with Isabell (Isabell Chan) and Brenda.
Moreover, from the scene that Jimmy was eating the instant Spaghetti Bolognese
from Hong Kong convenience store, we can see that he missed Hong Kong food very much. He also mentioned that it was the best
food in his mind because it contained his past memories. Two aforementioned
examples put individual story to collective experience. The case of Jimmy and Cherie can be linked to the situation of Hong Kong people who are working in China . Although they are working in China , they still think Hong Kong is their homeland. So, they should keep their living style
in Hong Kong . It brings a message- ‘Hong Kong people are different from mainland Chinese. They should have their
own identity and culture. ‘
Apart from the setting, symbolic icons also reinforce the identity of Hong Kong people. In the film, E-kin Cheng was Cherie’s ex-boyfriend. The film always mentioned about his
career, such as HI-C lemon tea advertisement and young and dangerous
series(古惑仔系列). The appearance of
E-kin Cheng recalls collective memories to Hong Kong people. From the beginning of 1990s, Chan Ho Nam (the
character which played by E-kin Cheng in the young and
dangerous series) has become the icon of Hong Kong film industry. It also led Hong Kong film industry into a new golden age. Moreover, the 1990s was the glorious era of Hong Kong ’s economy. Therefore, his occurrence raises the nostalgia of Hong Kong people. It also encourages Hong Kong people to stand up for local
identity and culture.
To sum up, ‘Love in the buff’
use the idea of local allegory to represent and reconstruct local identity. It
reflects the social problem and the importance of local identity. So, audience
can have sympathetic response when they watched this film. So, that is why it
has become successful.
Reference
Ashcroft, Bet. (2006). “The
post-colonial studies reader” (2nd ed.). Oxford : Routledge.
Love in the buff. 2012.
Retrieve from
<http://www.mediaasia.com/loveinthebuff/download/litb_poster2.jpg>
Lo Sin Ting (Annabelle)
21047539/ 10421035
'Love in the buff’ is a representative local film with many easily identified cultural symbols (which made it a popular text for analysis). You have examined the main protagonists and some typical scenes in the film, with a brief discussion on “the sense of localness” which echoes the memories of many Hong Kong people.
ReplyDeleteYou might wish to explore the reasons of projecting such kind of “localness”and situate them in the larger social context. This helps explore the experience and emotions of people (especially the post-70s and post-80s generations) in copying with the “integration ” between Hong Kong and the Mainland nowadays.