Online review: Aberdeen (香港仔)

Film title: Aberdeen (香港仔)

Released time: 24 March 2014

Casting: Louis Koo, Miriam Yeung, Gigi Leung, Eric Tsang etc.

Genre

Initially, I am interested in this film since family melodrama since it always as my favorite genre. As the typical plot of this genre, it is family-centered. It depicts the family dynamics among three families, Tao (Louis Koo)’s, Ching (Miriam Yeung)’s one and Dong (Ng Man Tat)’s respectively. All these family member encounter different difficulties, Tao is suspicious on whether Piggy is his biological daughter or not, while Ching frustrated about dislike from her mother, their father Dong have love affair with Ta (Carrie Ng) after their mother’s death. However, it has difference with traditional plot, some fantasy was shown. For instance, Ching sit in the papery taxi, which indeed is traditional sacrificial offering, and she travels the papery “Hong Kong”. Combing with the similarity and difference, it conform the principle of genre. The similarity can enhance people’s understanding towards the text; the difference brings the newness to the audience. Mixed up with these two elements, it attracts audience to watch the text.

Does collective memory contained?

Along with the narrative expanded, the film content is out of my expectation. Indeed, refer to the film title< Aberdeen>, it could decode as son of Hong Kong in Chinese meaning. Therefore, I assumed that this film would mainly portray on the traditional Hong Kong value, like <Echo of the rainbows>, which remedies our collective memory. The director of <Aberdeen> might try to do so, as many Hong Kong historical events and fewer old Hong Kong cultural customs glossed over, such as Piggy play Chinese Ouija board with her classmate. Those little depiction on old tradition could not make the people aware and not make the corresponding group interested in it and not able to recall the memory as mentioned by Maurice Halwachs.    

Stereotype and Decoding

Instead of find out the collective memory in the film, I figured out the gender stereotype and realized that people have different decoding on same text after watching this film.

Women stereotype as submissive and sexualized figure. As portrayal of all women characters, they are judged on their appearance and sexual reputation. For instance, Tao always criticized Ta since she works in nightclub. Also, in order to get the job, Tao’s wife “eating dinner” with boss. In this condition, women are objectified. Their success is based on their pretty as mentioned by Tao, this is the stereotype that women related to body and men related to mind. Also, it neglect that nowadays as women’s educational level higher up, their success could due to a good career. So, it conform the role of stereotype that makes the women who is pretty and successful visible, meanwhile makes the successful career women invisible.

Based on the social and political change, people have different decoding to the same text. The scene of Ching’s husband driving the car to home makes me impressed, as “ all destination” was written on road sign at the beginning, then he inform his mistress that he would pass the Harcourt road and it guide him to home. In my opinion, as I watch this film in post occupy period, I think it indicated that democracy lead us back to our “home” since the umbrella movement undergone in this road, and “home” means our local culture and value. However, some viewer think that it reflect the Hong Kong peoples’ emotion in post 1997, we can go to everywhere, but we do not know where we are, that they decode before occupy movement. In this case, it could explain by the theory of articulation, based on the text made of symbols which consist of signifier and signified, and this two element does not have necessity relation, so the road sign and dialogue of Ching’s husband is the signifier and it do not change, while along with the change of political condition, such as occupy movement makes people have different perception or linkage to the signified, so the signified is alter, and the overall symbol has change. 

At last, in order to figure out the true meaning about that road sign and dialogue as mentioned, I decided to figure out the answer from auteur theory. Refer to one of the interview from the director; he said that “film is not literary film; it is the entertainment film, if you want to shoot something for teaching citizen, just shoot the teaching TV programs”. Therefore, it shows that the director just want to entertain the audience, he would not want to send the message on the serious political issue. So, maybe I just think too much in the decoding process.

“電影唔係文藝作品而係娛樂片，冇義務導人向善，想要拍嘢嚟教育市民，你拍教育電視啦。”                           

彭浩翔

Conclusion

Overall, this film fulfills on the perspectives of the family melodrama genre, three families still support each other family members and solve the problem at the ending. It might be the good local production of this genre in 2014.

Reference

Halbwachs, M. (1992). (Ed.& translated by Coser. L .A.) Chapter 4. On Collective Memory. (pp.52). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

北京女狠批　彭浩翔：我係低俗. (n.d.). Retrieved March 31, 2015, from http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/entertainment/art/20130302/18181609

周五好戲派：香港仔-拆解彭浩翔密碼. (n.d.). Retrieved March 31, 2015, from http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/entertainment/art/20140509/18713846

Student Name: Kwok Pui Shan

Student ID: 10489334/ 21426118