I’m off to Hong Kong after I finish university. I actually finish today but I’m going on the 13th of November. I only found out last week that I am going so I’m quiet unprepared. It’s for a holiday, but because I had no knowledge I was going there I have never really thought about Hong Kong before. I am now madly looking up websites trying to figure out what to do (SHOP) and what to see (NO CLUE).
I was thinking today how easy it would be if a modern film came out called Hong Kong: Symphony of a Great City. Because one of the things I appreciate about Berlin: Symphony of a Great City was how it took you to another world. The film acts like a tour guide, bringing you into the city on a train and taking you on a ride. In the beginning your shown a sort of montage of modernity. The power lines, factories and the train itself speeding ahead with the music. I felt when I was watching it like a giddy tourist not sure where I was being lead but being bombarded with a visual feast of the unknown.
The film takes you on and you watch the stores open ready for business. What is particularly different is that you experience a city that is quite in those early moments. I have been awake in Sydney at 2, 4, 5 even 8 ( in Kings Cross) and have never seen it empty. There was an eerie feeling but also a beautiful one. You got to see the city as it was without the people. When the people enter its like a sudden wave of activity. They are busy and you the tourist are in their way. Their feet trample over you as they rush to work.
The clock keeps ticking. When you are a tourist time never seems to be on your side. You have places to go and things to do but before you know your back on the plane and its home again. In Berlin, the clocks keep ticking reminding you that your stay won’t last. The whole city seems to be lead by that ticking. Its morning and finally it is night.
The city comes alive at night. The lights come on in peoples windows. Some are going home for the night. Others however are only just emerging. Ready to play in Berlin the Great City. Cars streak along a road, their lights glinting in the wet cement. Signs, lit by blazing lights, come on promising something in a language I don’t understand. Its funny how so many cities are different at night. In London, it was dark by four and you found a little pub on a corner to eat dinner in. In Thailand, the city came alive and you go to night Bazaars to watch Thai pop and buy cheap fakes. In Berlin, the dancing girls come out to play. They put their make-up on, do tricks and dance with their legs thrown high. The city becomes a sporting playground with boxing, ice hockey and cyclists to take your fancy. You place a bet at the casino and lose your money. Then you’re back on a tram or in a taxi going home for the night. Firecrackers whirl in the air as if you dreamt it all.
I was thinking today how easy it would be if a modern film came out called Hong Kong: Symphony of a Great City. Because one of the things I appreciate about Berlin: Symphony of a Great City was how it took you to another world. The film acts like a tour guide, bringing you into the city on a train and taking you on a ride. In the beginning your shown a sort of montage of modernity. The power lines, factories and the train itself speeding ahead with the music. I felt when I was watching it like a giddy tourist not sure where I was being lead but being bombarded with a visual feast of the unknown.
The film takes you on and you watch the stores open ready for business. What is particularly different is that you experience a city that is quite in those early moments. I have been awake in Sydney at 2, 4, 5 even 8 ( in Kings Cross) and have never seen it empty. There was an eerie feeling but also a beautiful one. You got to see the city as it was without the people. When the people enter its like a sudden wave of activity. They are busy and you the tourist are in their way. Their feet trample over you as they rush to work.
The clock keeps ticking. When you are a tourist time never seems to be on your side. You have places to go and things to do but before you know your back on the plane and its home again. In Berlin, the clocks keep ticking reminding you that your stay won’t last. The whole city seems to be lead by that ticking. Its morning and finally it is night.
The city comes alive at night. The lights come on in peoples windows. Some are going home for the night. Others however are only just emerging. Ready to play in Berlin the Great City. Cars streak along a road, their lights glinting in the wet cement. Signs, lit by blazing lights, come on promising something in a language I don’t understand. Its funny how so many cities are different at night. In London, it was dark by four and you found a little pub on a corner to eat dinner in. In Thailand, the city came alive and you go to night Bazaars to watch Thai pop and buy cheap fakes. In Berlin, the dancing girls come out to play. They put their make-up on, do tricks and dance with their legs thrown high. The city becomes a sporting playground with boxing, ice hockey and cyclists to take your fancy. You place a bet at the casino and lose your money. Then you’re back on a tram or in a taxi going home for the night. Firecrackers whirl in the air as if you dreamt it all.
1 comment:
In one of my art history subjects, I saw a film "Chungking express" which is a 1997 film set in interior spaces of Hong Kong. The space carved out is in particular very global yet I think some of the mannerisms are very asian. If you get a chance, its worth watching.
I've only ever been to Shanghai, the culture is very different but I definately feel that modern sensation of being lost in a crowd. Anyway have fun!
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