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Macau, separated from Hong Kong by a narrow strip of water, has long been a favored filming location for Hong Kong producers, with over two hundred Hong Kong films shot on location here. From the warm family stories in early Cantonese cinema to the biographical films of the 1990s, these images evoke memories of our own city.
This lecture focuses on the Macau settings in films by Hong Kong director Johnnie To and his Milkyway Image production company. Many of their works draw inspiration from this small city, which is filled with European charm yet carries undertones of exile and unease. The session will specifically introduce Macau scenes in To's films, featuring a special screening and analysis of segments from his 1999 film "Where a Good Man Goes." Through cinema, we will reminisce about a local landscape that has been quietly lost, explore the complex sentiments projected onto Macau before its handover as a reflection of Hong Kong's post-handover experience, and appreciate a tender story that differs from Milkyway Image's typically cool, detached style.
The latter part of the lecture will feature edited clips from selected Hong Kong films. It will discuss the realistic significance of Macau as an urban space within Hong Kong cinema and elaborate on how film subtly participates in the construction of urban culture. The event includes an interactive segment where the audience can guess Macau locations from film scenes, revisiting a city from our collective memory.
As a special feature, the short film "They See Ourselves" by Macau cultural critic Ti Ya will be screened. This work examines how our film-industry-developed neighbor uses urban imagery to record a history of 'the other' and how creators consciously reconstruct these fragments of memory.
Mr. Leong I On is a member of the 'Cut & Shoot' Visual Art Association. He is a local young director and film critic who has published film reviews in newspapers and magazines and hosted film culture lectures.
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