The great filmmaker Steven Spielberg said, “Every time I go to a movie, it’s magic, no matter what the movie’s about.”
It is sad that people do not go to movie theatres anymore. Watching movies from home becomes an easier and a cheaper alternative. With a TV and sound system, you can quickly set up a “home theatre”. Many cinemas in Hong Kong have been shut down though some have been in our city for half a century. Business closure of movie theatres is now a common thing.
As there are fewer and fewer film choices in Hong Kong. I often cross the border to travel to Shenzhen and other Greater Bay Area cities to watch movies. We now have high-speed trains which can take us to Shenzhen within 20 minutes, when it used to take one hour. I also find that there are more or more curious youngsters from the Mainland coming to Hong Kong to enjoy our imported foreign motion pictures, especially those produced as an artistic or experimental expression. Such films may not be allowed in the Mainland. Yaumatei Broadway Cinematheque (百老匯電影中心) is the holy place where they pay their respect.
China now reduces the number of foreign films that can be screened in the country, spurred by the consideration that its local filming industry would be compromised by an open market. Perhaps geopolitics may be another reason for the tighter quota system. In parallel, Hollywood is becoming less focused these days on targeting Chinese audiences. Sino-American co-productions become apparently rare circumstances.
In Hong Kong, young lovers like to go to dinner first and then a movie. They can behave intimately in a dark theatre. You cannot talk during the movie, but there is a lot to be said for body language. This is why our movie audience are mostly young persons. In the Mainland, you can often see families go to the movies. For them, watching movie together is a great opportunity for parents to connect with their children. A weekly family movie in a cozy place away from home is a great way to bring all members together, having fun and lasting memories. People in the Greater Bay Area still keep that old tradition. Such a warm scene reminds me of the loving recollections that I had when I was a kid.
In Hong Kong, concession stands of cinemas sell mainly soft drinks and popcorn. Sometimes, they sell fish balls and siu mai (燒賣). In the Mainland, they sell very special snacks such as braised duck kidney and spicy chicken neck which manifest Chinese food specialties. In Beijing, there is a “hotpot cinema” where one can watch a movie while eating hotpot at the same time. Some cinemas in the Mainland provide foot massage service inside the theatre. Will the audience snuggle down in a comfortable seat and fall asleep? In any event, most cinemas in the Mainland provide massage seats but they are coin-operated. I have not prepared myself for such an exotic participation.
Cinema tickets in Hong Kong are not cheap. They can be about HK$80-120. In the Mainland, after various kinds of promotion discount, they ask for about HK$40-60 per ticket. They often offer “online discount package”, but if your mobile phone cannot download the applicable app, you will not be able to enjoy such substantial reduction of ticket price.
Land in the Mainland is not as expensive as that of Hong Kong. In the lobby hall of every cinema, they put many gachapon (扭蛋) and game machines. Some look like an amusement arcade. The area is like a “pre-show” before the main performance. The entrance area of a Hong Kong cinema is small. Operators just put up movie posters and a few ticket vending machines. Business is business and cinemas in Hong Kong have to do the bare minimum in order to survive.
Hong Kong is a liberal society and we can enjoy all kinds of films, of course, except those which are highly sensitive in terms of political ideologies. In the Mainland, many kinds of films are prohibited such as those which are superstitious, anti-Chinese, promote bad conduct, encourage crimes, x-rated and immoral contents. Nevertheless, when I watch a movie in Shenzhen, the variety of other kinds of movies still gives me a great pleasure. They include historical epics (歷史題材片) , fantasy and mythology (奇幻神話片), contemporary comedies, mystery and detective stories, children animated movies and documentaries. Some directors are obviously newbies and their movies are ordinary. I did watch 2 good movies Successor ( 抓娃娃) and Upstream (逆行人生).
Sometimes, disappearing is the way to let new things emerge. Cinemas are disappearing but home movie subscription-based streaming services like Netflix appear. Nowadays, we do not hire a seat, but we procure an internet-connected device to watch a movie. The world must go on…Films, always wear a new dress.
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