SCM 25 Alumni Film Screening & Post-screening Talk: Mad World 《一念無明》
Screening
Our alumnus Wong Chun’s dramatic, heartfelt directorial debut portrays a man who struggles with mental illness and lower class life without grandstanding for it. The film feted at numerous film festivals, won nominations and awards in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China, and was selected to represent Hong Kong in the foreign-language film Oscar race.
07 Mar 2024
4:00 pm Screening (in DCP format)
5:45 pm Post-screening discussion with Film Director Wong Chun. Moderated by Prof. Louisa Wei. Future Cinema Studio (M6094), L6, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, City University of Hong Kong
Free admission. No prior registration is required.
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This programme is by invitation only for CityU students, alumni and staff on a first-come, first-served basis. Online pre-registration required for CityU alumni by 6 March, 09:00 am at https://forms.gle/Hq8A7wzWmHgmKhKHA
"MAD WORLD"
DCP | Hong Kong | 2016 | 101 mins | In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles
Director: WONG Chun
Screen Writer: Florence CHAN
Starring: Shawn YUE, Eric TSANG, Elaine JIN, Charmaine FONG
Producers: CHIU Sung Kee, Heiward MAK
Director of Cinematography: ZHANG Ying
Production Designer: CHEUNG Siu Hong
SYNOPSIS
“To avoid, or to confront? To deny, or to embrace? To give up, or to make a change?”
The film begins with an old man who has long been absent as a father (Eric TSANG), picking up his son (Shawn YUE), who is suffering from bipolar disorder, from a mental hospital. Both men are in deep remorse for the accident that caused the death of the mother (Elaine JIN). The tension and anxiety boil as they stay with each other in a tiny subdivided flat. As time passes, they realize the pain between one another is not the only confrontation that awaits them; but also to face the cruel and unjust world that they are living in.
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
This is a story that I’d like to pose to the people of Hong Kong; how do we confront, awaken, empower ourselves, and seek change in the world that we are currently living in. No matter how long the problem has been rotting away in our souls, and no matter how much we try to suppress it, once we realize that we are our own entity, we can choose to mend relationships, and change the predicaments around you, more than we can ever imagine. If you allow yourself to do so; you can become a whole new person every waking morning.
We play the roles of the father and the son in ‘Mad World’, but we are also the people who live around them. Their neighbors in the subdivided flat are also people who are suppressed without a sense unity, and so naturally, they will prey on the weak. We are not bad people, but we tend to violence without knowing, sometimes out of weakness, and sometimes out of ignorance. This is a banal evil, but also a reflection of our society.
Humans are not born good or evil; we are accountable for the judgments and decisions we make in our every day lives, and from that, little by little we learn to become a better person. Just like learning to make better films.
With a tight production budget of HKD 2 million, we cannot even fathom working with such a talented cast. Both stars immediately said yes after I pitched the project to them, and were willing to take a significant pay cut to participate in this project. Besides the fact that I'm tremendously grateful, it also made me realize that scripts have the power to move and connect people.
《一念無明》
DCP | 香港 | 2016 | 101分鐘 | 粵語,中英文字幕
導演: 黃進
編劇: 陳楚珩
主演: 余文樂、曾志偉、金燕玲、方皓玟
監製: 趙崇基、麥曦茵
攝影: 張穎
美術總監: 張兆康
故事大綱
迴避還是直面,否定還是擁抱,放棄還是改變。
阿東 (余文樂 飾) 患有躁鬱症,因父親離家不顧,獨力照顧飽受病患折磨的母親 (金燕玲 飾)。母子二人情緒互相牽引激化,猶如漫長的困獸鬥。一天,阿東如常替失禁的母親沖洗,拉扯間發生意外,導致母親死亡。阿東的父親大海 (曾志偉 飾) 驚覺一直逃避的問題發酵成了悲劇。獨居多年的他在愧疚和孤獨驅使下,應醫院建議,接阿東到自己的板間房暫住。
故事從這裡開始。兩個背負沉重愧疚的大男人只剩下對方,對方卻是自己最不能面對的過去。當二人一步一步走出過去的陰霾和枷鎖,在狹縫間建立關係,更大的壓迫卻來自社會。
導演的話
這是一個我們很想帶給香港人的故事:我們如何直面問題,覺醒、充權,並尋求改變。即使問題已經發酵潰壞了多久、即使我們安於逃避了多久, 只要我們意識到自身的自由,我們可以做的選擇、修補的關係、改變的事情,往往比我們想像的多。我們每天都可以成就一個新的自己——如果我們願意的話。
我們是《一念無明》裡的父子,也是群眾。板間房中的鄰里,同樣是被壓迫 的人,但我們沒有團結起來,卻自自然然的向更弱勢的施壓。我們都不是壞人,但我們往往施加暴力而不自知——有時出於軟弱、有時基於無知——這是平庸的邪惡,同時也是這個城市的寫照。
人沒有本善或本惡。我們只能敏感而批判地面對生活中的每一次選擇, 戰戰兢兢的學習成為一個更好的人。就像學習做電影一樣。
這個只有二百萬港元資助的緊絀製作,是跟這些最好的演員完全不相稱的。他們二話不說、不計回報的演出,感激以外,亦令我更相信好的文本、好的創作依然能打動和連結人。創作是有力量的。