{"id":18952,"date":"2021-04-20T11:25:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T03:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=18952"},"modified":"2021-05-27T11:12:03","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T03:12:03","slug":"heart-of-cyberpunk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2021\/04\/heart-of-cyberpunk\/","title":{"rendered":"Heart of Cyberpunk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hong Kong\u2019s unique urban landscape is featured in cyberpunk films and animations.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Winkie Ng<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n
    \n
  • \"\"
    Circular Footbridge at Yee Wo Street was featured in 2017 American cyberpunk film Ghost in the Shell.<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
  • \"\"
    Cyberpunk film Ghost in the Shell (2017) was filmed along Victoria Harbour.<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
  • \"\"
    Cyberpunk film Ghost in the Shell (2017) also featured Hong Kong Cultural Centre.<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
  • \"\"
    An episode (The Witness) from a cyberpunk animation on Netflix, Love, Death & Robots, was set in Chungking Mansions.<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
  • \"\"
    The alley next to Chungking Mansions also appears in The Witness, one of the episodes from a cyberpunk animation Love, Death & Robots on Netflix.<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
  • \"\"
    An old building is located near a new building along Nathan Road. Contrasting old and new buildings is a key visual component in cyberpunk films like Akira.<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
  • \"\"
    Nightlife is an important aspect in cyberpunk films like Blade runner 2049 and Ghost in the Shell (2017).<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
  • \"\"
    Signboards hanging over streets are always found in cyberpunk films, such as Ghost in the Shell (1995).<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
  • \"\"
    Skyscrapers are often in the setting of in cyberpunk films, such as Ready Player One, Blade runner 2049 and Ghost in the Shell (2017).<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
  • \"\"
    Cylindrical, rectangular buildings and buildings with stair-like tops are located next to one another along Nathan Road. Contrasting buildings in different shapes is a common characteristic of cyberpunk films, such as Akira.<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
  • \"\"
    Narrow streets are often seen in cyberpunk films, like Akira and Ghost in the Shell (1995).<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
  • \"\"
    Slums are common features in cyberpunk films, such as Battle Angel Alita and Ready Player One. <\/div><\/div><\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Cyberpunk fan Kwong Tsz-wun always finds traces of Hong Kong in cyberpunk movies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cIconic cyberpunk films like Blade Runner<\/em> and Ghost in the Shell<\/em> are set in Hong Kong. <\/em>Both Japanese animation and American live-action remake of Ghost in the Shell<\/em> feature Hong Kong as the setting. The animated version (made in 1995) used Kowloon City and Kai Tak Airport as a backdrop for some scenes,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The American remake of Ghost in the Shell<\/em> released in 2017 has some scenes filmed in Yau Ma Tei and along Victoria Harbour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Kwong, who is a lecturer at the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), has been interested in cyberpunk culture since he was a child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    He even wrote a research paper analysing a cyberpunk book, Last_year@alu.bar<\/em> (\u53bb\u5e74\u5728\u963f\u9b6f\u5427) by Ho Ching-pin, a Taiwanese author in 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cIt is interesting that cyberpunk culture has not thrived in Hong Kong, while Hong Kong has prominent presence in many cyberpunk films,\u201d Kwong says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Kwong finds the setting in cyberpunk film Blade Runner<\/em> similar to present-day Hong Kong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cAnother title for Blade Runner<\/em> is 2020<\/em>. It is set in 2020, which overlaps the current era. Scenes of cybercity, artificial intelligence and the essence of the film echo Hong Kong\u2019s (technological and social) environment in 2019 and 2020,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Kwong has mixed feelings whenever he sees Hong Kong in cyberpunk films.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cIt looks and sounds familiar to me. But I feel sorry that Hong Kong shares similarities with cyberpunk settings. The themes of cyberpunk include confronting hegemony and having low standard of living in a high technology society \u2015 Just like the current situation in Hong Kong,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Grace Leung Lai-kuen, a lecturer at the School of Journalism and Communication at CUHK, says cyberpunk films set in hi-tech society discuss how technology destroys humanity and causes disparity between the rich and poor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cSurreal imaginations of technology are represented by night views with dazzling lights,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    She thinks Hong Kong\u2019s night view is full of potential and attracts filmmakers to set cyberpunk films in Hong Kong. \u201cHong Kong\u2019s landscape is very beautiful, especially the night view\u2026When neon signs are lit at night, you can create a cyberpunk ambience easily by blurring or using filters,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    She also points out that having high level of urbanization and many postmodern architectures are other reasons for cyberpunk films being set in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cHong Kong\u2019s landscape suits cyberpunk films. Hong Kong is densely populated with many skyscrapers, contrasting old and new buildings and buildings with different shapes. It is so unique and creates great visual effects for cyberpunk films,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    With the advantage of being a cyberpunk city, Leung thinks Hong Kong should make good use of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cHong Kong as a city has great potential. Her charm is captured in cyberpunk films. So why not promote it to Hongkongers and visitors? It would be nice to appreciate this city from this new perspective,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Edited by Agnes Lam<\/em>
    Sub-edited by Bonita Wong\ufeff<\/em>
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n


    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Hong Kong\u2019s unique urban landscape is featured in cyberpunk films and animations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1770,72],"tags":[1723,467,1724,1725,140],"class_list":["post-18952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issue-159","category-photo-feature","tag-cyberpunk","tag-hongkong","tag-hongkongnightview","tag-skyscrapers","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18952"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19633,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18952\/revisions\/19633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}