Online Review on The Midnight After

Introduction

The Midnight After was adapted from a popular novel named “Lost on a Red Minibus to Tai Po”, originated as a serialized web fiction by the pen name Pizza in Hong Kong Golden Forum. Directed by Fruit Chan, this movie used lots of metaphors representing the socio-political issues being changed in the 21^st century.

Well Use of Metaphor

Director Fruit Chan is well known of utilizing small detailed elements in his movies to represent current political and social issue. After watching the movie and researching more in depth in the Internet, there are various highlights that can fully show the metaphorical mockery of Hong Kong situation.

To commence, the frame of the Midnight After is the red minibus. The colour red can be interpreted as time for revolution, but at the same time the red flag of the Communist Party of China. The red rainstorm also gives out the same representation that the city is gradually changing to be covered by communism. The van itself can be viewed as quick, irrational, and even crazy. Both elements can be combined as seen as Hong Kong is changing rapidly and starting to fall back into China’s hand.

The most inspirational point is that when the one of the 16 riders say, “by the time the red minibus pass through the Lion Rock Tunnel, our city doesn’t exist anymore. Don’t lie to yourself that it is normal outside.” The Lion Rock Tunnel is a collective memory which connects who we are to who we once were. Passing through the tunnel can be seen as Hong Kong reverted to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 and also the cultural identity which represents Hong Kong. Nowadays, Hong Kong has no longer been the same as the old days, where we used to live in is changing gradually to something we cannot recognize anymore.

There is another minor point that I view it as a mockery to useless Hong Kong Government officers. In the movie, the phone number “56985698” is used to contact one of the actors. “698” is actually similar to “689”, which our Chief Executive C. Y. Leung is named after. “5” can be read as “Ng” (唔) in Chinese and with “5698”can be interpreted as don’t want “689” (唔要689). Other than that, “8965” is quite similar to “8964”, a representation of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

Conclusion

From the above, we can see that Fruit Chan has well used some strong characters with highlighting details and lines to arouse Hong Kong citizens’ attention towards the social and political situation that we are facing. Passengers with different unique personalities echo the conception of individuals in society base on their race, outlook, behavior, social class, and gender (Schweinitz 2011). It indeed brings the past to the present that the existing social constructs have already driven its protagonists mad. Natives are likely to see a reflection of their cluttered environment and its multifaceted, contradictory ingredients. However, the message behind may be constrained to foreigners and to those who do not focus much on politics or without much historical knowledge.

Reference

Schweinitz, J. (2011). Film and stereotype: A challenge for cinema and theory. New York: Columbia University Press.

(521 words) 
Siu Yan Tung 21234028/10456402