Philip Yung

HK Magazine: As a film critic, how did it feel to get behind the lens?
Philip Yung: I approached the project with the same critical perspective as I do toward writing. Although film is a creative industry, most local directors don’t seem to invest in the notion that inspiration should come from real life, so we are fed a bunch of fake realities instead. Film should be socially conscious, it should make a statement about our society. I heard an interesting quote about how “scriptwriters cannot lie to the audience.” This actually inspired me when writing the script.

HK: What do you think about local parent-child relationships?
PY: Thankfully I share a good relationship with my parents, but at one of the screenings some of the younger audience members told me about the parallels they saw between the relationships in the film and their own relationships with their parents. Many people feel estranged from their parents and I think we are conflicted in our identities, especially since 1997. We see ourselves as Chinese, but we’re not Chinese if one goes by the way locals view their mainland counterparts, and that’s something that I wanted to explore in the film as well.

HK: What do you think rules the lives of Hong Kong people?
PY: Money and work, with the result that our relationships suffer. Self-development is given a much lower priority. Many Hong Kong people are so caught up with getting rich, but when asked what their dreams are they can’t tell you. Dreams are the sacrifice Hong Kong people make for economic development, and they have a real victim complex about it.

HK: Where are the more interesting locations to shoot in Hong Kong?
PY: I prefer to get away from the skyline of Central and the bustle of Mong Kok, and get deep into areas of Kwai Chung, Tsuen Wan and Shek Kip Mei. These are the places where I spent my youth. I also think they offer a realism that resonates with locals more than the superficial world of Centralites.